Divine Comedy

I have recently finished 'Hell', the first volume of Dante's Divine Comedy.
Having trudged about half-way through a fairly difficult older Penguin Classic translation (by Dorothy Sayers), I was in Waterstones with half an hour to kill, and I picked up the newer Mark Musa translation, and I couldn't put it down. When I went home later and picked up my older Sayers, I kicked myself for not buying the newer translation. I did manage to finish it, but it was hard work.

Now my question(s) is this; which translation of Purgatory and Paradise would you recommend? Is Musa's translation still the best, or is Penguin's newer version by Kirkpatrick any good? Or is it worth sticking with Sayers?

You might want to check this thread in the Dantisti group. Of course, everyone has a differing opinions. :)

I've read the Mandelbaum translation and thought it was good, but I have no other Dante translation to compare it to.

Thanks for the link, and the suggestion.

I am obsessed with the Hollanders' translation. Although I have never read another translation, I have read the original Italian and the Hollanders fully capture the power as well as the poetry.

Haven't read any version yet, but before we decry Sayers, here's a fascinating mini-bio about her:

http://hilobrow.com/2011/06/13/dorothy-l-sayers/

"Guilt: that’s the link between Sayers’ lowbrow mystery novels and her highbrow scholarly and theological writings. If you happen to be feeling guilty about something at the moment, you might want to read Sayers’ editorial apparatus for her translations of Dante."

I may end up reading Sayers's translation of Dante in parallel with her mysteries. Might be another way to appreciate the translator.

Personally I'm devoted to the Mandelbaum translation, but that may simply be because I've been reading his translations for almost two decades now -- the Odyssey came first, then the Aeneid, and recently the Metamorphoses -- and I'm accustomed to his particular voice -- academic yet still holding on to the poetry of the original. I also really like his notes. I think to really get Dante you need a Virgil to walk you through some of the more obscure history and philosophy that you wouldn't pick up on left on your own. Dante's Comedy can itself be a dark wood without guidance.

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I'm actually quite fond of the Sayers translation, though that may be because that was my introduction to Dante, through an absolutely wonderful high school English teacher.

You might be interested in The Seven Deadly Sins in the Work of Dorothy L. Sayers, by Janice Brown.

Am just starting the Sayers translation . . . becuase it's supposed to be good in terms of the theological discussion . . . and it attempts to maintain the Italian rhyme scheme (and it happens to be the one on my bookshelf). I'm enjoying it so far.

Just FYI, the Paris Review has issued a challenge to read The Divine Comedy : Inferno one Canto a week. They're suggesting Sunday evening instead of cable tv. (I don't have cable tv, but I am rather addicted to PBS Masterpiece on Sunday evenings, so I'm not sure if I'll be able to be true to the challenge . . . but at least I'm trying :)

http://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2013/09/30/fall-sweeps/

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I saw your other post about the Paris Review challenge. I think I'll be like you: reading The Divine Comedy, but maybe not on Sunday evenings.

I have too many copies of it to run out and buy the Hollander that Alexander Aciman recommends in his challenge (and which others have praised), so will probably read the Pinsky, as it's a dual-language edition, so I can attempt the Italian but have the English for back-up.

>8 LucindaLibri:: When I was an undergrad at Boston College, they were in the midst of a program that met once a month, in which a senior scholar would read a canto in the original, then in a favorite translation, then offer commentary. They went canto-by-canto, month-by-month. In my four years, they finished Inferno (which was begun before I ever arrived) and began Purgatorio. Sadly, I didn't always make it to the readings: the hindsight of the older, wiser man...