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The Divine Comedy

Volume 1: Inferno

Hardcover Classics - Coralie Bickford-Smith

Dante Alighieri - Author

Robin Kirkpatrick - Translator

Robin Kirkpatrick - Editor

Robin Kirkpatrick - Introduction by

Robin Kirkpatrick - Commentaries by

Robin Kirkpatrick - Notes by

Coralie Bickford-Smith - Jacket Illustrator

Hardcover | $20.00 | add to cart | view cart
ISBN 9780141195872 | 576 pages | 28 Sep 2010 | Penguin Classics | 5.07 x 7.79in | 18 - AND UP
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Dante's epic-in a stunning new clothbound edition.

Describing Dante's descent into Hell with Virgil as a guide, the Inferno depicts a cruel underworld in which desperate figures are condemned to eternal damnation for committing one or more of seven deadly sins. As he descends through nine concentric circles of increasing torture, Dante encounters doomed souls including the pagan Aeneas, the liar Odysseus, the suicide Cleopatra, and his own political enemies, damned for their deceit. Led by leering demons, the poet must journey with Virgil to the heart of Hell-for it is only by encountering Satan that he can truly understand the tragedy of sin.

"The perfect balance of tightness and colloquialism . . . Likely to be the best modern version of Dante."
— Bernard O'Donoghue


"Kirkpatrick brings a more nuanced sense of the Italian and a more mediated appreciation of the poem's construction than nearly all of his competitors."
— The Times (London)


"We gain much from Kirkpatrick's fidelity to syntax and nuance. . . . His introduction . . . tells you, very readable indeed, pretty much all you need for a heightened appreciation of the work."
— The Guardian (London)