The Divine Comedy (Classics of World Literature)

The book itself is good quality but do not buy if you expect simply to read it as a stand alone piece of literature. The story is highly reliant on religious symbolism, knowledge of classics, medieval church movements / philosophy and italian political figures from the 14th century. I’d personally recommend reading canto summaries before embarking on reading them. Even then I found the translation very difficult. That’s not to say the book itself is bad, it is exactly as advertised but this is not an easy read and I’m somewhat perplexed by the reviews that make it out to only be “challenging in places”.

I TOOK THE BOOK WITH ME ON HOLIDAY TO SORRENTO (ITALIAN THEME!) AND READ SOME OF IT IN BETWEEN TRIPS TO THE AMALFI COAST AND RESTING AFTERWARDS. THIS OLD CLASSIC INNITIALLY APPEARS HARD TO GET INTO, BUT ONCE YOU GET ENTAGLED IN THE STORY LINE IT BECOMES MORE INTRGING AND ENJOYABLE.

I'm educated to a normal level - I have a degree, but it's not in English literature. I don't profess to be a linguistic master, so this book is perhaps a little out of my depth in comparison with some scholars out there. Nevertheless, I was very interested in reading this book - mostly because of the grim fascination about the tale of someone who gets to visit the 7 circles of Hell. Although I found it hard-reading at times, I was also blown away by it. I fully expected to not understand the text at all, and must admit I was pleasantly surprised. There was the odd bit I had to read twice to process, but in general, it was nowhere near as complex as I imagined. Although controversial, perhaps in several eras, the tale and style is provocative and I always found it difficult to put down, even when I was struggling to fully understand. I would certainly recommend this to someone looking for an enriching challenge. I was most drawn to religious iconography and just the general lavishness of the whole text, but even on a much shallower level, it's a very interesting narrative. Be confident, is the key! It's not as laa-dee-daa as you might think (although it is very long).

Great price for such a classic piece of world literature. I literally bought it just to have it in my bookcase. The English used is quite complex and slightly dated but that's not the biggest of problems when you have a somewhat literary background. (I'm a first year English linguistics student at university and I managed to understand most of it)

I am so happy to have received this book along with 7 others today as I rebuilt my collection! Slainte! 💚🤍🧡

I have read many translations of the Comedy and this is my overall favourite. Cary manages to capture the imagery and the meaning of Dante's poetry in a way that works perfectly in English. Sublime.

H.F. Cary English translation of 1814 which makes any reader feel like they are pushing a bolder up a hill - mostly because the way Italian flows is very different to English and the reader wastes a lot of time working through the direct translation interpretation and meaning. The Wordsworth print version has one good thing and that’s one of the best introductions to Dante, but being one of the first translators of the poem, Cary did it verbatim intentionally– hence the poor initial revies when released in 1814 and called “The Vision”. This direct translation therefore slows comprehension to a snail’s pace unless you can read Italian, Romanian or Latin - then its easier to comprehend the meaning, but may as well read it in Italian.

Great

sehr gut

Not for everyone. But if you want a book that makes you think this is it.

very good price and the quality is there

Really hard to understand

I love this book. It has been translated in English by so many well known figures of literature. The English translation by H. F. Cary is one of the best. I find it very vivid and literary. As the original author has depicted Christian afterlife in a very classic way, the book becomes very impressive and because it is a translation of the original, it does not loses the originality and lucidness. This is an excellent translation and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Thanks amazon.