Inferno

An attractive new alternative as both a translation and a pedagogical tool. The volume includes an excellent introduction by Dante scholar Steven Botterill (Univ. of California, Berkeley), clear and informative notes by lifelong Dantist Anthony Oldcorn, a concise bibliographical note that indicates some important sources on Dante in print and online, and a diagram of Hell; Index of the Damned lists characters who appear in the canticle. The translator's preface explains Lombardo's choices as he faced the always-challenging task of rendering Dante's poetry into English. Among the most interesting choices are the occasional use of rhyme--especially in key passages and at the end of each canto, where interlocking rhymes that mimic Dante's terza rima are consistently employed--and an emphasis on creating a version that works well as an oral presentation, following the long tradition of private, public, and theatrical readings of the poem. The volume includes the original Italian text, thus facilitating classroom references and comparisons. --Rebecca West (Department of Romance Languages and Literatures, University of Chicago) in Choice I deeply admired Lombardo's translations of Iliad and Odyssey , as did my students--they were universally complimentary, loving the way the poetry flowed, and many of them learned the habit of reading the text aloud, much to the astonishment of their classmates from other sections of the courses. But their encounter with his Inferno was of a different order, as was mine. Lombardo's Inferno is so knowledgeable of the translation tradition (which it uses to marvelous effect), so poetically well-crafted, so compelling to read, so well-documented without overwhelming the reader, that I simply did not want to put it down. My students had much the same reaction. Although in the first session they were responsible for only the first third of the book, I quickly noticed that most of them had already read it through. They found it compelling to read and were captivated by a journey to which many of them had the week before said they did not look forward. --Ted Humphrey, Barrett Professor in the Barrett Honors College, Arizona State University

Stanley Lombardo is Professor of Classics, University of Kansas. Steven Botterill is Associate Professor of Italian Studies, University of California, Berkeley. Anthony Oldcorn is Emeritus Professor of Italian Studies, Brown University.