Reviews
"Dante's syntax and his stanza structure are central to the way his poem releases its meaning, and this translation does a remarkable job of maintaining his syntax while tracking the order of his terzine." --William Stephany, Professor of English, University of Vermont, NEH DanteInstitute, Durling and Martinez handle the scholarship with just the lightness of touch that is required. Nowhere is this clearer than in their treatment of the theology of the Purgatorio., "A magnificent achievement. The translation is both literal and exquisite, reconciling Italian poetic forms with English syntax and lexicon; it is the clearest window on Dante's breathtaking Purgatorio yet available in English. Its concise introduction, clear and rich glosses, masterfulroad-map to Dante scholarship, and careful connections to the rest of the poem, make this a Purgatorio which will delight all types of Dante readers."--Regina Psaki, The Giustina Family Professor of Italian Language and Literature, Romance Languages, University of Oregon, "This translation of Dante's Purgatorio is another brilliant achievement for the Durling/Martinez team. The clarity and precision of the English rendering perfectly catches the subtlety of Dante's Italian, and in particular, the expansive poetic imagery born of Dante's experience of Purgatory.Like their version of the Inferno, this volume provides sophisticated notes and commentary informed by the most recent Dante scholarship. It also contains a series of fifteen jewel-like essays analyzing the central interpretative themes of the Divine Comedy.... This volume is a tour-de-force,offering at once elegant poetry and scrupulous scholarship in an accessible style.... The Durling/Martinez volumes are masterpieces...they will be the definitive Dante for many generations to come."--Margaret Brose, Professor of Italian and Comparative Literature and Director of the Italian StudiesProgram, University of California, Santa Cruz, "The Durling/Martinez Purgatorio offers a unique feature called 'Inter-cantica' not found in any other translation: following the notes of each canto, this section traces the moral, philosophical, and poetic issues raised in the Purgatorio back to the Inferno. Genuinely innovative,'Inter-cantica,' presents the Divine Comedy's rich inter-textual design to readers of English for the very first time."--Margaret Brose, Professor of Italian and Comparative Literature and Director of the Italian Studies Program, University of California, Santa Cruz, "In this new translation, Durling tries to be as concrete as possible,producing a version that is more fluent and accurate than the versions ofMandelbaum and Musa.... Highly recommended."--Library Journal, "Like the Inferno edition that preceded it, the Durling-Martinez Purgatorio, with its beautiful translation and superb apparatus of notes, is simply the best edition of Dante's second canticle in English. No other version offers anything close to what we find gathered here in onevolume."--Robert Harrison, Professor of Italian, Stanford University, "A magnificent achievement. The translation is both literal and exquisite, reconciling Italian poetic forms with English syntax and lexicon; it is the clearest window on Dante's breathtaking Purgatorio yet available in English. Its concise introduction, clear and rich glosses, masterful road-map to Dante scholarship, and careful connections to the rest of the poem, make this a Purgatorio which will delight all types of Dante readers."--Regina Psaki, The Giustina Family Professor of Italian Language and Literature, Romance Languages, University of Oregon "Like the Inferno edition that preceded it, the Durling-Martinez Purgatorio, with its beautiful translation and superb apparatus of notes, is simply the best edition of Dante's second canticle in English. No other version offers anything close to what we find gathered here in one volume."--Robert Harrison, Professor of Italian, Stanford University "This translation of Dante's Purgatorio is another brilliant achievement for the Durling/Martinez team. The clarity and precision of the English rendering perfectly catches the subtlety of Dante's Italian, and in particular, the expansive poetic imagery born of Dante's experience of Purgatory. Like their version of the Inferno, this volume provides sophisticated notes and commentary informed by the most recent Dante scholarship. It also contains a series of fifteen jewel-like essays analyzing the central interpretative themes of the Divine Comedy.... This volume is a tour-de-force, offering at once elegant poetry and scrupulous scholarship in an accessible style.... The Durling/Martinez volumes are masterpieces...they will be the definitive Dante for many generations to come."--Margaret Brose, Professor of Italian and Comparative Literature and Director of the Italian Studies Program, University of California, Santa Cruz, This new edition provides a powerful example of how a sensitive handling of the material can enhance our reading of the poem, rather than entice us with the illusory prospect of fully grasping its meaning. The book's great virtue is that its focus is the poem itself, in the original., "A magnificent achievement. The translation is both literal and exquisite, reconciling Italian poetic forms with English syntax and lexicon; it is the clearest window on Dante's breathtaking Purgatorio yet available in English. Its concise introduction, clear and rich glosses, masterful road-map to Dante scholarship, and careful connections to the rest of the poem, make this a Purgatorio which will delight all types of Dante readers."--Regina Psaki, The Giustina Family Professor of Italian Language and Literature, Romance Languages, University of Oregon "Like the Inferno edition that preceded it, the Durling-Martinez Purgatorio, with its beautiful translation and superb apparatus of notes, is simply the best edition of Dante's second canticle in English. No other version offers anything close to what we find gathered here in one volume."--Robert Harrison, Professor of Italian, Stanford University "This translation of Dante's Purgatorio is another brilliant achievement for the Durling/Martinez team. The clarity and precision of the English rendering perfectly catches the subtlety of Dante's Italian, and in particular, the expansive poetic imagery born of Dante's experience of Purgatory. Like their version of the Inferno, this volume provides sophisticated notes and commentary informed by the most recent Dante scholarship. It also contains a series of fifteen jewel-like essays analyzing the central interpretative themes of the Divine Comedy.... This volume is a tour-de-force, offering at once elegant poetry and scrupulous scholarship in an accessible style.... The Durling/Martinez volumes are masterpieces...they will be thedefinitive Dante for many generations to come."--Margaret Brose, Professor of Italian and Comparative Literature and Director of the Italian Studies Program, University of California, Santa Cruz, "A magnificent achievement. The translation is both literal and exquisite,reconciling Italian poetic forms with English syntax and lexicon; it is theclearest window on Dante's breathtaking Purgatorio yet available in English. Itsconcise introduction, clear and rich glosses, masterful road-map to Dantescholarship, and careful connections to the rest of the poem, make this aPurgatorio which will delight all types of Dante readers."--Regina Psaki, TheGiustina Family Professor of Italian Language and Literature, Romance Languages,University of Oregon, "A magnificent achievement. The translation is both literal and exquisite, reconciling Italian poetic forms with English syntax and lexicon; it is the clearest window on Dante's breathtaking Purgatorio yet available in English. Its concise introduction, clear and rich glosses, masterful road-map to Dante scholarship, and careful connections to the rest of the poem, make this a Purgatorio which will delight all types of Dante readers."--Regina Psaki, The Giustina Family Professor of Italian Language and Literature, Romance Languages, University of Oregon "Like the Inferno edition that preceded it, the Durling-Martinez Purgatorio , with its beautiful translation and superb apparatus of notes, is simply the best edition of Dante's second canticle in English. No other version offers anything close to what we find gathered here in one volume."--Robert Harrison, Professor of Italian, Stanford University "This translation of Dante's Purgatorio is another brilliant achievement for the Durling/Martinez team. The clarity and precision of the English rendering perfectly catches the subtlety of Dante's Italian, and in particular, the expansive poetic imagery born of Dante's experience of Purgatory. Like their version of the Inferno , this volume provides sophisticated notes and commentary informed by the most recent Dante scholarship. It also contains a series of fifteen jewel-like essays analyzing the central interpretative themes of the Divine Comedy.... This volume is a tour-de-force, offering at once elegant poetry and scrupulous scholarship in an accessible style.... The Durling/Martinez volumes are masterpieces...they will be the definitive Dante for many generations to come."--Margaret Brose, Professor of Italian and Comparative Literature and Director of the Italian Studies Program, University of California, Santa Cruz, "Like the Inferno edition that preceded it, the Durling-MartinezPurgatorio, with its beautiful translation and superb apparatus of notes, issimply the best edition of Dante's second canticle in English. No other versionoffers anything close to what we find gathered here in one volume."--RobertHarrison, Professor of Italian, Stanford University, "As Durling and Martinez complete their monumental three-volume presentation of Dante's masterpiece, we can sense their triumph and elation, despite their characteristic modesty. This, after all, is the volume with which they can demonstrate the fullness and consistency of Dante's great project, its final approach to what they describe in one footnote as 'a pitch of intensity unique in all literature.' The scholarship, as always, is graceful, comprehensive, and acute, and it surrounds a translation that is so carefully considered and fully realized as to be, at times, quite breathtaking." --David Young, translator of The Poetry of Petrarch"Durling and Martinez deliver Paradiso in elegant English prose faithful to Dante's Italian. The general introduction and succinct notes to each canto enable an informed reading of a frequently daunting text, while the longer 'Additional Notes,' bibliography, and indices will more than satisfy the most exigent critic. Marvelous, in the richest medieval sense of the term." --Michael Wyatt, author of The Italian Encounter with Tudor England"At the end of his poem Dante claims that his 'high imagining failed of power,' but Durling and Martinez have suffered no such fate in completing their translation of the Divine Comedy. Their Paradiso is a crowning achievement, a work of lucid prose and of impeccable accuracy. Readers will find themselves rewarded by the succinct, richly informative notes at the end of each canto and the extended essay-notes at the back of the volume. A splendid accomplishment." --Richard Lansing, editor of The Dante Encyclopedia, "In this new translation, Durling tries to be as concrete as possible, producing a version that is more fluent and accurate than the versions of Mandelbaum and Musa.... Highly recommended."--Library Journal, "This translation of Dante's Purgatorio is another brilliant achievementfor the Durling/Martinez team. The clarity and precision of the Englishrendering perfectly catches the subtlety of Dante's Italian, and in particular,the expansive poetic imagery born of Dante's experience of Purgatory. Like theirversion of the Inferno, this volume provides sophisticated notes and commentaryinformed by the most recent Dante scholarship. It also contains a series offifteen jewel-like essays analyzing the central interpretative themes of theDivine Comedy.... This volume is a tour-de-force, offering at once elegantpoetry and scrupulous scholarship in an accessible style.... TheDurling/Martinez volumes are masterpieces...they will be the definitive Dantefor many generations to come."--Margaret Brose, Professor of Italian andComparative Literature and Director of the Italian Studies Program, Universityof California, Santa Cruz, "The Durling/Martinez Purgatorio offers a unique feature called'Inter-cantica' not found in any other translation: following the notes of eachcanto, this section traces the moral, philosophical, and poetic issues raised inthe Purgatorio back to the Inferno. Genuinely innovative, 'Inter-cantica,'presents the Divine Comedy's rich inter-textual design to readers of English forthe very first time."--Margaret Brose, Professor of Italian and ComparativeLiterature and Director of the Italian Studies Program, University ofCalifornia, Santa Cruz, 'This new edition of Inferno is distinctly user-friendly....Serious students-in or out of the classroom-who...examine the original poem alongside a readable and reliable prose translation will find this edition excellently suited to their needs.' -The Christian Science Monitor 'A useful volume for students and first-time visitors to Dante's cosmos.'- Publishers Weekly 'In this new translation, Durling tries to be as concrete as possible, producing a version that is more fluent and accurate than the versions of Mandelbaum and Musa.... Highly recommended.' -Library Journal 'Like the Inferno edition that preceded it, the Durling-Martinez Purgatorio, with its beautiful translation and superb apparatus of notes, is simply the best edition of Dante's second canticle in English. No other version offers anything close to what we find gathered here in one volume.' -Robert Harrison, Professor of Italian, Stanford University "As Durling and Martinez complete their monumental three-volume presentation of Dante's masterpiece, we can sense their triumph and elation, despite their characteristic modesty. This, after all, is the volume with which they can demonstrate the fullness and consistency of Dante's great project, its final approach to what they describe in one footnote as 'a pitch of intensity unique in all literature.' The scholarship, as always, is graceful, comprehensive, and acute, and it surrounds a translation that is so carefully considered and fully realized as to be, at times, quite breathtaking." --David Young, translator of The Poetry of Petrarch "Durling and Martinez deliver Paradiso in elegant English prose faithful to Dante's Italian. The general introduction and succinct notes to each canto enable an informed reading of a frequently daunting text, while the longer 'Additional Notes,' bibliography, and indices will more than satisfy the most exigent critic. Marvelous, in the richest medieval sense of the term." --Michael Wyatt, author of The Italian Encounter with Tudor England "At the end of his poem Dante claims that his 'high imagining failed of power,' but Durling and Martinez have suffered no such fate in completing their translation of the Divine Comedy. Their Paradiso is a crowning achievement, a work of lucid prose and of impeccable accuracy. Readers will find themselves rewarded by the succinct, richly informative notes at the end of each canto and the extended essay-notes at the back of the volume. A splendid accomplishment." --Richard Lansing, editor of The Dante Encyclopedia, "A magnificent achievement. The translation is both literal and exquisite, reconciling Italian poetic forms with English syntax and lexicon; it is the clearest window on Dante's breathtaking Purgatorio yet available in English. Its concise introduction, clear and rich glosses, masterful road-map to Dante scholarship, and careful connections to the rest of the poem, make this a Purgatorio which will delight all types of Dante readers."--Regina Psaki, The Giustina Family Professor of Italian Language and Literature, Romance Languages, University of Oregon "Like the Inferno edition that preceded it, the Durling-Martinez Purgatorio, with its beautiful translation and superb apparatus of notes, is simply the best edition of Dante's second canticle in English. No other version offers anything close to what we find gathered here in one volume."--Robert Harrison, Professor of Italian, Stanford University "This translation of Dante's Purgatorio is another brilliant achievement for the Durling/Martinez team. The clarity and precision of the English rendering perfectly catches the subtlety of Dante's Italian, and in particular, the expansive poetic imagery born of Dante's experience of Purgatory. Like their version of the Inferno, this volume provides sophisticated notes and commentary informed by the most recent Dante scholarship. It also contains a series of fifteen jewel-like essays analyzing the central interpretative themes of the Divine Comedy.... This volume is a tour-de-force, offering at once elegant poetry and scrupulous scholarship in an accessible style.... The Durling/Martinez volumes are masterpieces...they will be the definitive Dante for many generations tocome."--Margaret Brose, Professor of Italian and Comparative Literature and Director of the Italian Studies Program, University of California, Santa Cruz, 'This new edition of Inferno is distinctly user-friendly....Serious students-in or out of the classroom-who...examine the original poem alongside a readable and reliable prose translation will find this edition excellently suited to their needs.' -The Christian Science Monitor'A useful volume for students and first-time visitors to Dante's cosmos.'- Publishers Weekly'In this new translation, Durling tries to be as concrete as possible, producing a version that is more fluent and accurate than the versions of Mandelbaum and Musa.... Highly recommended.' -Library Journal'Like the Inferno edition that preceded it, the Durling-Martinez Purgatorio, with its beautiful translation and superb apparatus of notes, is simply the best edition of Dante's second canticle in English. No other version offers anything close to what we find gathered here in one volume.' -Robert Harrison, Professor of Italian, Stanford University"As Durling and Martinez complete their monumental three-volume presentation of Dante's masterpiece, we can sense their triumph and elation, despite their characteristic modesty. This, after all, is the volume with which they can demonstrate the fullness and consistency of Dante's great project, its final approach to what they describe in one footnote as 'a pitch of intensity unique in all literature.' The scholarship, as always, is graceful, comprehensive, andacute, and it surrounds a translation that is so carefully considered and fully realized as to be, at times, quite breathtaking." --David Young, translator of The Poetry of Petrarch"Durling and Martinez deliver Paradiso in elegant English prose faithful to Dante's Italian. The general introduction and succinct notes to each canto enable an informed reading of a frequently daunting text, while the longer 'Additional Notes,' bibliography, and indices will more than satisfy the most exigent critic. Marvelous, in the richest medieval sense of the term." --Michael Wyatt, author of The Italian Encounter with Tudor England"At the end of his poem Dante claims that his 'high imagining failed of power,' but Durling and Martinez have suffered no such fate in completing their translation of the Divine Comedy. Their Paradiso is a crowning achievement, a work of lucid prose and of impeccable accuracy. Readers will find themselves rewarded by the succinct, richly informative notes at the end of each canto and the extended essay-notes at the back of the volume. Asplendid accomplishment." --Richard Lansing, editor of The Dante Encyclopedia, "Dante's syntax and his stanza structure are central to the way his poemreleases its meaning, and this translation does a remarkable job of maintaininghis syntax while tracking the order of his terzine." --William Stephany,Professor of English, University of Vermont, NEH Dante Institute, ... this book makes the case that we should approach the poem in the spirit of the Italian word "peregrini", as travellers in meaningful search. We are richer for it.
