On my walk this blustery morning, I finally finished Paradise, Canto 33, and brought my adventure through Hell, Purgatory and Paradise to an end. Of my two recent audio-book forays into epic poetry--Milton's Paradise Lost and Dante's Divine Comedy-- I must say I enjoyed Milton the most. I think that is true for several reasons.
First, I loved Milton's language. If I had been able to read Dante in his original Italian, that difference might have disappeared. Or if I had a different translation of Dante, that also may have helped. (I was listening to the John Ciardi translation).
Second, Milton's story is literally of Biblical proportion and roughly Protestant understanding, while I found much of Dante more Roman Catholic and extra-biblical in nature. My own RC baggage probably made this more irritating to me than it may be to others.
Third, Milton's allusions tend to be classical or biblical in nature, at least some of which I have a passing familiarity with. Dante tends to make local and historical Italian allusions, very few of which I know about or can relate to.
I am glad I completed The Divine Comedy. It is a great work which reflects its time in some remarkable ways. But I think my next audio book needs to be something lighter and more entertaining...
4 comments:
Someday I hope to read The Divine Comedy. I'm intrigued that Dorothy Sayers has a translation--or is it Inferno? I'm not sure I understand the difference.
I need to re-visit Milton. I read parts in high school and, at least for me, it was largely lost on me.
Amy- My dil recommends the Anthony Esolen translation. The Divine comedy is in three parts: inferno, Pergatorio, and Paradisio. The three books make up the whole. So you are right, Sayers has a translation as well.
Chris, I'll be eager to see what you choose for your next audio. I'm enjoying your "collections" here on the blog.
: )
Teri- I am thinking of tackling some Dostoevsky next- Brothers Karamazov. This is one of those books I have started about 3 times and never been able to finish. So maybe the audio format will get me over the hump. :-)
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