Stupid question: is it viable to buy a book in its original language,

Uhhh not really.
Here's what you'll be doing

>wow I don't understand any of this shit
>goes to English version
>oh so that's what it means

no. just buy the everyman's edition with mandelbaum's translation

>>9652744
TSE did exactly this sans the aid of telecom. Same book, same idea.

File: 1491596198711.png (360KB, 500x322px) Image search: [Google]

360KB, 500x322px

Usually I'd say it's only worth a try if you already have some fluency with that particular language

In this specific case forget it and read it in english, it wouldn't work even if you knew some Italian. I can assure you not even us italians can get a proper grasp on some of the Divine Comedy's parts (Paradise above all) and need the aid of paraphrase to understand what the fuck he's even trying to convey. Add the usage of very strange terms to some sentences being worded in ridiculous and extremely contrived ways with cryptic metaphors spanning >10 lines and consider that usually he either words a simple concept in a way that make it sound difficult or that he words a very difficult concept in such a way barely anyone can make it out without referring to some external analysis. If you don't want to lose your mind over it stick with the translation

Study linguistics. I study Greek and Latin roots whenever I'm studying the original language of something. I study the etymology of key words as well, usually adjectives & verbs. I teach English Composition so studying other languages helps me conceptualize writing (and speaking) more concretely.

>>9653091
that pic is so great

Another note: English translations sometimes substitute words that weren't actually in use in the original context. You also want to cross reference words to ensure your translation is consistent with the primary text.