This is an interpretation rather than a translation. Explanation is inserted into the verse in lieu of footnotes. This will surely drive the purist wild and certainly this is not the version to read is you want unadulterated Dante. (Singleton is that, although then you must give up the verse). But James gives you much of the poetry and a reasonably faithful approximation of Dante and he is intermittently able to hit the grandeur as well. But his singular achievement, which as he says in his intro was his goal, is his readability. This Dante begs to be read aloud. Gone the terza rima but a propulsive quatrain scheme is substituted with plenty of internal, alliterative rhyme. And he is able to achieve mostly full rhyme without the clangy fall into limerick, a danger full rhyme is prone to.Here is the entrance to Hell: FROM NOW ON, EVERY DAY FEELS LIKE YOUR LAST FOREVER. LET THAT BE YOUR GREATEST FEAR. YOUR FUTURE NOW IS TO REGRET THE PAST. FORGET YOUR HOPES. THEY WERE WHAT BROUGHT YOU HERE. (Page 15)No longer "Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter Here". In fact his reading alters the meaning of Hope slightly (I was going to say "a shade" but feared the resulting groans).My favorite Dante is Pinsky's but he only did Inferno. Hollander is particularly good for the scholarly footnotes and the accuracy of the verse. Ciardi remains the most poetic for the entire Commedia. And I continue to have a fondness for Sayers, despite the just criticisms, as she was my "first" and you never forget the first time with Dante. But James honorably joins the team of wonderful Dante translators and since the explanations are built into the verse, he remains the most readable of them all. He is an excellent guide to this great poem - almost as admirable as Virgil himself.