Adaptations of The Divine Comedy
- Thread starter doomgaze3
- Start date
BLASPHEMY!
try getting to a booksite on google, and try divine comedy novel in the sites search engine.
try getting to a booksite on google, and try divine comedy novel in the sites search engine.
Why would you want to read it like that? It's like having Shakespear where they stupidly modernise everything. Yuck, can you imagine that?
I don't have a problem understanding it in prose, I just can't enjoy reading it. I was searching around and I found a version by an author named Kathryn Lindskoog, but nobody seems to have Purgatory in stock. 
Anyway, this author seems to have the right idea: Put it into clear english paragraphs that read like a novel instead of a poem.
For extra emphasis: I really hate reading verse.
Anyway, this author seems to have the right idea: Put it into clear english paragraphs that read like a novel instead of a poem.
For extra emphasis: I really hate reading verse.
There's the Penguin Classics [http://www.amazon.co.uk/Divine-Comedy-Inferno-Penguin-Classics/dp/0142437220/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1267372638&sr=8-1] adaptations. They over it in easily accessible verses with frequent notes to guide the reader through the books.
Prose is regular speaking.doomgaze3 said:I don't have a problem understanding it in prose, I just can't enjoy reading it. I was searching around and I found a version by an author named Kathryn Lindskoog, but nobody seems to have Purgatory in stock.
Anyway, this author seems to have the right idea: Put it into clear english paragraphs that read like a novel instead of a poem.
For extra emphasis: I really hate prose.
Why is "read" in quotes?doomgaze3 said:
But yeah, it's a poem. Prose translations of poems are almost universally terrible. (See also the works of Homer.) Either read it the way it was intended or don't read it at all.
reg42 said:
how could they do that? It's a problem inherent to the setting! it makes no sense in this day and age!
reg42: Noted and corrected.
Mother Yeti: "read" in quotes was alluding to the fact that I don't really want to endure reading it in verse. The only thing worse than reading classical poetry translated directly from italian to english would be reading Dune again.
Mother Yeti: "read" in quotes was alluding to the fact that I don't really want to endure reading it in verse. The only thing worse than reading classical poetry translated directly from italian to english would be reading Dune again.
It is not a complete modernization because they kept the original language. Captain Prince would not have spoken High English in a modern setting. He would have said something like, "now you mother fuckers better stop this shit or I will take you to jail."reg42 said:
A modern variant of Romeo and Juliet would be West Side Story, where everything, including the language, was modernized.
As for the original topic, there are a lot of modern updates of the Divine Comedy. There is one called Pilgrim's Progress that was the Divine Comedy, but made protestant by Bunyan.
BLASPHEMY!! Oh, somebody said that already... nevermind.doomgaze3 said:reg42: Noted and corrected.
Mother Yeti: "read" in quotes was alluding to the fact that I don't really want to endure reading it in verse. The only thing worse than reading classical poetry translated directly from italian to english would be reading Dune again.
now I agree with this guy sometimes because of the writting style of older works it can be hard to understand. However if you start reading this stuff eventually it will start to sink in.
Check this out: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/086554543X/ref=oss_product
Nice, paragraphized format, accurate translation with a bit of clarification sprinkled into the text for cultural and historical background. It even has footnotes. Take a look at the inside to see what I'm talking about. I'm gonna put this on order, I think.
Now, because most of you seem opposed to reading anything but the original text, why would you insist on reading it like that? I'm not academically interested in the text - I'm interested in a good read. And to that effect, why shouldn't I read this version? Also, has anyone else read The Divine Comedy in verse? How was it?
Nice, paragraphized format, accurate translation with a bit of clarification sprinkled into the text for cultural and historical background. It even has footnotes. Take a look at the inside to see what I'm talking about. I'm gonna put this on order, I think.
Now, because most of you seem opposed to reading anything but the original text, why would you insist on reading it like that? I'm not academically interested in the text - I'm interested in a good read. And to that effect, why shouldn't I read this version? Also, has anyone else read The Divine Comedy in verse? How was it?
I imagine Wikipedia breaks it down well enough. And as for anyone who says you need to read it straight: Bear in mind it is translated so most of the subtleyfulness is lost. I got a nice large hardback copy of the English translation a few years ago and it's a book you really have to study and read over and over like the Canterbury tales or the Epic of Gilgamesh. I'd recommend reading it from the translation purely because it will open up a whole world of reading if you can learn to enjoy it.