Born in 1934, Alasdair Gray graduated in design and mural painting
from Glasgow School of Art. Since 1981, when Lanark was published
by Canongate, he has written, designed and illustrated seven
novels, several books of short stories, a collection of his stage,
radio and TV plays and a book of his visual art, A Life in
Pictures.
In his own words, 'Alasdair Gray is a fat, spectacled, balding,
increasingly old Glaswegian pedestrian who has mainly lived by
writing and designing books, most of them fiction.'
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 * *
Both a lively rendition of Dante and a window onto Mr Gray's own
remarkable career . . . Fans of Gray's writing will find in this
translation many treasures. Admirers of Dante will find a sharp
playful interpretation that is not showy in its oddities, but
honours the imaginative power of the original
* * Wall Street Journal * *
Powerfully conveys the appalling nature of a vision which has
terrified and enthralled Western men and women down the
centuries
* * Times Literary Supplement * *
No other translator has made the narratives so clear or strong, and
the distinctive power of the work lies in the clarity of the
storytelling . . . This Hell is a magnificent feat of reimagining
of one of the greatest of all human creations
* * Herald * *
Slick, easy to read . . . Gray is rather good at catching the
colloquial nature of the poem . . . An excellent primer to Dante .
. . In terms of verve, vim and vigour Gray has succeeded here. It
is, if such a thing can be, an "easy" Dante, and one that does
capture the comedy as well as the pathos and anguish of the
poem
* * Scotsman * *
PRAISE FOR ALASDAIR GRAY: A necessary genius
*ALI SMITH*
The best Scottish novelist since Sir Walter Scott
*ANTHONY BURGESS*
Gray is a true original, a twentieth century William Blake
* * Observer * *
A great writer, perhaps the greatest writer living in Britain
today
*WILL SELF*
One of the most gifted writers to have put pen to paper in the
English language
*IRVINE WELSH*
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