The Divine Comedy - by Dante Alighieri (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

This vivid new translation of Dante's immortal classic, Inferno, opens a new vista and offers a fresh experience of this milestone in human literary genius. Throughout his life, Dante struggled with the question of how to convey the solemn gravity of the Latin classics into the "vulgar" language of his native Italy. At the same time, he was convinced that the vernacular of his time and place had color and vibrancy that the "heady," more cerebral, classic literature lacked. Writing the Inferno was Dante's breakthrough moment in wedding these two very different "personalities" of poetic expression. Jason Baxter's new, pulsing, rhythmic translation is alive with spiritual energy from both these streams. Here we have an Inferno that we feel in our nerves and in our blood, as well as in the heart and head.

Review Quotes

"If you feel lost in the middle of a dark wood, or if you feel like the world is entering an apocalyptic time, it turns out that Dante got there long before you. Jason Baxter's new translation is the perfect way into an ever-relevant story." --PAUL KINGSNORTH

"For those familiar with other translations, the effect of Baxter's offering is like bread hot from the oven." --GLENN ARBERY

"Jason Baxter's wonderful introduction evinces his learning; his deft translation will captivate a grateful audience for Dante's poetry." --ANN W. ASTELL

"Jason Baxter's vivacious--or should I say 'lively'?--new translation of Inferno rescues Dante from the all-too-often lifeless diction of academics. A distinctive and gripping rendition." --MICHAEL J. KNOWLES

"Like Dante himself, Jason Baxter has brought back to life Dante's righteous indignation through our own vernacular, the English language. As Virgil is to Dante, let Baxter be your guide." --MATTHEW BARRETT

"Here, perhaps-with its muscular diction, forceful staccatos, and visceral, fierce turns of phrase-is translation as incarnation." --JENNIFER NEWSOME MARTIN

"Here is a translation with Dante's aims in mind, bringing freshness, directness and, in the case of the Inferno, grim illumination. Baxter's notes are well-judged, too, with leads for seasoned readers and novices alike." --MARK VERNON

"Baxter makes the case for the Inferno as heady but blood warming, encyclopedic but 'rough as sandpaper and sharp as broken glass, ' heart-rending noir that can 'save Dante from the classicists' and restore the Italian's savage lessons to the vernacular, 'squeeze[ing] the juice of my perception' and reaching, refreshingly, for 'rhymes, sufficiently hoarse and harsh / to be a fitting match for this sick hole.'" --JOSHUA HREN

"Jason Baxter, a scholar with a commanding understanding of Dante (as evidenced in this book's magisterial Introduction) has done us all a great service with his marvelous new translation of the Inferno." --SEBASTIAN MORELLO

"In this new Comedy, Jason Baxter intones a 'music' that captures the originality and mission of arguably the greatest poet of all time, Dante Alighieri." --MARCIE STOKMAN and COLLEEN HUTT (Well-Read Mom)