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A heavenly conclusion to Dante's towering masterpiece Nov 17, 2004 (14 of 16 found this helpful)
As a whole, Dante's COMEDY (a title later amended by the Church to DIVINE COMEDY) is arguably the greatest work in the history of World Literature. As an artist, his only competitor might well be Shakespeare. Despite all that, I will confess that the PARADISE is not a terribly easy book to read. INFERNO in particular but also PURGATORY is filled with a host of extraordinary scenes with unquestionable universal appeal. The highpoints of INFERNO have become part of the intellectual furniture of Western literature, not least because one reads it with rapt attention and a sense that one is dealing almost with a contemporary rather than a person writing seven hundred years ago. PURGATORY lacks some of this universal appeal, but nonetheless features a host of marvelous moments and extremely human details.
Unlike INFERNO and PURGATORY, however, PARADISE is rather narrower and specialized in its appeal. It is not merely that it assumes that the reader is a devout Catholic; one must be a devout Catholic of the early 14th century, sharing completely the view of the universe accepted at that time. I think I have an unusually complete understanding of the cosmological views of the late medieval period, but while this meant I was able to read this work with some familiarity of the details, it also guaranteed that much of my interest was merely academic.
There is an expression that "You do not judge Dante; Dante judges you." This is undoubtedly true, but it it definitely true that this final book is going to strain the interest of most readers, even if you know enough about the intellectual worldview behind his work. In fairness to Dante, the work was nearly impossible to pull off. That he managed to do so nonetheless is nothing short of a minor miracle. For one thing, most of what made the many remarkable characters of INFERNO so fascinating was the struggle that existed in their lives. But in PARADISE there is no conflict, no struggle, no "agon." Instead, it is a realm of perfect bliss, with few qualities apart from love, happiness, and praising God through singing and dancing. These are some pretty stiff limitations that any writer would struggle with. That Dante managed something remarkable despite this is fairly amazing.
Also, there is a major theological limitation placed upon the work. At this particular point in the history of Christian thought, the assumption was that after death humans would be without a body (though they would be reunited with their body at the final judgment). So all of the denizens of heaven were disembodied spirits (though Beatrice does seem to possess a body, but that is a detail that we'll pass over). Dante represents all of the souls he meets in heaven as brilliant shapes of light. In fact, everything in heaven is represented as brilliant shapes of light.
C. S. Lewis remarked that PARADISE was the first Sci-Fi novel, and while he intended this hyperbolically, there is nonetheless a great deal of truth in it. Dante's imaginative depiction of the physics of the superlunary realm is a truly enormous achievement. I won't go into all of the details of medieval physics, but given the assumptions of Aristotelian science, the way his body reacts in the heavens is not merely consistent with the science but pretty much necessitated by it. For instance, moving on the assumption that things above the orbit of the moon have an ineluctable attraction to God, whenever Beatrice wants to take Dante from one sphere to another she merely gazes upon the divine beauty and they are transported as quickly as, as Dante puts it, a bolt from a crossbow. It is a wonderful touch, only one among many found in the book.
What I love most about this work, however, is the way that it expands and completes the work as a whole. On one level, the COMEDY is essentially a tour of the entire known cosmos excluding the surface of the earth. He begins by d
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Triumph of Style over Story Dec 13, 2007 (2 of 2 found this helpful)
Paradiso is inherently dull. The very nature of heaven makes it so. Not only is there no flesh, there is no conflict and there isn't even any change. With the stuff of drama absent and only bliss to look upon, what is there to say? Or rather, what is there to listen to?
In this case, as the story of our poet recedes and as Virgil is replaced by the ethereal Beatrice, the substance of the poem becomes the poetry. That is, the voice of Dante becomes paramount. If you read this in Italian, that's reward enough. I would guess that Paradiso is the canticle most often quoted in the original language.
In English however, this is tough sledding. The wily Ciardi didn't quite pull it off and all the earlier translations are hopeless. Then along comes Mandelbaum. The language is elevated without being unreachable. It is still not a volume that's impossible to put down, but it is a volume that you have to pick up again and again.
Lynn Hoffman, author of bang BANG: A Novel
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Noted poet/scholar Allen Mandelbaum's moving, faithful (inexpensive!) translation Aug 11, 2009 (1 of 1 found this helpful)
I've read THE DIVINE COMEDY in the original Italian and I highly recommend poet and scholar Allen Mandelbaum's acclaimed (facing page) translation (in 3 inexpensive mass-market paperbacks from Bantam: Inferno (Bantam Classics): 0553213393 / Purgatorio (Bantam Classics): 055321344X / Paradiso (Bantam Classics): 0553212044). Originally published in hardcover by the University of California Press, these free-verse English works carry the melancholic tone and the humanity of the original more faithfully than several other translations I've read. The maps/charts/notes for these mass market paperbacks are excellent (if relatively brief) and will likely satisfy the reader with a general interest in World Literature.
There is no end of commentary out there, extending back to Dante's own time (700 years worth!). Many Italian Studies professors lament that Dante's most famous work gets duller with each volume. I disagree, in part. Though the INFERNO is undoubtedly the most dramatic, I believe that the PURGATORY is the most satisfying, because it is so recognizably human. The PARADISE is not my favorite as I've never been enthusiastic about theology, though the PARADISE (and THE DIVINE COMEDY in toto) may be best appreciated as a microcosm of medieval European thought. One must also appreciate the difficult conditions under which this masterpiece was composed -- in exile -- no doubt a much more trying experience in early 14th century "Italy" than in our time. You don't have to agree with Dante to admire him and his art. The man suffered, and you can feel it. I believe the intensity of feeling in the poem is, in part, what distinguishes it from many other well-known epic poems which demonstrate more artifice than humanity.
N.B.: Mandelbaum's complete translation of THE DIVINE COMEDY is also available in a single-volume, portable cloth-hardcover edition, though the single-volume is in English with no facing-page original Italian (and with notes by Peter Armour): Everyman's Library, ISBN 0679433139. The Divine Comedy: Inferno; Purgatorio; Paradiso (Everyman's Library)
If you find you love Mandelbaum's translation and Barry Moser's haunting ink-wash illustrations, you can search for the original (bilingual) editions from the Univ. of CA Press.
If you're looking for a different translation of The Divine Comedy, many scholars agree that the following free-verse English-language versions are currently the pick of the crop (and also more expensive than the Mandelbaum/Bantam Classics):
Robert Durling's INFERNO and PURGATORIO translations with excellent, brief notes (and beautiful maps and cover illustrations) -- Oxford Univ. Press. Durling is currently working on his translation of the PARADISO;
Charles S. Singleton's scholarly translation/notes for the Inferno/Purgatory/Paradise are expensive (though you might find inexpensive used copies), and probably best appreciated by Dante aficionados -- Princeton Univ. Press;
At this time I have not yet read the recent translations by the Hollanders, which are said to be fantastic. I believe much of the praise is for the accompanying notes which condense Hollander's voluminous knowledge. I've read some of the notes and they are very impressive. Robert Hollander is another esteemed Dante scholar.
Dedicated students of Dante will want to check out Princeton's online Dante database (the Princeton Dante Project [PDP] and Dartmouth College's online Dante database, the Dartmouth Dante Project [DDP], both directed by Robert Hollander.
If you're looking for an attempt at capturing the rhyme of the original Italian (terza rima), a Norton Critical Edition of Michael Palma's rhyming translation of the Inferno (Norton Critical Editions) (edited by Giuseppe Mazzotta) is available (ISBN-10: 039397796X ; ISBN-13: 9780393977967). The NCE is loaded with great supplementary material (annotation, background
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Paradiso is paradise! Apr 26, 2001 (3 of 5 found this helpful)
Paradiso is another good book in the Divine Comedy trilogy. However most people never get past Inferno. The first two are good, and Paradiso most definetly holds up to its counterparts. I would also like to add that Allen Mandelbaum does an excellent job translating the Divine Comedy, as well as the Aeneid of Virgil. Paradiso, translated by Mandelbaum is easy to read, and very poetic. I am sure it is just how Dante himself would have written it, had he written the Divine Comedy in english.
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The Closing Of The Trilogy Jun 28, 2005 (2 of 4 found this helpful)
As with the other two books of the Divine Comedy, Paradiso could be a stand alone work of literature in its own right. The Grande Finale of Dante's massive poem ends with a flourish and upholds the tradition of masterful writing set forth by Inferno and Purgatorio.
This book should only truly be read upon completing Inferno and Purgatorio as many of the asides and relationships were first developed there. Allen Mandelbaum does a wonderful job of translating the poem but of also providing the reader with numerous notes and explanations on certain phrases or objects within the Cantos. This version is by far the easiest and most complete and can be enjoyed by both the casual and experienced reader.