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/lit/ - Literature

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2655291 No.2655291 [Reply] [Original]

Would it be advisable to read The Divine Comedy before Paradise Lost?

>> No.2655296

I did but I never thought the two had anything to do with each other beyond the basic themes. Read them in whatever order you like, bro.

>> No.2655304

>>2655296
OK, thanks. I was just worried that Paradise Lost would heavily allude to The Divine Comedy and I'd miss a lot of stuff.

Out of interest, which do you prefer?

>> No.2655321
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2655321

>>2655304
Paradise Lost doesnt reference the Comedy at all as far as I remember, but I've only read them each once.

I like both for different reasons. The Comedy has epic imagery that really sticks with you (I don't use the word epic lightly), but Paradise does too AND it seems more beautiful to me in a way I cant quite quantify.

>> No.2655325

>>2655321
This.

>> No.2655326

>>2655304
>God tier
Inferno, Paradise Lost

>Great tier
Purgatorio

>Haha okay this is great but please let it end oh god oh god no 200 pages left why
Paradiso

>> No.2655328

Not OP, but can anyone recommend translations/editions of The Divine Comedy? Is it important to get an annotated edition to explain certain references etc?

>> No.2655330

>>2655328
the Oxford Classics translation should serve you well. Maybe after reading that one you can read a more flowery one later.

>> No.2655331

>>2655328
I cannot recommend a specific translation but annotations are VERY helpful. Don't get one of those leather bound ones at B&N that just give you the basic text or you might feel a bit lost.

>> No.2655341

>>2655328
Absolutely. Even then I'd still recommend googling and wiki'ing like a motherfucker. The whole goddamn poem is just him meeting famous historical and legendary figures.

>> No.2655351

>>2655330
The Amazon reviews look good too.

>>2655331
>>2655341
Oh right, I saw a cheap one in The Works with Dore's illustrations and considered getting it. Lucky I didn't!

Thanks for the advice.

>> No.2655354

>>2655328
Read the editions published by Anchor. [You'll have to get the books individually.]

>> No.2655358

The Viking Press edition of the Comedy seems pretty solid. It even includes Dante's other poems.

>> No.2655366

>>2655328

Try the new Robert and Jean Hollander translation (Anchor Books), if you want a good English rendering as well as in-depth annotations.

Other than that, the old Mandelbaum edition is fine, as well as is the Longfellow translation, though the English they used is somewhat archaic now.

>> No.2655571

Mandelbaum was the translation we used in my Dante class. He's got a really intimate knowledge of Dante and Florence at the time, provides excellent notes and annotation for all three parts, and also provides essays about Dante and his peers.

Fuck Boniface VIII.

>> No.2655757

No matter the order they're to read before you die. /thread

>> No.2655758

>>2655571
Mandelbaum! Mandelbaum! Mandelbaum!

>> No.2655772

>>2655326
what about paradise regained?