Best Translation of Divine Comedy

[Venerable Bede]

I plan to read Dante's Divine Comedy this summer, and I want to buy a good copy from Amazon. With so many versions around to pick from its kind of hard to decide which one would be the best. So what publisher/translator has the most accurate, closest translation to the original work?

[stlukesguild]

For a book such as this you could probably do a search and find that this question has popped up repeatedly before. My first reading of Dante was in the classic John Ciardi translation which I still love. Robert Pinsky's Inferno, which I read recently, is also especially strong. Right now, however, I think I would go with the Jean and Robert Hollander translation. Robert Hollander is a Dante scholar having written and taught on the poet almost exclusively for some 300 years. The translation is quite fluent and the notes (a necessity in reading Dante the first time... unless you have a strong background in Medieval Italian history, politics, philosophy, theology, literature, art, etc...) are unsurpassed.

[Lokasenna]

Robert Hollander is a Dante scholar having written and taught on the poet almost exclusively for some 300 years.

Crikey, he should be retired by now!

:lol:

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

I'll second the Hollander version. The poem itself is translated very well and is a pleasure to read. The notes are incredibly extensive (the books are more notes than poem), and for a first read, I'd almost say there's a but too much. It can be overwhelming. Of course, this can be easily remedied by simply skimming the notes after each canto, as I did, picking out areas you were especially unclear on.

[Venerable Bede]

So most people favour the Hollander translation? I was leaning towards Ciardi but does he have as good of notes as Hollander?

The Mark Musa translation seems good as well. What are the thoughts on his translation?

[stlukesguild]

Ciardi's notes are certainly more than adequate... perhaps not as extensive as Hollander, but they were more than enough for my first approach to the Comedia. I haven't read Musa's translation. I understand it is well respected, and certainly his Petrarch is perhaps the best... but I honestly haven't heard many recommend him over Hollander, Ciardi, or a number of others.

[Blasarius '33]

Allen Mandelbaum for me. His translation of the Divine Comedy (http://www.amazon.com/Divine-Comedy-Purgatorio-Paradiso-Everymans/dp/0679433139/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1303632154&sr=1-3) (especially Inferno and Purgatorio) is one of my favorite translations of anything.
That link is to the hardcover that contains all three works, but even though that one is in my bookcase I never read it. I like the paperbacks of the individual works, as they're more manageable flipping back and forth to the notes section, which is at the back of the book.
Inferno (http://www.amazon.com/Inferno-Bantam-Classics-Dante-Alighieri/dp/0553213393/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1303632154&sr=1-1)
Purgatorio (http://www.amazon.com/Purgatorio-Bantam-Classics-Dante-Alighieri/dp/055321344X/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1303632154&sr=1-2)
Paradiso (http://www.amazon.com/Paradiso-Bantam-Classics-Dante-Alighieri/dp/0553212044/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1303632154&sr=1-4)

(BUT! I've read so many good things about the Hollander that I bought them to read next.)

[fb0252]

read Sergio Flores review here: will put Mandelbuam translation in perspective:

http://www.amazon.com/Inferno-Bantam-Classics-Dante-Alighieri/dp/0553213393/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1303632154&sr=1-1

[Dr Doom]

My prof in grad school recommended Mandelbaum's translation too. I bought the hardcover that contains all three books. It's been a long while since I last read it, so my memory isn't so fresh as to recommend it to you--besides, this is the only translation I've read in its entirety, so I also can't compare it to other translations to make a valued judgement as to which translation is better.

I really like Mandelbaum's translation of the Odyssey and would highly recommend that if you ever want to read this epic. It's such a fluid read.

[stlukesguild]

I've read Mandelbaum's translation... as well as Ciardi's, Pinsky's, and Hollander's. I quite enjoyed Mandelbaum... but prefer both Ciardi and Hollander. I can't give a lot of credence to recommendations by college professors with regard to preferred translations as they often are influenced by other circumstances (such as which publisher has cut the best deal with the university). Having said that much, Ciardi was the translation of choice during my course on Western Literature.

[Venerable Bede]

Thank you for all of the suggestions and recommendations. I think I've made a decision now. After comparing the first twenty or so lines from Ciardi, Hollander, Mendelbaum, and Musa, I was torn between Musa and Hollander. I slightly prefer Musa over Hollander, plus his version is significantly cheaper. I found a copy that contains the Divine Comedy and one of his other works for only 15 Canadian dollars including shipping.

[ralfyman]

I couldn't tell which translation is best so I got most of them. I used Mandelbaum's translation in school, though, Pinsky later and for the Inferno and Ciardi for the whole poem. I will try Hollander and Musa in the future.

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

I had picked up a copy of The Inferno at a bargain bin a few months back. It turns out that it is a Longfellow translation. Based on the preferences noted above, it would seem I ended up with a lemmon (?)
At any rate, I am enjoying it immensely.

.

[stlukesguild]

Actually I quite thought the Longfellow translation wasn't half bad.

[Ser Nevarc]

I have been using Ciardi for years

[ctleake]

I have been using Ciardi for years

I should like to draw everyone's attention to the J G Nichols translation. His diction is dignified yet natural. He also employs a partial terza-rima with off-rhymes

"Be sure to place a limit on your talk.
Till you return I'll have some words with this
Creature: he'll bear us both on his broad back."

So further on, along the brink of that
Unhappy seventh circle, all alone,
I went to where the unhappy people sat.

Their pain gushed from their eyes; and with their hands
They kept on trying to defend themselves
Now from the flames, now from the burning sands.

This subtly suggests the Italian rhyme scheme (in which of course it's far easier to rhyme and so the rhymes are less conspicuous - like off-rhymes in English!)

You can tell the translator is himself a poet. I'm not saying the Hollanders, Cairdi, Mandelbaum, et al are not as good, but only offering an enriched choice.

Of course, you cannot beat the beautifully resonant and infinitely versatile Italian of the original:

"Vedi Parìs, Tristano," e più di mille
ombre mostrommi e nominommi a ditto
ch'amor di nostra vita dipartille.

where the words make solid a picture you can almost touch.

[mal4mac]

Allen Mandelbaum for me. His translation of the Divine Comedy (http://www.amazon.com/Divine-Comedy-Purgatorio-Paradiso-Everymans/dp/0679433139/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1303632154&sr=1-3) (especially Inferno and Purgatorio) is one of my favorite translations of anything.
That link is to the hardcover that contains all three works, but even though that one is in my bookcase I never read it. I like the paperbacks of the individual works, as they're more manageable flipping back and forth to the notes section, which is at the back of the book.

I'll second Mandelbaum, I read the hardback and didn't find it too painful flipping back and forwards... the notes are a model of "just enough, but not too much" for the general reader.

Try the first few pages of each translation mentioned in Google Books and Amazon Look Inside, and buy the one that really appeals to you. It starts really well so you shouldn't get too tired of multiple readings :)

[JBI]

Hmm, who could recommend an annotated Italian version, with perhaps good notes for a beginner?

[ChicagoReader]

I read Musa for class and thought it was great. From my understanding, his translation uses very modern english and seeks to translate the text as literally as possible, plus the notes are extremely
helpful and thorough.

[Waveguide]

Can anybody recommend an edition of Inferno translated by Mandelbaum, with Dore's illustrations, hardcover? I found Mandelbaum's editions without Dore's illustrations, or Dore's illustrations with plenty of other translations, but not together. Would be thankful for suggestions.

[duke-one]

The only one I've read is the H.F. Cary translation from Harvard Classics. Tried to read it three times without success until I got hold of a copy of the Cambridge "Companion to Dante". With out doubt worth the effort and due for a re-read. KDM

[Poetaster]

Musa is a good one. May have posted this before. :P

[momus99]

Hello-Sounds like there are a lot of Dante experts on this thread. Can anyone recommend an edition that has an outstanding translation and notes AND includes the original Italian?

[stlukesguild]

Robert & Jean Hollander: great translation, perhaps the most thorough notes, and both the English translation and the original Italian.