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/lit/ - Literature

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6400784 No.6400784 [Reply] [Original]

So is it worth it?

>> No.6400821

>>6400784
It only worth reading if you understand Italian. I really mean that, too.

Read this:


"Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita
mi ritrovai per una selva oscura,
ché la diritta via era smarrita.

Ahi quanto a dir qual era è cosa dura
esta selva selvaggia e aspra e forte
che nel pensier rinova la paura!"

vs.

Midway upon the journey of our life
I found myself within a forest dark,
For the straightforward pathway had been lost.

Ah me! how hard a thing it is to say
What was this forest savage, rough, and stern,
Which in the very thought renews the fear.

>> No.6400959

>>6400784
Yes.

>> No.6401066

speaking of divine comedies, does anyone have recommendations for books that are funny? I've been trying to think of one thats a really absurd fiction, I think it has america in the title. Does anyone know what im thinking of?

>> No.6401177

>>6400784
Yes. Yes, it is.

>> No.6401231

>>6400821
im not reading it for rhymes

>> No.6401263

>>6401231
you're reading poetry for plot?

>> No.6401269
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6401269

>>6401066
Too obvious.

>> No.6401868

>>6400784
Oh yes, definitely.

>> No.6401943

>>6400784

I've been reading this in English and I don't feel like it's been terribly rewarding.

The poetry gets lost in translation and the classical and (to a lesser extent) scriptural references are lost on me. Worse still, the Italians-- I don't know any of them, they mean nothing to me.

On the other hand, there are some nice passages and it's a wonderful commentary on the human soul's climb to perfecting love; it's also not a very long read.

>> No.6401968
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6401968

>>6401943
>and the classical and (to a lesser extent) scriptural references are lost on me. Worse still, the Italians-- I don't know any of them, they mean nothing to me.
The notes for the book turn it from a small 200 pager to at least a 700 pager or so. Almost every line is a metaphor for something

>> No.6401977

No. There are some nice descriptions of scenery but most of the book is Dante having boring conversations with Italians you've never heard of and shitty "justifications" for Christian theology and morality.

>> No.6402005

>>6401263
Dante survives translation better than a lot of poets because his ideas and conceptions of things are so good. Many of his metaphors would be beautiful in any language.

>> No.6402007

>>6401968
those expectations are seriously fucked

>> No.6402012

>divine

God does not exist. Dropped.

>> No.6402436
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6402436

>>6402012

>> No.6402497
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6402497

>>6401968

>> No.6402577

Allen Mandelbaum and Stanley Lombardo have the two best translations of The Divine Comedy into English.

Facing-page translations with extensive notes and commentary, as well as engaging literary style. I'd have to say Mandelbaum's translation is better (only because Lombardo hasn't translated Purgatorio or Paradiso yet). Just putting that out there before someone asks for the best translation.

>> No.6402657

>>6401066
Impressive. Very nice.

>> No.6402718

>>6402577
Stanley Lombardo is awesome.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81VsexDVCzo

>> No.6402729

>>6400821
It's not even a matter of "understanding Italian." It's written in the most archaic and obscure dialect ever.

>> No.6402730

>>6400784

I tried to read some parts of it but I found it extremely boring.

I know that missing the point by reading a translation and missing the poetry in it, but I found other epics like the Odyssea infinitely more exciting.