The Inferno of Dante Audiobook By Dante Alighieri, Robert Pinsky - translator cover art

The Inferno of Dante

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The Inferno of Dante

By: Dante Alighieri, Robert Pinsky - translator
Narrated by: John Cleese
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"Midway on our life's journey, I found myself in dark woods, the right road lost. To tell about those woods is hard - so tangled and rough...." So begins Dante Alighieri's epic poem of a journey through Hell. With the poet Virgil as his guide, Dante travels through the 9 circles of Hell, listening to the voices of the condemned until at last, "we came forth, and once more saw the stars." Poet and essayist Robert Pinsky's translation captures the intensity and passion of the literary masterpiece, and world-renowned actor John Cleese contributes a profound and electrifying performance.

To supplement this reading of Dante's Inferno, listen to The SparkNotes Guide to Dante's Inferno.Recording (P)1997 by Audio Literature; Translation Copyright 1994 by Robert Pinsky Ancient, Classical & Medieval Literature Classics Collections European Poetry World Literature Italy

Critic reviews

"Line by line, canto by canto, Pinsky's version responds to every nuance of meaning in the original while its English remains fluid and colloquial." (Alan Williamson, The American Poetry Review)
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The Inferno is an excellent work in itself and is extremely interesting for anyone. The narration of Mr. Cleese is however somewhat difficult to follow. His overly-excited and passionate voices for the suffering denizens of hell are difficult to make out. It is however very fun to hear a voice from a Monty Python movie or the like come through. Listen carefully and follow along and you shouldn't have too many problems.

Good Interpretation, Somewhat difficult to follow

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John Cleese narrate Dante?! Definitely took a few minutes to purge the Monty Python demons from my head, but once I got into it I think Cleese was a remarkably good narrator. Some complained it was hard to understand, but I thought he was very understandable.

Surprisingly Good

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Somber, but not depressing. John Cleese is a great narrator. It's a short listen, and well worth it.

The Inferno of Dantè is worth listening to.

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Dante’s Inferno read by John Cleese. Doing voices. What more could you ask for. Very easy read. Enjoyable,

Awesome!

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John Cleese is perfect, and Pinsky's translation is the best. My only problem with this title is the abridgment. Why is it abridged? Several cantos are left out, and it only serves to detract from the experience. The unabridged readings on Audible only seem to be about an hour longer.

For those unfamiliar with the text, the Inferno is the first part of a trilogy about hell, purgatory, and heaven (in that order). The story of Dante's journey through hell is dark, but not scary. I'd describe it as wondrous. It's like a sight-seeing trip. What you are seeing is horrible, yet so vivid and interesting that you can't turn away. My favorite part about it is how specific Dante is about everything. He describes exactly where in hell each type of sinner should go and what their punishment should be, all in great detail.

The other side of the Inferno is its historical context. Not only is Inferno a great read, but it also offers a glimpse at Dante's worldview. In almost every canto Dante encounters people he either knew personally or were well known at the time. In this way it almost reads like an angsty teenager's blog, calling out all of the ass kissers and bullies that he can't otherwise do anything about.

I prefer Robert Pinsky's translation because it is modern, it doesn't try to rhyme (yet preserves the flow), and it is beautifully blunt.

Regardless of the missing cantos (don't worry, they are few), I highly recommend this audio book. John Cleese really is amazing, and nobody else has narrated Pinsky's translation. In my opinion, there is not a better version available.

Fantastic narration and translation

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Terrible audio quality, but an interesting read for everyone interested in the renaissance. Good performance by Mr. Cleese.

Should be remastered

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What made the experience of listening to The Inferno of Dante the most enjoyable?

Written sometime in the 1200's makes this book even more mind blowing. That many modern pieces take pages from this book even today is a testament to its greatness.

Amazing, poetic.

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If you only ever read Dante's Inferno once, or are a long time fan who has read countless reiterations already, this chilling and compellingly narrated rendition is a must-have.

Best rendition of Dante's Inferno EVER.

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Loved it. I have read this book seven times since November. Grate narration.Absolutely timeless!

Donate's Inferno

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Overall, a fascinating and important chronical of the greatest minds in the world slowly fleshing out the structure of the universe for the rest of us to behold. HOWEVER, when I read a science book, I do NOT want a lesson in Mormonism tucked in the middle. I'm not sure what the purpose of that was, but it seemed like an insincere attempt to appear a little extra-liberal. I came for the solution to information-loss in a black-hole, not for fairy-stories. And make no mistake....I did NOT take the chapter as an attempt to proselytize. Leonard Susskind is an agnostic. So I know preaching wasn't his goal. Having said that, religion has little to no place in the subject matter tackled in this book.

Having said that, the rest of it was fine and I enjoyed it.

Good....BUUUUUT.....

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