The Inferno (Signet Classics) Mass Market Paperback – Illustrated, 6 October 2009

Review for - The Divine Comedy Of Dante Alighieri: The Inferno: A Translation With Notes And An Introductory Essay By James Romanes Sibbald (Lector House)One of the best works of Dante. It is hard to fine re-prints of classics instead of scanned copies, however, this paperback edition didn't disappoint. Very nice re-print with layout. At first, I was a bit apprehensive about buying the copy due to layout review mentioned by some other reviewers. However, I found the layout to be perfect when compared with the original manuscript. The copy has all the footnotes which is of paramount importance, and has been nicely laid out for the ease of readers. The layout follows three-line rhyme breaks and the footnotes are mentioned at the bottom of the page for the ease of readers. Great copy at an affordable price.

It has notes of all the cantos which helps to better understand the Inferno.

I really enjoyed this edition. I felt like the detail shared behind the people in Dante's Inferno taught me a lot of History and Greek mythology and I love Dante's quest to be true and virtuous and avoid the sins of others. It gave me a respect for some things today people take for granted that could be sins and reminded me to be ever mindful of my actions. It was so interesting how he portrays hell as different levels with different punishments based on how grievous the sin was. It gave me a lot to ponder. I also liked how its divided into chapters explaining in detail before you read the actual translation and then after are foot notes explaining all the references. That makes it easy to enjoy, understand and get a lot out of each passage. I suggest reading one chapter each day - takes 5 - 15 minutes . I started this as a full read - and got 3/4 of the way through and stopped, then picked it back up and read one chapter each day from the beginning again and I enjoyed it much more reading 1 chapter a day and thinking about what I read and the meaning. This isn't a book you should "speed read" or skim but savor.This book shows you there is nothing new in this world - and if we would all learn more history (me included) - perhaps we can stop the continuous cycle mankind is always in (wars and rumors of wars)...

A terrific translation.Before each canto there is a summary of the events and at the end of each canto there are notes about certain words, themes, people, choices and history to better assist people in understanding the brilliance of the divine comedy.This is definitly the best copy of The Inferno that I have found so far.

This Ciardi translation is very readable and maintains the meter and rhyme scheme of the original triplet form. The introductions to each Canto are very helpful and the notes at the end of each canto are excellent. For the non-scholar who still wants to go a little deeper than the poetry at it's face value, this is a rewarding read.

easy to read translation without losing poetry, great intro to each chapter, and excellent notes, recommend one hundred per cent

Rating: I gave this five stars only because it is the best translation of perhaps the finest literary achievement outside of the Bible. However, I MUST express my concerns as below:The original: TEN stars out of Five for it is unparalleled.The Translation by John Ciardi: FIVE stars out of FIVE for it is in itself a work of art!The OCR conversion: MINUS TEN out of FIVE; for numerous, glaring, disconcerting and inexcusable OCR errors!!I have been a dedicated fan of John Ciardi's inspired translation of Dante's Commedia for many years. The original work; The Commedia, by Dante is perhaps the closest thing to perfection outside of the Bible (which, I believe firmly was God-Authored, so, it would not be fair to compare any Man's work to that too closely). The appellation of 'Divine' to Dante's extraordinary allegory is a statement to its almost perfect quality. Now, the problem for me is that it is written in Italian. I speak English. So, I cannot read this work in its original form. The next best thing is to read a translation into English. Again, no matter the quality of the original, the translation can provide an experience near to that which the author intended, or it can mar the work beyond recognition. For this work, Dante's Commedia; the Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradiso, there exist several translations into English. For my dollar, John Ciardi's is the best. Others may disagree on this count, but there is no arguing that his translation is masterful. The added bonus is his short prose summaries of each canto (chapter) and his extensive footnotes for illumination of the text. Added together, John Ciardi and Dante Alighieri present, in this translation, a reading experience of scintillating excellence. Each and every reading from the first to the thousandth is wonderful, rich and even fresh. Now along comes the Kindle. Being an extreme bibliophile, I never thought I would like the ebook experience. Suffice it to say that I was quite wrong on that count. However, this is not a review of the Kindle or any e-reader. So, naturally, loving this translation and work like I do, I purchased the Kindle version without blinking. To my utter dismay, the text is sorely corrupted by errors. The OCR output does not seem to have been reviewed, edited or otherwise corrected at all. Having read this work as many times as I have, each canto, each stanza, each verse, and every word are precious and like old friends. (I re-read it for the same reasons one keeps returning to their favorite ice cream flavor, or their favorite song). But, in this case, the amount of error contained in this electronic copy is jarring and unpleasant and all too frequently encountered. So, if the nice folks at Penguin publishing should happen to read this review; I can only say: You have a gem on your hands, so why smear it with mud? Please, Please, correct the text errors, which are legion and most disconcerting, and restore this literary diamond to its original and deserved luster and brilliance and re-publish the work as it should have been done from the start.