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Today’s book is:
The Divine Comedy (The Inferno, The Purgatorio, and The Paradiso) by Dante Alighieri
The authoritative translations of The Inferno, The Purgatorio, and The Paradiso—together in one volume.
Belonging in the immortal company of the great works of literature, Dante Alighieri’s poetic masterpiece, The Divine Comedy, is a moving human drama, an unforgettable visionary journey through the infinite torment of Hell, up the arduous slopes of Purgatory, and on to the glorious realm of Paradise—the sphere of universal harmony and eternal salvation.
Now, for the first time, John Ciardi’s brilliant and authoritative translations of Dante’s three soaring canticles—The Inferno, The Purgatorio, and The Paradiso—have been gathered together in a single volume. Crystallizing the power and beauty inherent in the great poet’s immortal conception of the aspiring soul, The Divine Comedy is a dazzling work of sublime truth and mystical intensity.
You can buy the book here (Amazon link).
The original title was COMEDIA. Nothing more. DIVINE was added later by the people who so loved this book, and wanted to show their profound appreciation of it and its author. Dante himself was prior to writing it in a deep depression. He had been kicked out of his homeland, and was reduced to a wandering brooder who found himself in an impossible and extremely unfair setting. He was in deep distress. Slowly and with the encouragement of friends he put pen to paper. The result was these precious gemstones called cantos. Songs of a heart that held the deepest sorrow and the most profound ability to communicate it so others could fathom their own life and the cycles it must endure to achieve what no heart can achieve if it never stared into the abyss.
I am reading this translation now coupled with the free “100 Days of Dante” videos and comments for each canto.