Review: Paradise by Dante Alighieri

This is not really a review, but I haven’t said anything about Paradiso yet and I feel that without at least a quick post, Dante would not be sufficiently covered off.  I have been traveling for a month in Europe, so Dante has not really been at the forefront of my mind.  However, train time can be a forced productive time!

The beauty of Inferno was twofold – the imagery and the multitude of historic and cultural references.  The beauty of Purgatorio was in the struggle and the redemption of Dante himself, coupled with some great imagery.  In my opinion, Paradiso had very little that made the first two books so enjoyable.  The imagery was not as piercing and the stages of Paradiso do not stand out in my mind only a month after reading it.

I read a new Penguin edition and I believe the translator’s given and surname began with a K (Klein, perhaps?).  This edition as not illustrated as planned, as I had packed all of my books into storage by this time.  I found the best translator to be Ciardi and the best illustrator to be Dore.  Ciardi seemed more fluid then the other two translations I read, and it was a good mix between being modern and accurate.  Dryden’s translation was much stiffer and the recent penguin translation seemed to be oversimplified.  Dante illustrations seemed to add so much depth to the work that I felt a void when they were not there.  Even renowned artistic great, Blake, was not able to capture the essence of Dante (in my opinion)… making the Dore illustrations seem more profound in comparison.

Paradiso is frequently the Dante that most people do not read – and it’s my opinion that if you HAVE to miss one, this is the one to miss.  However, I have heard from others that this is their favourite work, but since no one in my book club was able to get through all three in the month, I was the only one who could offer an opinion on it.  I would suggest reading it for completeness and trying to read it with a Ciardi/Dore combination to get the most out of the text.

Review: Purgatory by Dante Alighieri

Reading The Divine Comedy has been a humbling experience.  The novel has so many layers and references within it, I feel as though there are many passing me by.  My initial feeling on the best way to get the most out of Dante is to first read all the Greek works and then read the Bible and if possible, a bit about the history of Italy around the time period of publication.  The references and allusions would become deeper in meaning and the text would be more enjoyable.

After reading Melville Best Anderson's translation in my Easton Press edition (100 Greatest Books Ever Written), I felt like the translation was weighing me down.  I could not read more than a few canto's at a time - they seemed to be thick... kind of like walking in Atreus's Swamp of Sorrows in The Neverending Story.  In addition, the illustrations by William Blake were of a muddled quality, due to the printing of the edition.  It all seemed to add to the overwhelming feeling that I needed to try a new edition.


Dante is carried away to Purgatory
[Illustration by Gustave Dore]

As luck would have it, I found a copy made by the Franklin Library (part of the 100 Greatest Books of All-Time series).  The Franklin Library books were made by the Franklin Mint before their publishing arm went out of business.  What I really enjoyed about this edition was the translation.  John Ciardi has done an excellent job of making the text more readable and fluid, without losing the important details.  In addition, I now have chapter summaries preceding each Canto which gives you background detail on the allusions/references - which I previously stumbled through (checking wikipedia at every turn for further information).  These analytical chapter summaries have proved invaluable.  And just how the illustrations by Blake seemed to match the muddiness of the Easton Press' translation, Gustave Dore's illustrations seemed to match the fluidity of the Ciardi translation.  The translation and illustrations are so good, that I'm actually dreading moving on to the third edition - it's quite possible that I revert back to Ciardi/Dore at some point.
And now on to the work itself.  Dante has just left Hell and is being carried away to Purgatory.  Purgatory is a place where souls purge themselves of their sins - consequently, there are seven terraces on the mountain in Purgatory - to match the seven deadly sins. We are shown souls atoning for their sins on every terrace, one for lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy and pride.  I wonder if the reader's thoughts affect which stories stick in the mind the most.  For me, I have an overwhelming picture of the emaciated souls repaying their sins of gluttony and the souls whirling around at a high pace and never stopping - repenting for their sins of sloth. 

My favourite part of this work is Dante breaking down before Beatrice and atoning for his own sins.  Beatrice was a woman that had such effect on Dante, he ended up immortalizing her in his work - despite only meeting the woman twice in a nine year span... before her death at the age of 24.  What I enjoyed most about his repentance is that he does not specify what he is repenting for - and I took it as the author respecting his own privacy in his work and showing that each of us has our own personal sins which we atone for in our own private ways.  It was very beautiful to me.

Matilda guides Dante in cleansing in the river Lethe
[Illustration by Gustave Dore]

The imagery in the work was made even stronger by Gustave Dore's illustrations - I felt incredibly moved when reading the scene where Dante is dipped in the pure river Lethe in Purgatory by Matilda to wash away his memory of meeting Jesus and Beatrice and cleanse himself of his sins.  The illustration coupled with the work had a profound impact on me.  I cannot separate the illustrations from the beautiful translation and summaries - all flow into one and provided me with a beautiful experience in reading Purgatory.

I'm excited to begin Paradise (Paradiso) - we will see how the translation by Thomas G. Bergen and illustrations by Leonard Baskin compare, and if I revert back to Ciardi/Dore.

Review: Inferno by Dante Alighieri

For June, our book club has decided to read Dante's 'The Divine Comedy' in it's entire three parts.  One of the most important lessons of my experience in the classics has been that of translations.  Oftentimes, the translation will have a profound effect on your enjoyment of the novel but it is difficult to foresee when such difficulties will exist prior to reading.
I found this very striking in Beowulf - the book club seemed to be divided in opinion of the work based on translations (parenthetically, Seamus Heaney seems to be a good choice).  In the case of War & Peace - the translations didn't seem to matter as much... each member enjoyed the translation they read. 
Since I have a compulsion with buying books, I have amassed three editions of Dante's 'The Divine Comedy', with three different translators.  As such, I have decided to read one of each of the three epic poems with a different translator.
Inferno - Melville Best Anderson [Illustrator: William Blake]
Purgatory - John Ciardi [Illustrator: Gustave Dore *SWOON*]
Paradise - Thomas G. Bergen [Illustrator: Leonard Baskin]

All books I'm reading were published between 1969 and 1978, but I'm unsure of the translation dates save for John Ciardi (1977).  My assumption is that the Melville translation was much older, but cannot find a wikipedia entry for him or Thomas Bergen.  Now, on to the review...
I'm fascinated by Dante.  Before reading 'Inferno', I had no preconceived notions of what to expect other than a fiery pit of gruesome.  Dante himself walks through Hell with his friend, Virgil... who wrote 'The Aeneid' - the Roman poetical account of the sacking of Troy and the founding of Rome by Aeneas.  Virgil takes Dante around as his guide and they converse and point out the tormented souls in the Inferno.

Dante gives Hell a very succinct structure.  There are nine circles in all, but beyond that, there are distinctions set within each circle.  Spirits found in hell are classified based on the evil deeds they have committed.  Many of these deeds would be applicable today, such as 'violence against neighbours' but many would not be considered as important... such as 'flatterers'.  Regardless, Dante has plotted distinctions between crimes and prioritizes them.  For instance, he believes that 'fraud' is worse than 'violence' and he structures Hell accordingly [part of the fun in today's time is to debate the merits of such a classification].

William Blake's 'Whirlwind of Lovers' from Dante's Inferno

Hell is strewn with various souls - some questionable high ranking, corrupt, officials from the church exist there as well as some of the ancient Greek warriors.  Jason, whom appears in Euripides play 'Medea', is found in the 8th circle of Hell (panders, seducers, flatterers).  Perhaps surprisingly, Greek hero Ulysses from The Odyssey, is also in Hell (Parenthetically, I agree with Dante that he should be due to the gruesome scene upon his return home). 

There are many allusions to persons in Hell that we would probably have not known about today, if not for Dante's assistance.  He has put men that have done personal harm to himself, into Hell.  What I find ironic is that he immortalizes his enemies by mentioning them  -  arguably libelous, unless you believe that any publicity is good publicity. ;)
In the final circle of hell (9th), there exists three people: Judas, Brutus and Cassius (who was the "leading instigator in the plot to kill Julius Caesar).  We also get to meet Lucifer in the 9th circle, and I was particularly interested in the frozen lake, Cocytus, where souls are imprisoned.

The translation by Melville Best Anderson was not the greatest - it had a very pleasurably sounding meter and rhyme to it, but it was very difficult to digest.  Despite the interesting subject, I did not really have the ravenous desire to read it as I assumed I would.  I could only really read 10 pages or so at a time before I became somewhat exhausted.  The illustrations by William Blake are famous, but I did not find them as beautiful as the ones in Paradise Lost.  I have a tendency to prefer Gustave Dore, so I am excited to start with a different edition and hopefully enjoy the more modern translation by John Ciardi, for Purgatory.