The Divine Comedy

By: Dante Alighieri, Herbert A. Kenny - translator

Narrated by: Grover Gardner

This unique poetic translation by Herbert A. Kenny, historian and poet, is the first that incorporates the Biblical, theological and historical allusions of the greatest poem in Christendom into the text itself. It can now be appreciated without a glossary or accompanying notes. Listen as the liquid lines take you through the horrors of the "Inferno", the mysteries of "Purgatorio" and the glories of "Paradiso".

©2008 Audio Book Contractors, Inc. (P)2008 Audio Book Contractors, Inc.

I'd read the cliff notes first

Difficult book because it's so not part of everyday European History with all the people he's talking about. Read twice now and still don't feel like I caught the gist of the book.

Best combination of Translation and Narrator

Dante's visions during the first part of the comedy often strike me as proto-horror, with other elements anticipating fantasy and science fiction, but I don't think the work needs me to provide a synopsis. Wikipedia can give you that. The trouble with finding a good audiobook of Dante's work is finding one that has a good translation for listening, along with a narrator who doesn't drive you mad. In my experience, classic narrators often strike a really aggrandized, pretentious voice, which they don't need to. And that's why I love this translation by Herbert A. Kennedy, narrated by Grover Gardener. It's a great vernacular translation (Dante was writing in the language of the people) read without lofty tone. I've listened to two other versions of Dante's Inferno, and this unabridged version of the entire Divine Comedy is my favorite.

A Truley Divine View of This Classic Masterpiece

The author's extensive knowledge and enthusiasm about the topic brings out the world of Dante's Divine Comedy like I have never experieced before reading these poems over the years. If you are at all interested at all in this classic work, then don't hesitate and pick up this masterful course.

The Divine Comedy: A Modern Translation

When I found this classic book on Audible, I was intimidated by other translations. Those translations used what I consider to be antiquated language, making it difficult for me to comprehend those audio samples. This version, however, is unique. The translation is what I consider to be 20th or 21st-century wording, so it reads like a modern novel/horror story. The dialog and plot are clear, without flowery and antiquated phrases which could interfere with comprehension in the modern world.

Additionally, the selection of Grover Gardner to narrate was another reason I chose to buy. As an actor, Grover's method of narration draws me into the story and keeps me engaged. If anyone reading this review is seeking a modern translation of the Dante classic, I highly recommend this!

A Timeless Depiction Done to Absolute Perfection..

Dante did a masterful job here and coupled with the excellent narrative by Grover Gardner this was without a doubt a true joy to listen to.

The imagery created by Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradiso was done immensely well. I found Dante's depiction of Inferno (Hell) exceptionally well written and the translation of Herbert Kenny seems to have done it justice. I personally thought that it was the best of the three explained in this prose. I say that not to take away from the impact that Purgatorio (Limbo) and Paradiso (Heaven) created because those two (2) sections were also quite impressively worded and translated. One would think that due to the somewhat specific mention that was made to certain persons, places and cultural idiosyncrasies that was very evident in the book that it would be difficult to follow at times but I found it very easy to follow. It really is quite timeless if you ask me, it should be able to resound quite well if you are interested in any theological writing or if you are simply a fan of expertly written prose of epic proportions. There is nothing I can take away from the writing itself and outside of someone simply disagreeing with the concepts he puts forward I doubt there is anything anyone will be able to take from it.

There are a number of different versions of this book on the website and I was very concerned by the reviews regarding the narration until I came across this one. I started listening to this title very critical because I was essentially preparing for the worse... but I was surprised... Pleasantly so! The narrator did in fact do the book justice! He keeps the pace well and was able to keep you well enough engrossed in the story.

Overall, just plain masterful all around. This was time well spent! And most definitely have replay value!