PURGATORY Dante’s Divine Trilogy Part Two by Alasdair Gray
Purgatory: Decorated and Englished in Prosaic Verse by Alasdair Gray ALASDAIR GRAY & DANTE ALIGHIERI
‘In part two of La Divina Commedia, one of the masterpieces of world literature, Dante and his guide, the poet Virgil, must enter and traverse Purgatory and the seven deadly sins in their quest to reach Heaven. In this sublime version of Dante’s masterpiece, Alasdair Gray offers an original translation in his own unique idiom.
Lyrical, modern and illuminatingly illustrated, this remarkable edition yokes two great literary minds, seven hundred years apart, and brings the classic text alive for the twenty-first century.’
There are many remarkable and incredibly talented people living in Glasgow’s West End – few would disagree that Alasdair Gray is at the top of the list. What a task he has taken on translating Dante’s La Divina Commedia – who else would have the confidence and the literary ability? And then to illustrate these books so beautifully.
‘Purgatory’ – just published October 2019 is the follow up from ‘Hell’ published in 2019.
“PRAISE FOR HELL: Alasdair Gray has cast a spell over Dante’s Hell, creating (and decorating) a verse translation that is modern, lyrical, yet faithful to the original”
New Statesman, Best Books Of 2018

It was a privilege to meet Alasdair the other day just as ‘Purgatory’ was due to hit the book shops. It looks absolutely glorious. I took him along a copy of our book Ten Writers Telling Lies and he was full of praise and liked ‘the coloured illustrations’. He became engrossed in Mick Norton’s story – ‘Big Toe’ and read the whole story.

Alasdair at Creative Conversations, October 2017.
It was a lovely feeling to have this amazing man admire our own efforts.
Pat Byrne, 6 October, 2019
Alasdair Gray Creative Conversations review Pat Byrne October, 2017
You can buy Purgatory at Waterstones
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