The Divine Comedy: Purgatory by Dante, translated by Clive James

It's a rollicking, picaresque tale about going through hell and back. Plus there's a bunch of highbrow references and allusions to the Bible, theology and Graeco-Roman mythology, which keeps academics employed debating minor points of long-forgotten arcana when not writing copious footnotes and prefaces and indexes to new translations. But essentially: it's a rollicking, picaresque tale that Clive James translates exceptionally well.