After brilliantly capturing the sense of loss and linguistic violence of the Inferno, Jason Baxter now turns to communicating the fugue-like magic of the Purgatorio. On the one hand, his translation is sensitive to the Purgatorio’s new, soaring lyrical style that Dante so admired in his classical authors; on the other, it has an ear for the humble, the unexpectedly lowly—for experiences and feelings “rooted” in the body, like those found in the fervent, devotional art of the late Middle Ages. In this way, Baxter gives modern readers not just an accurate translation of Dante’s Italian but an immersive experience into the feelings, intimations, and realizations Dante’s original readers must have had as they made their way through the unmatched moral evocations and inner tutelage of this second panel of The Divine Comedy.
Praise
for Jason Baxter’s translation of Dante’s Inferno:
“If you feel lost in the middle of a dark wood, or if you feel like the world is entering an apocalyptic time, it turns out that Dante got there long before you. Jason Baxter’s new translation is the perfect way into an ever-relevant story.”—PAUL KINGSNORTH
“For those familiar with other translations, the effect of Baxter’s offering is like bread hot from the oven.”—GLENN ARBERY
“Jason Baxter’s wonderful introduction evinces his learning; his deft translation will captivate a grateful audience for Dante’s poetry.”—ANN W. ASTELL
“Jason Baxter makes the case for the Inferno as heady but blood warming, encyclopedic but ‘rough as sandpaper and sharp as broken glass,’ heart-rending noir that can ‘save Dante from the classicists.’”—JOSHUA HREN
“Here, perhaps—with its muscular diction, forceful staccatos, and visceral, fierce turns of phrase—is translation as incarnation.”—JENNIFER NEWSOME MARTIN
“Jason Baxter, a scholar with a commanding understanding of Dante, has done us all a great service with his marvelous new translation of the Inferno.”—SEBASTIAN MORELLO
“In this new Comedy, Jason Baxter intones a ‘music’ that captures the originality and mission of arguably the greatest poet of all time, Dante Alighieri.”—MARCIE STOKMAN AND COLLEEN HUTT(WELL-READ MOM)
About the Author
Jason M. Baxter (PhD, Notre Dame) is a speaker, author, and Professor and Executive Director of the Center for Beauty and Culture at Benedictine College. He is the author of six books, including The Medieval Mind of C.S. Lewis and Beginner’s Guide to Dante (jasonmbaxter.com). His writing and speaking focus on the relevance of the medieval experience of beauty for the modern world.
