Publisher Description

Robert Durling's spirited new prose translation of the Paradiso completes his masterful rendering of the Divine Comedy. Durling's earlier translations of the Inferno and the Purgatorio garnered high praise, and with this superb version of the Paradiso readers can now traverse the entirety of Dante's epic poem of spiritual ascent with the guidance of one of the greatest living Italian-to-English translators.Reunited with his beloved Beatrice in the Purgatorio, in the Paradiso the poet-narrator journeys with her through the heavenly spheres and comes to know "the state of blessed souls after death." As with the previous volumes, the originalItalian and its English translation appear on facing pages. Readers will be drawn to Durling's precise and vivid prose, which captures Dante's extraordinary range of expression--from the high style of divine revelation to colloquial speech, lyrical interludes, and scornful diatribes against corrupt clergy. This edition boasts several unique features. Durling's introduction explores the chief interpretive issues surrounding the Paradiso, including the nature ofits allegories, the status in the poem of Dante's human body, and his relation to the mystical tradition. The notes at the end of each canto provide detailed commentary on historical, theological, and literaryallusions, and unravel the obscurity and difficulties of Dante's ambitious style . An unusual feature is the inclusion of the text, translation, and commentary on one of Dante's chief models, the famous cosmological poem by Boethius that ends the third book of his Consolation of Philosophy. A substantial section of Additional Notes discusses myths, symbols, and themes that figure in all three cantiche of Dante's masterpiece. Finally, the volume includes a set of indexes that isunique in American editions, including Proper Names Discussed in the Notes (with thorough subheadings concerning related themes), Passages Cited in the Notes, and Words Discussed in the Notes, as well as an Index ofProper Names in the text and translation. Like the previous volumes, this final volume includes a rich series of illustrations by Robert Turner.

Author Biography

Robert M. Durling is Professor Emeritus of English and Italian Literature at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Ronald L. Martinez is Professor of Italian at Brown University. Their works together include Dante's Inferno and Purgatorio and Time and the Crystal: Studies in Dante's "Rime petrose."Robert Turner has been a professional illustrator for thirty years.

Table of Contents

CONTENTSAbbreviations, xvIntroduction, 2PARADISOCANTO 1Notes to Canto 1CANTO 2Notes to Canto 2CANTO 3Notes to Canto 3CANTO 4Notes to Canto 4CANTO 5Notes to Canto 5CANTO 6Notes to Canto 6CANTO 7Notes to Canto 7CANTO 8Notes to Canto 8CANTO 9Notes to Canto 9CANTO 10Notes to Canto 10CANTO 11Notes to Canto 11CANTO 12Notes to Canto 12CANTO 13Notes to Canto 13CANTO 14Notes to Canto 14CANTO 15Notes to Canto 15CANTO 16Notes to Canto 16CANTO 17Notes to Canto 17CANTO 18Notes to Canto 18CANTO 19Notes to Canto 19CANTO 20Notes to Canto 20CANTO 21Notes to Canto 21CANTO 22Notes to Canto 22CANTO 23Notes to Canto 23CANTO 24Notes to Canto 24CANTO 25Notes to Canto 25CANTO 26Notes to Canto 26CANTO 27Notes to Canto 27CANTO 28Notes to Canto 28CANTO 29Notes to Canto 29CANTO 30Notes to Canto 30CANTO 31Notes to Canto 31CANTO 32Notes to Canto 32CANTO 33Notes to Canto 33THE NICENE CREEDBOETHIUS' O QUI PERPETUA MUNDUM RATIONE GUBERNASNotes to "O qui perpetua'ADDITIONAL NOTES1. The Figure of Beatrice (After Canto 2)2. The Paradiso and the Monarchia3.The Primacy of the Intellect, the Sun, and the Circling Theologians (After Canto 14)4. Dante and the Liturgy (After Canto 15)5. The Religious Orders in the Paradiso6. The Threshold Cantos in the Comedy7. The Fate of Phaethon in the Comedy8. Circle-Cross-Eagle-Scales: Images in the Paradiso9. The Final Image10. The Neoplatonic Background11. Dante and Neoplatonism12. Dante's Astrology13. The Heavens and the Sciences: Convivio 214. The Paradiso as Alpha and OmegaTextual VariantsBibliographyIndex of Italian, Latin, and Other Foreign Words Discussed in the NotesIndex of Passages Cited in the NotesIndex of Proper Names in the NotesIndex of Proper Names in the Text and Translation

Review

"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

Promotional

One of the greatest living Italian-to-English translators, Durling has at last completed his rendition of the third and final volume of Dante's masterful literary epic, The Divine Comedy

Prizes

Winner of Winner of 2012 MLA Aldo and Jeanne Scaglione Prize for an Outstanding Translation of a Literary Work.

Long Description

Robert Durling's spirited new prose translation of the Paradiso completes his masterful rendering of the Divine Comedy. Durling's earlier translations of the Inferno and the Purgatorio garnered high praise, and with this superb version of the Paradiso readers can now traverse the entirety of Dante's epic poem of spiritual ascent with the guidance of one of the greatest living Italian-to-English translators.
Reunited with his beloved Beatrice in the Purgatorio, in the Paradiso the poet-narrator journeys with her through the heavenly spheres and comes to know "the state of blessed souls after death." As with the previous volumes, the original
Italian and its English translation appear on facing pages. Readers will be drawn to Durling's precise and vivid prose, which captures Dante's extraordinary range of expression--from the high style of divine revelation to colloquial speech, lyrical interludes, and scornful diatribes against corrupt clergy. This edition boasts several unique features. Durling's introduction explores the chief interpretive issues surrounding the Paradiso, including the nature of
its allegories, the status in the poem of Dante's human body, and his relation to the mystical tradition. The notes at the end of each canto provide detailed commentary on historical, theological, and literary
allusions, and unravel the obscurity and difficulties of Dante's ambitious style . An unusual feature is the inclusion of the text, translation, and commentary on one of Dante's chief models, the famous cosmological poem by Boethius that ends the third book of his Consolation of Philosophy. A substantial section of Additional Notes discusses myths, symbols, and themes that figure in all three cantiche of Dante's masterpiece. Finally, the volume includes a set of indexes that is
unique in American editions, including Proper Names Discussed in the Notes (with thorough subheadings concerning related themes), Passages Cited in the Notes, and Words Discussed in the Notes, as well as an Index of
Proper Names in the text and translation. Like the previous volumes, this final volume includes a rich series of illustrations by Robert Turner.

Review Text

"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

Review Quote

'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

Feature

Selling point: Durling's translations of Inferno and Purgatorio are widely admired, and this one has been eagerly anticipated; in a sea of English-language translations of Dante, the ones provided by Durling stand among the best
Selling point: Notes not only illuminate the Paradiso, but stress the links among all three volumes of the Commedia, something seldom-done in other editions
Selling point: Original Italian appears on the left-hand page opposite the English language translations, allowing for easy comparisons and reference
Selling point: Includes a lucid, stage-setting introduction that provides the historical, political, biblical, and theological contexts that enrich the reader's understanding of the poem

Details