Signet 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)...

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

I picked this up for my homeschooled teen and am glad I chose this version. It is a paperback but arrived in wonderful condition. There's some translation notes as well as an introduction, which explains a bit of background and history surrounding the work and author. Each Canto begins with a quick summary, which is very helpful as it allowed my student to see how things were worded rather than trying to pluck out the general happenings first. At the end of each Canto, there is a more detailed explanation of certain lines, phrases, and mentions to make the specific meanings more clear. The print is on the smaller side (my only teeny, tiny thought). This worked very well with my material and made discussions and understanding much easier for my student.

I love the footnotes in here; however, I believe that the Esolen translation is superior. I keep this one when for when I'm confused (and this happens more in Inferno than elsewhere) and the Esolen for pure poetry.

I wanted the Ciardi translation of Inferno, published in the 1960s, of which I have a dodgy downloaded copy. I found his translation lucid, uncontrived, and accessible, and his notes informative and even amusing at times, when he apologises for the shortcomings of his own work. However when I went to buy the paperback edition I did not realise I was ordering the translation by Sibbald which unlike the Ciardi is still in print. I am not as keen on Sibbald's take, as translation seems a little strained and contrived in places, but I am particularly unimpressed by this edition. It is cramped, with small typeface and tiny margins, as if the publisher wanted to save on paper. The text is laid out in lumps, with no separation of each three-line rhyme -- however the text is forced apart here and there to allow for inserted footnote numbers. And on some pages, those footnotes take up half the page. It really is a very ugly layout that makes it hard to savour the text or even the notes; Dante's masterpiece deserves better treatment. Nothing wrong with the footnotes themselves, which are crammed with insight and fascinating background information, but really, this is the sort of edition that a reluctant student on a tight budget would buy. I'd dig around for a second hand copy of Ciardi if was me (and in fact I have.)