A few weeks ago, one of my pals asked me for advice on picking a translation of the Divine Comedy
. I forgot to post it, but recalled it this week under typically convoluted circumstances.
Early this year, I reread the Iliad
, so I decided to get back to the Odyssey this week. (The logic of that statement doesn’t need explanation, right?) Rather than read my Lattimore
translation, I decided to try Robert Fagles’
version, because it has larger print. (I’m getting old.)
The problem is, the Fagles translation seems a little too “poetic” to me, as though it’s been sweetened for the reader. So I may have to go back to Lattimore, tiny print and all. Or maybe the Fitzgerald
, but I recall hearing horror stories about that.
Anyway, this reminded me of my buddy’s request: Got any suggestions for a good Dante translation?
I recall that Sayers
is supposed to be the pits, and I picked up Pinsky’s recent translation of the Inferno
on the cheap in a used bookstore a few months ago, but I really have zero expertise in picking a good translation of that work.
So help a brother out!
