The Portable Dante

Mark Musa's translation is straightforward, easy to follow, and in friendly blank verse. I only wish I had purchased the individual Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso, because apparently they have many more notes. The notes are somewhat sporadic in this version (being portable, after all) and you get the feeling they were selected at random - some persons, referred-to events, and concepts are explained at length and others are not at all. But maybe I just don't know better.

A personal four stars, but it's a five-star translation in a handy little package and I can't really fault it for lacking footnotes. ( )

Mine is the older Portable Dante with the Laurence Binyon translation. I have read another translation since but still prefer Binyon: as far as I can tell, he gets most things pretty well right and keeps the terza rima form. Great stuff, of course, but be sure to read the notes! ( )

Dante. The Divine Comedy. Penguin Books, New York, 1995.

Musa's translation captures an emotional poignancy notably lacking in other translations. He uses five-stressed lines to create a rhythm that carries the reader throughout the poem. For enjoyability, this is by far my favorite translation that I have read. ( )

I really enjoyed this version. This is the entire Divine Comedy and Vita Nuova with notes to help you understand the historical background and characters. ( )