fluffybunny Posted April 2, 2014 Share Posted April 2, 2014 I love reading classics and usually have no problem at all with them, but I could barely get through 5 pages of Divine Comedy Simon and Brown translation! It had sentences that were all mixed up, confusing speech punctuation ... and it was basically unreadable! I couldn't go through 560 pages of that, but I really want to read it. Can anyone recommend a translation that reads "normally"? By that I mean closest to everyday speech. Also, is there a translation that isn't in verse: that reads more like a novel, without the verse format? TIA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katilac Posted April 2, 2014 Share Posted April 2, 2014 I found that a tremendous amount of prep was needed for Dante. We didn't use a 'plain English' translation, but we did read from the detailed study guide before each and every canto we attempted. In addition to the language itself, there is just a tremendous amount of background information and allusions that I certainly didn't understand without help. Not just the expected classical references, but lots of stuff related to the people and politics of Florence. We used the Longfellow translation, because we found some lovely audio to accompany it on youtube, and I found it nearly impossible to read aloud myself. It's also readily available to print in pdf, which is nice for when you want to mark it up for an assignment. Anyone reading Dante simply MUST watch this!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyRaCwgRKXk It's a video done by history teachers, they have a bunch. This one is information on The Divine Comedy set to 'Rapture' by Blondie. It is made entirely of awesome. My kids still sing it on long car rides, lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beth in Mint Hill Posted April 2, 2014 Share Posted April 2, 2014 Hi there, T.S. Eliot said that he spend half of his life studying Dante's Comedia! It is very complex, beautiful poetry in the Italian, so it doesn't lend itself to a "good prose translation!" When I added it to my Humanities course, I searched long and hard for a great new translation of the poetry. I wanted the students to read at least parts of Purgatory and Paradise. My favorite version is the one by the poet, Ciardi:http://www.amazon.com/Divine-Comedy-Inferno-Purgatorio-Paradiso/dp/0451208633 Although Sayers's is a great translation, the Ciardi version is available with all three parts in one nice volume--Because I just couldn't bear having my students stop with the Inferno, and miss Paradise!! Why would anyone want to leave their students in the depths of hell? Oh,oh! I just remembered a fabulous resource:http://etcweb.princeton.edu/dante/pdp/ Above there are audio files of the work in English and in Italian. So, after reading it in English, I would have the students listen to a special passage in the Italian. Just to have the experience of the original poetry. These two are also full of wonderful resources:http://danteworlds.laits.utexas.edu/index.htmlhttp://www.worldofdante.org/ Probably a little more information than you need, but "Oh well!" :) you can take it or leave it. Dante's poem is such a great, yet neglected work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diviya Posted April 2, 2014 Share Posted April 2, 2014 If you search the boards, you may find a thread in which Ester Maria and others talked about the different translations. Here is what I came away with: Dante translators Mandelbaum - best compromise between form and function Esolen - best faithfulness to original Ciardi - most fun Hope that helps! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MicheleinMN Posted April 2, 2014 Share Posted April 2, 2014 My favorite version is the one by the poet, Ciardi:http://www.amazon.com/Divine-Comedy-Inferno-Purgatorio-Paradiso/dp/0451208633 My older children and I all picked Ciardi too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beth in Mint Hill Posted April 2, 2014 Share Posted April 2, 2014 My older children and I all picked Ciardi too! ah, what can I say!?? ...Great minds.... :) So anyway, Michele, I thought you were going to join us in the logic study or the conversatio ... at the harvey center? what happened? We just started the Canterbury Tales. What are you reading these days? You knoooowww... when April arrives with his sweetened showers! dead roots get stirred and sprout living flowers! Chaucer is fun :hat: Raffel's version so cool, and we've just begun. :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fluffybunny Posted April 2, 2014 Author Share Posted April 2, 2014 Thank you so much everyone!!! Katilac, thank you also for your extra helpful tips and video! I really appreciate the help I get from this board :thumbup1: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MicheleinMN Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 ah, what can I say!?? ...Great minds.... :) So anyway, Michele, I thought you were going to join us in the logic study or the conversatio ... at the harvey center? what happened? We just started the Canterbury Tales. What are you reading these days? You knoooowww... when April arrives with his sweetened showers! dead roots get stirred and sprout living flowers! Chaucer is fun :hat: Raffel's version so cool, and we've just begun. :tongue_smilie: Beth, I need to get it on my schedule! (I keep forgetting and need to set up a reminder for myself.) Would you email or post the schedule for me? Thank you for the heads up about starting Canterbury Tales. I think I will check out the Audible.com version you recommended. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fluffybunny Posted April 3, 2014 Author Share Posted April 3, 2014 OK, so all day I have been comparing the new Clive James http://www.amazon.com/Divine-Comedy-Dante-Alighieri/dp/0871407418/ref=sr_1_7?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1396488799&sr=1-7&keywords=dante+divine+comedy version with the Ciardi version and I can't decide! The Clive James one is half the size and the text is joined up without the spaces between each chunk of text, and it seems to read quite smoothly. Yet I like the explanatory paragraphs in Ciardi, though I could probably get something similar at Spark notes. There's also the Esolen translation that reads smoothly, but you have to buy all 3 books, adn for us the side by side Italian text wouldn't be necessary. Help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katilac Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 Why would anyone want to leave their students in the depths of hell? Well, they do make it pretty tempting sometimes . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yvonne Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 My boys and I have been reading this edition of Inferno for their Omni II class, and we've found it to be very accessible. Each canto has a short paragraph giving an introductory overview of that canto. After each canto, there are explanatory notes that have been very helpful. You can see how it's set up with the look inside feature. It's my first time reading Inferno, though, and I didn't do any comparison with other editions; we just used the edition required for the Omni class. So, I'm only speaking from a complete novice's perspective. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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