Inferno by Dante - 2005

Modern Library. 2005. Paperback. Near Fine. A crisp clean softcover, no markings throughout: "Dante's conversations with his mentor Virgil and the doomed shades are by turns assertive and abashed, irritated and pitying and inquisitive, and Ant hony Esolen's new translation renders them so sensitively that they seem to take place in the same room with us. It follows Dante through all his spec tacular range, commanding where he is commanding, wrestling, as he does, wi th the density and darkness in language and in the soul. This Inferno gives us Dante's vivid drama and his verbal inventiveness. It is living writing. " - James Richardson, Princeton University "Professor Esolen's translation of Dante's Inferno is the best one I have s een, for two reasons. His decision to use unrhymed blank verse allows him t o come nearly as close to the meaning of the original as any prose reading could do, and allows him also to avoid the harrowing sacrifices that the de mand for rhyme imposes on any translator. And his endnotes and other additi ons provoke answers to almost any question that could arise about the work. " -A. Kent Hieatt, professor emeritus, University of Western Ontario "Esolen's brilliant translation captures the power and the spirit of a poem that does not easily give up its secrets. The notes and appendices provide exactly the kind of help that most readers will need." -Robert Royal, president, Faith and Reason Institute