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    Purgatory
    Purgatory
    Purgatory
    Audiobook4 hours

    Purgatory

    Written by Dante Alighieri

    Narrated by Heathcote Williams

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    About this audiobook

    Now of that second kingdom I shall sing where human souls are purified of sin and made worthy to ascend to Heaven’ Purgatory is the second part of Dante’s The Divine Comedy ascending the terraces of the Mount of Purgatory inhabited by those doing penance to expiate their sins on earth. There are the proud – forced to circle their terrace for aeons bent double in humility; the slothful – running around crying out examples of zeal and sloth; while the lustful are purged by fire. Though less well-known than Inferno, Purgatory has inspired many writers including, in our century, Samuel Beckett, and has played a key role in literature.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherNaxos Audiobooks
    Release dateFeb 1, 2005
    ISBN9789629546533
    Author

    Dante Alighieri

    Dante Alighieri (Florencia, 1265 – Rávena, 1321), político, diplomático y poeta. En 1302 tuvo que exiliarse de su patria y ciudad natal, y a partir de entonces se vio obligado a procurarse moradas y protectores provisionales, razón por la cual mantener el prestigio que le había procurado su Vida nueva (c. 1294) era de vital importancia. La Comedia, en la que trabajó hasta el final de su vida, fue la consecuencia de ese propósito, y con los siglos se convirtió en una de las obras fundamentales de la literatura europea. Además de su obra poética, Dante escribió tratados políticos, filosóficos y literarios, como Convivio, De vulgari eloquentiao y De Monarchia.

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    Reviews for Purgatory

    4/5

    764 ratings24 reviews

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    • 4/5
      This book is a difficult read. I followed along with this audiobook, which makes the book tolerable.
    • 3/5
      Excellent performance, not so thrilled with this world somehow less human than Inferno.
    • 5/5
      The fact that Dante's "Divine Comedy" is a masterpiece among masterpieces, goes without saying. This audio version of Part 2 - Purgatory is wonderful - the reader here is truly a delight to listen to (and that is the whole game when it comes to audiobooks imo). Onward to "Paradise"!
    • 4/5
      After Dante’s journey through Hell in the Inferno, Dante’s guide, Virgil, leads him through Purgatory. This second part of Dante’s Divine Comedy didn’t wow me as much as the Inferno. I think it’s because I don’t have a doctrinal foundation for purgatory with my Protestant background. I can relate to heaven and hell, but apparently purgatory is based on passages in deuterocanonical books that are not part of the Protestant Bible. This was unfamiliar territory for me, so the commentary was essential to my understanding of the book.Speaking of the commentary, I read Dorothy Sayers’ translation. Sayers is most famous for her Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries. However, she also wrote several theological works, and she brought this knowledge of theology to her translation of Dante.
    • 5/5
      Sayers has done an excellent job on not only translating, but in giving enough information in the notes and comments for a novice like myself to enjoy and appreciate this poetry and the mastery of Dante's work. It is transformative and soul searching. When I finished the book, I went back, and through the magic of the internet was able to listen to the many songs mentioned in this work. It added another layer of enjoyment to the experience.
    • 2/5
      Didn't enjoy this was nearly as much as the first. Not quite sure why, but it felt very much as though it was simply a party that Dante and Virgil (and later, Beatrice) went to, and just met a lot of people.

      Which is weird because, when I think of it, the first one was much like that as well. Maybe it was more the ascension aspect of this one, rather than the descending glimpse into hell for the last one.
    • 4/5
      The main thing I learned is that the best time to read (or reread) this classic is during Lent. Who knew?

      Like the rest of the Commedia, the poem is meticulously structured. The three parts are the arrival at Mount Purgatory (the only landmass opposite the inhabited continents of the known Earth), then the climb up the mountain around the seven cornices of purification, then the allegorical pageant of the blessed in the Earthly Paradise. Unlike the descent into Hell, Dante and Virgil complete their ascent over the course of a few days after Easter AD 1300, and because they may not make upward progress while the Sun is down, there are enforced rest (and dream) periods. This time when Dante interviews the souls they have an orientation toward Heaven; they are already saved, and submit to their trials voluntarily, as a sort of ultimate self-improvement. The stories are sometimes quite similar to what we saw in Inferno, with the addition of a sincere repentance and absolution at the end. At the same time, Dante the pilgrim is changing, having his sins erased from his brow as he grows lighter and lighter on his trip up the mountain. The way Dante understands what he sees when he arrives in Eden is Scholastic, not psychological, and it takes a fair amount of exertion to get into the proper frame of mind to appreciate the symbols and allusions packed into these scenes. This kind of work is not for everyone, probably, but there are moments of great beauty for the reader who can make the journey.
    • 4/5
      The Sinclair translation, as ever, is superb, and the notes and introductions continue to be very useful. Dante emerges after the trials of Inferno and climbs the mount of Purgatory with Virgil, participating in the penance necessary to cleanse him of his sins. As in Inferno, the souls are put through various trials which testify to Dante's ever-erudite imagination. The cantica concludes with Dante being reunited with his beloved Beatrice; but there is a bittersweet note as Virgil, a pagan despite his fine qualities, is denied entrance to Paradise.
    • 3/5
      Perhaps after reading Inferno I picked up Dante's voice and rhythm, but Purgatorio seemed much less dense and not as confusing. Each circle was quite straight forward and the fewer incidents of name dropping was helpful in realizing the essence of each layer of repentance.
    • 4/5
      I see that people have reviewed versions of Dante translated into English by several people, but nobody has done John Ciardi's translations, so here goes. I read Ciardi's Inferno many years ago (like, 1976, and followed it up with Niven and Pournelle's takeoff). I find Ciardi's translation of Il Purgatorio more interesting (though perhaps less 'salacious'). Ciardi certainly has a way of keeping the reader's attention, and the Dante's narrative is well worth the effort. Ciardi provides extensive notes on subjects in the narrative (characters that Dante and Virgil meet in their journey, uh, Pilgrimage). He also provides a pretty much 'play by play' narrative of his own philosophy and choices for the language, rhymes and scansion of the text itself (Italian isn't so easy to translate into English, it seems). All in all a very nicely done translation. I will be searching for Ciardi's translation of 'The Paradiso.'
    • 1/5
      I'm reviewing this format, not the content: Terrible free Kindle edition. No illustrations, not a single one. Impossible to navigate on my Kindle Paperwhite. Every time I tap to go to the next page, it zooms to the next part with a list of cantos. Can't read more than the first page of a canto, if I can even get to the canto. Shame on Amazon for this fiasco of an ebook.
    • 2/5
      In which the boringly repentant people get punished horribly, because otherwise they wouldn't REALLY be repenting.
    • 5/5
      There are two kinds of people who read Dante. The first kind gets all excited about people stuck head down in piles of shit, and wishes that the adulterers and libertines could just keep on doing what they did in the real world, because it's so romantic. The second kind gets all excited about griffins pulling chariots, the relationship between the political and the religious, and the neoplatonic ascent from beautiful woman to Beauty and God. I am the second kind; I can see the pull of the first kind, and I understand it, but really. The whole thing just gets better the further on it goes. Hell is like a decent TV drama with an episode each week, say, House. Purgatorio (and, from memory, Paradiso) are to Inferno what The Wire is to House. Sometimes you just want to watch 45 minutes of cool stuff; sometimes you want something a bit less immediately gratifying, but a more substantial. And this is the substance.

      Luckily, the Hollanders are here to translate this thing for you and to give you the insider knowledge you'll need to get a hold of that substance. It isn't easy, unless you're a medievalist who knows the psalms by heart in latin, which I am not and, I'm guessing, neither are you. Because those people are not writing or reading goodreads reviews. They are studying ancient manuscripts and debating whether that letter there is an iota or a lambda. Good for them. Good for the head in a bucket of shit loving people. Good for all.
    • 3/5
      I listened to this book on CD instead of actually reading it. The version that I had had an explanation at the beginning of each verse to help you understand and then read the verse.

      In this book, you travel with Dante through Purgatory and he cleanses himself of the seven deadly sins.

      I really liked this book. I forgot how much I liked Greek Mythology (which I expected only because of the Inferno). It has pushed me to look into more mythology again.
    • 4/5
      I found this just as interesting as Inferno. The concepts, people and theology that Dante described for us is fascinating, if you are interested in that sort of thing at all. Luckily this is a fairly easy to read translation.
    • 5/5
      Merwin brings the centerpiece of Dante's masterpiece to English in a translation that is accurate, artful, and enjoyable. I recommend reading the whole thing aloud—easily done over a day or so—to get the full effect of the compounding sentence structures, elaborate analogies, and overall music of this rendering. Some of the allusions were lost on me (and I was too lazy to check the endnotes), yet I found it easy to feel the awesome highs and lows, the tension and relief, along with Dante on his journey through the middle realm. I'll grant that this is the only translation of Purgatorio that I've read and I can't read the original, so I can't say much to compare Merwin's version to others, but I can safely say that this work is an important and exciting renewal of the literary canon by one of our day's foremost men of letters.
    • 5/5
      When I hear discussion about the Divine Comedy, mostly I hear references to Inferno. It’s all Grr Argh suffering. Look the angst. The pathos. The humanity of it all. Hello, everyone is damned. Great story, but everyone is in hell. Now Purgatorio is something I can sink my teeth into. Sure people are suffering. However, instead of reenacting the results of their errors over and over, they are purging away the sin itself.Purgatory is about hope. The suffering isn’t about making people, well, suffer. Purgatory isn’t about punishment. The suffering is God’s way of helping sinners wrap their brain around why and how that sin hurts them. Hurts others. Basically, it’s God showing a little tough love. Purgatory is hopeful because eventually, Purgatory will be empty. There is the promise that one day, each sinner will have a place in paradise.Purgatory is also about people. They aren’t damned and they aren’t saved. They weren’t saints. Most of them screwed up at some point or another. That’s why they are there. Casella, who sings in the sweet new style. Okay, so he waited a bit to long to reform, but at least he reformed. Save me, but not yet. La Pia, who was filled with envy, the mean old woman on her porch making fun of people. Now she sits with her eyes sewn shut, talking with others. Learning to listen. Learning to lean on others for support.Statius, who hid his Christianity out of fear. And okay, you gotta love a guy who starts out by saying that Virgil is his hero and you, the reader, know Virgil is standing right there. And Dante the character starts to lose it. Okay, it’s couched in poetic language. But come on, his eyes are filled with mirth and he’s dying to tell Statius, hey your hero, he’s standing right next to you. Lovely moment.Although, there is a thread of sadness that runs through the narrative. Virgil. He’s damned through no fault of his own. Over and over Dante returns to a question that clearly bothers him. How can Virgil, brave, noble, Dante’s literary father, be damned. Which as I think of it is an another example of Dante’s damned fathers, saved sons theme. There is something so fresh and poignant about that moment, when upon seeing Beatrice, Dante is struck by confusion. Turns to ask Virgil what he should do, but Virgil has slipped away all unnoticed to return to his blameless place in hell.I first read Purgatory for my favorite class in college, "Dante", and lo these years later, I still like to return on occasion to climb up the mountain.
    • 5/5
      This is the second part of Dante's Divine Comedy. The first took us through Hell, and this part takes us through Purgatory--the realm where Catholics believe those souls not saints spend time purging their sins before entering Heaven. And that's the key difference: Hope. Dante famously has the gateway into Hell read "Abandon All Hope." The punishments in Hell are purposeless and its denizens are without hope they'll ever see an end. So Purgatory is less dark, less grotesque, and alas, less memorable.There is beautiful poetry to be found here and gorgeous imagery and use of classical and biblical materials. But the fact is that without refreshing my memory with a reread there is so much of Hell I remember. The eternal scorching wind of the first part with Francesca Rimini and her lover. Gianni Schicci in the Circle of Impersonators, Dante's friend who is eternally condemned for being a homosexual, Mohamed among the schismatics, and Judas, Brutus and Cassius in the lake of ice in the lowest circle being chewed on by Satan.With Purgatory I did remember Dante's architecture--the seven ledges in the Mountain each dealing with punishing and purging one of the Seven Deadly Sins. But I didn't remember the people, outside of Dante's guide Virgil and the wrench I felt when he was replaced with Dante's love Beatrice. Dante's Hell admittedly has the advantage of being echoed in both popular and elite culture. Gianni Schichi and Francesca di Rimini both have operas of that name; I can remember a book--I think it was by Piers Anthony--where Mohammed complains about winding up in a Christian Hell. And haven't we all heard of the Ninth Circle? Dante's Purgatory doesn't have that advantage.Don't get me wrong. This is still amazing and worth the read. Recently I read Moby Dick and though it had powerful passages I found it self-indulgent and bloated and devoutly wished an editor had taken a hatchet to the numerous digressions. There is no such thing as digressions in Dante. I don't think I've ever read a more carefully crafted work. The number of cantos, the rhyme scheme--everything has a meaning. Nothing is incidental or left to chance here. All in all, like Dante's Hell, this is an imaginary landscape worthy of Tolkien or Pratchett, both in large ways and small details. I found it fitting how Dante tied both sins and virtues to love--a sin was love misdirected or applied. Then there are all the striking phrases, plays of ideas and gorgeous imagery that comes through despite translations. I loved The Divine Comedy so much upon my first read (I read the Dorothy Sayers translation) I went out and bought two other versions. One by Allen Mandelbaum (primarily because it was a dual language book with the Italian on one page facing the English translation) and a hardcover version translated by Charles Eliot Norton. Finally, before writing up my review and inspired by Matthew Pearl's The Dante Club, I got reacquainted by finding Longfellow's translation online. Of all of them, I greatly prefer Mandelbaum's translation. The others try to keep the rhyming and rhythm of the original and this means a sometimes tortured syntax and use of archaic words and the result is forced and often obscure, making the work much harder to read than it should be.
    • 5/5
      I have not read a huge number of translations of Dante, but of the one's that I've read Musa's is by far the best. Extremely readable but also quite complex. I would recommend this translation to anyone.
    • 5/5
      Minder dramatisch en meeslepend dan eerste deel, maar eigenlijk "mooier" door het perfect evenwicht tussen literair en leerdicht. Bijzonder verfijnd van toon.Het laatste deel vanaf zang 28 heeft een heel ander timbre dat al volledig in de lijn ligt van Paradiso en minder volgbaar en genietbaar is.
    • 5/5
      (Review is of the Penguin Classics translation by Mark Musa, and applies to all three volumes, Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradisio) I would not think to quibble with reviewing Dante himself - Dante is a master, and doesn't need my endorsement. I will say, however, that Musa's translation is an exceptionally sensitive one, and his comprehensive notes are an invaluable aid to the reader less familiar with Dante's broad spheres of reference. Musa is clearly a devoted scholar of Dante, and his concern for Dante's original meaning and tone is evident. This is one of the best translations of The Comedia available.
    • 3/5
      The Hollanders once again do a fine job of pulling the reader along, with a clear translation and very helpful notes that help to clarify Dante's context. I just dipped into them when I had a particular question. (Can't imagine how long it would take to read them all). Things I learned about Purgatory: Thomas Merton's autobiography, The Seven Storey Mountain, borrows it's title from Dante's vision of Mt. Purgatory.The Garden of Eden is preserved at the peak of the mountain.Next stop: Paradise!
    • 2/5
      Eh, this definitely wasn't as fun to read as [book: Inferno]. There was a lot less exciting stuff going on. But some of the imagery was still very beautiful.
    • 4/5
      The Divine Comedy epitomized medieval attitudes. From historical perspectives, this work serves as a window into the mentality of late middle ages in Italy, on the brink of the Renaissance. Scholastic thinking informs Dante's approach.