Renowned critic and poet Clive James presents the crowning achievement of his career: a monumental translation of Dante's Divine Comedy.
Clive James is the author of more than thirty books. As well as verse and novels, he has published collections of essays, literary criticism, television criticism and travel writing, plus four volumes of autobiography. In 1992 he was made a Member of the Order of Australia, and in 2003 he was awarded the Philip Hodgins memorial medal for literature.
Clive James's new translation is wonderfully unstuffy and injects
fresh life back into the poem.
*Observer*
'An outstanding achievement . . . He restores the sense of drama,
the colours and music of Dante's vision . . . Clive James has now
given us a translation worthy of this and any other time; and a
great piece of literature in its own right' - Robert Fox, Evening
Standard
‘an extraordinary verse-rendering – the fruit of many years' work –
of Dante's The Divine Comedy. According to TS Eliot, this is the
only book in the western tradition that surpasses Shakespeare. It
is typical of James's chutzpah that he has not only tackled this
Everest of translation, but has scrambled to the summit in triumph
. . . The result is a revelation. The reader is swept up in the
drama of Inferno . . . The tempo and texture of the poem has an
inevitable majesty, but there is also a dancing levity that is
suited to James and his "joking seriousness"' Robert McCrum,
Guardian
A triumph of great poetry and accessibility. Wonderful.
*Observer*
'Clive James comes to the Comedy with two important attributes:
many years study of the poem and an impressively accomplished verse
technique' - Sean O'Brien, Independent Book of the Week
‘Like most successful translations, there is a sense of the
personal throughout… the poetry is certainly here, spurring the
reader to learn more.’ The Times Saturday Review
‘This is the translation that many of us had abandoned all hope of
finding. Clive James’s version is the only one that conveys Dante’s
variety, depth, subtlety, vigor, wit, clarity, mystery, and awe in
rhymed English stanzas that convey the music of Dante’s triple
rhymes. This book lets Dante’s genius shine through as it never did
before in English verse, and is a reminder that James’ poetry has
always been his finest work.’ Edward Mendelson, Columbia
University
Punchy, theologically serious and frequently funny verse.
*Observer*
‘Clive James’ translation of The Divine Comedy is a remarkable
achievement: not a scowling marble Dante of sublime set-pieces but
a living, breathing poet shifting restlessly through a dizzying
succession of moods, perceptions, and passions. Under James’
uncanny touch, seven long centuries drop away, and the great poem
is startlingly fresh and new.’ Stephen Greenblatt, Harvard
University, author of The Swerve
For those who have never quite managed the reverence for Dante
required of the well-read, there is at last a translation that
makes The Divine Comedy everything it's billed: Clive James's
version in quatrain. Suddenly the voice - from teasingly
conversational to clangorously epic to tenderly lyric - is right
beside you even when it's a talking beast . . . Read it out loud in
bed (softly).
*Financial Times*
Fresh, impressive new translation of The Divine Comedy that is both
easy-going and lucid
*Sunday Times*
An excellent new version of Dante's masterpiece. Eschewing Dante's
terza rima, he has opted instead to write in rhyming quatrains, but
without spaces between them, so each canto is a solid block of
text. James handles the rhythm with ease and assurance, using
enjambment freely, and brings a colloquial tone to the
translation.. .wonderfully conveys the strangeness and vastness of
Dante's vision. An impressive work of scholarship, and of poetry in
its own right
*Independent*
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