Jenny ,'Bring On The Night'
There's more to life than watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer! No. Really, there is! Honestly! Here's a place for Buffistas to come and discuss what it is they're reading, their favorite authors and poets. "Geez. Crack a book sometime."
I realized I don't own a copy of the Divine Comedy and am looking for recommendations
How funny, since I just started re-reading it the other day - I have the Oxford University Press edition - translation by Charles Sission, with maps, commentary and notes by David Higgins. I really like Sission's blank verse, and the notes are very lucid and give a lot of context. [link]
No Kindle edition, though.
I wouldn't buy Dante on Kindle anyway, so THANK YOU.
I've always liked Ciardi's translation of Dante. It's very earthy and vivid. Well, the Inferno is anyway.
The John Ciardi translation is peachy.
xpost, and jinx.
We used the Ciardi translation in college. It's as good as Hec and Corwood say.
The John Ciardi translation is peachy.
It pales in comparison to the Gary Panter version.
We used the Mark Musa version (with cover illustrations done by William Blake, whose illustrations are jaw dropping), which was a very good translation.
Sandow Birk has a modern translation with the most amazing art work -- sort of modern day tweaks on the Dore's illustrations. Amazingly beautiful stuff.
Thanks everyone! Kat, at some point I would love a little Dante 101 coffee with you. I feel like I need someone who's taught it recently to help me solidify my understanding of its influence.
OH! I've never taught it. I studied it 4 years ago and I talk about it constantly enough that my students ALWYAS opt to read it on their own, but usually the Sandow Birk version. One of my students said she read the Burke version with Wikipedia, constantly checking allusions.
I feel like I need someone who's taught it recently to help me solidify my understanding of its influence.
I needed someone to help me with the references and allusions! We did a very biographically reading of the text (we had read On Monarchy first and La Vita Nuova, which is kickass because the text is composed of poems, usually sonnets, with background about why he wrote it and then HOW he structured it. There's also the creepiest love poetry image ever of Love holding Beatrice in his arms and force feeding her Dante's heart.
Nicholas Kristof lists the best kids' books ever. [link] Of the 13 books he lists, exactly one has a female main character. (Unless you want to count Charlotte's Web. Then, two.)