The Divine Comedy

By: Clive James - translator, Dante Alighieri

Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini

Length: 14 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's summary

Renowned poet and critic Clive James presents the crowning achievement of his career: a monumental translation into English verse of Dante’s The Divine Comedy.

The Divine Comedy is the precursor of modern literature, and this translation - decades in the making - gives us the entire epic as a single, coherent and compulsively listenable lyric poem. Written in the early 14th century and completed in 1321, the year of Dante’s death, The Divine Comedy is perhaps the greatest work of epic poetry ever composed.

Divided into three books - Hell, Purgatory and Heaven - the poem’s allegorical vision of the afterlife portrays the poet’s spiritual crisis in terms of his own contemporary history, in a text of such vivid life and variety that modern readers will find themselves astounded in a hundred different ways. And indeed the structure of this massive single song is divided into a hundred songs, or cantos, each of which is a separate poetic miracle. But unifying them all is the impetus of the Italian verse: a verbal energy that Clive James has now brought into English.

For its range of emotion alone, Clive James’s poetic rendering of The Divine Comedy would be without precedent. But it is also singled out by its sheer readability. The result is the epic as a page-turner, a work that will influence the way we read Dante in English for generations to come.

The Divine Comedy is performed by Edoardo Ballerini (2013 Audie Award winner, Best Solo Narration - Male), who had this to say about the book and his experience narrating it: "There are literary classics, and then then are those few books that serve as the cultural foundation for all of western civilization. Dante's Divine Comedy is one of those rarified titles. Being asked to narrate such a monumental work was an honor, and one of the highlights of my career, across film, TV, stage and audio. It was a humbling experience, and I only hope this recording inspires listeners to experience this profoundly beautiful work of art in a new, accessible and playful way."

©2013 Clive James (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Narrator Edoardo Ballerini takes Clive James's translation of Dante's classic and breathes fresh life into it.... One particular benefit of Ballerini's performance is that his pronunciation of the very little untranslated Italian vocabulary is spot-on, giving listeners the feeling that their experience is both authentic and impressive." ( AudioFile)

The greatest love poem ever written

I highly recommend you also get the lecture series about The Divine Comedy from the Great Courses and listen to both concurrently. This is the best love story ever written until Tolkien's universe built around Beren and Luthien.

Good, but it turned out to be a chore to read.

I read it as a kind of bucket list obligation. Always meant to read it. So I did. But it was a little like work to stick with it. Paradise, as many readers know, is not nearly as interesting as hell.

Wonderful, just read too fast

This was wonderful; the only problem I had was that the reader (who did a great job otherwise) read a bit too fast, so I would sometimes miss things and have to rewind

Dense but fascinating

This work is absolutely fascinating, and it's status as a classic is well earned. Eduardo Ballerini does a fantastic job narrating it. The world is well described and the meter is infectious. However, it is not something that can be listened to while doing anything else. This work is dense and not devoting every iota of attention to it while listening will mean that somethings will be missed. Also, a reader/listener who is not familiar with Italian Renaissance History maybe confused in some areas.

Brilliant narration of a literary masterpiece

While Inferno is a much more entertaining read than either Purgatory or Paradise, the composition as a whole merits reading. I don't state this lightly, as I am well aware this is one of the masterpieces of Western literature. But an unfamiliar reader should be forewarned of what to expect: Inferno is a scathing criticism of the author's political and religious reality, Purgatory is something of a morality tale, and Paradise is a philosophical discourse.

Solid meh

Been going back over the "classics" I read in high school because as I have grown older; I have found new depth to the books.

This was the opposite; I expect more and got less. My guess is because this is one of the first art pieces to visualize a form of "Hell"; it remains popular as a classic. But it just felt like a self serving shallow sob story; where the author wanted to projects themselves somewhere, and feel justified in their believes.

The story makes "nods" to many famous people, or theological characters; which may also be why it is relevant. The way "Ready Player One" references current day idols in its work.

The poetry writing style is unique and reflective of the time. But for same style, and even general material topic; John Milton's "Paradise Lost" is just so much more rich as a story; and will far more interesting characters.

The reader was great.

A satisfying read.

I learn something new from this every time I hear it. I found that it helped me learn how to listen better and communicate.

Well done

Forever, I’ve meant to read The Divine Comedy and I think audio was the best method for this classic.

Clear translation, solid narration- loved it.

Great Translation and Narration

Edoardo Ballerini does an absolutely FANTASTIC JOB with narrating this massive story. I felt like I was being told by Dante himself. Edoardo pronounces Italian and Greek names very authentically. I would definitely read anything narrated by him again. The translation by Clive James is also great and exploding with detail.

Now, as for the story itself, the main premise is Dante going into Hell, then Purgatory, then Heaven. Along the way, he interviews people about their names and how they got to where they are in death. As well as describing the vast scenery on the adventure. Some of the chapters feel a little disconnected from the main story, and I think Dante likes to ramble and talk about how he hates Pope Boniface VIII. But that's beside the main premise of the story. In Hell, he meets a lot of Greeks, like Aristotle, Homer, and other figures like Helen of Troy, Brutus, Caesar, and Constantine. If you're not familiar with history, then some of the other people are lost to time itself and you probably won't understand who they are. It also helps to have some knowledge of Roman mythology, as some names are used in this story. The story is divided up into three parts, each with 33 chapters, except for Hell, which has 34. Hell is pretty interesting and a lot more people he talks to. Purgatory drags on and on and on, kind of like an intermission from the rest of the story. Kind of boring. Heaven is a little more interesting, but again Dante rambles. I felt like the ending didn't wrap everything up nicely. It just kind of hangs loose. I don't know if its because Dante died before he could finish or if that's just how he wanted it to be.

Overall I thought it was great, but it's definitely not for everyone. It's a commitment to read this book. Don't get it if you're not willing to stick through till the end regardless of what is to come.

epic and eternal

This is a book that I have listened to over and over. Every time I listen to it I am amazed by what I had missed previously.
"it stuns you doesn't it? it still stuns me."