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Paradise Lost: With bonus material from The Demonologist by Andrew Pyper by [John Milton]

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David Hawkes

John Milton

Paradise Lost: With bonus material from The Demonologist by Andrew Pyper Kindle Edition

by John Milton (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

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This ebook edition of John Milton’s Paradise Lost contains bonus materials by internationally acclaimed bestselling author Andrew Pyper, including:

· Extended excerpt of The Demonologist (in development with Robert Zemeckis and Universal Pictures)
· “Paradise Re-Read: An Essay”
· Q&A with Andrew Pyper
· “Demons of the World: A Selection”

A chilling and spellbinding literary horror story, The Demonologist follows Columbia professor David Ullman’s modern-day descent into hell. When his daughter, Tess, disappears, Professor Ullman—a lifelong skeptic—finds that he must suspend his disbelief and use his knowledge of demonic mythology, and Milton’s Paradise Lost, to rescue her from the Underworld.

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December 18, 2012
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

John Milton is a famous English poet and intellectual known for his epic, Paradise Lost.

Review

[A]n exemplary job both of presenting the major topics of Paradise Lost and of entering the selva oscura of Milton criticism. . . . Students and scholars alike will appreciate the balanced approach to the complexities, difficulties, and conundrums of Milton's poem and the criticism on it. Kastan's prose is not just lively but chiseled, and it is destined to affect students. --Patrick Cheney, Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900

Kastan is an exemplary editor, attuned to emerging critical currents, yet steeped in the scholarship of an earlier tradition, aware of the text's provenance and reception, alert to its topicality. His introduction, a model of theoretically informed, politically committed, historically grounded criticism, makes this edition of Paradise Lost all you would expect from one of the most erudite and perceptive figures in the field. --Willy Maley, Modern Language Review

This is a superb edition, a model of careful editing and judicious annotation. --Leslie Brisman, Department of English, Yale University

--This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

Review

"Barbara Lewalski is the doyenne of the community of Milton scholars, but she also remains committed to the enterprise of teaching. In this exemplary edition of Paradise Lost both qualities are in evidence: the text is scrupulous and the scholarship rigorous, but both the introduction and the notes are accommodated to the needs of students who will be coming to the poem for the first time. This is an edition that will please students and professors alike, and its sheer quality is a tribute to Barbara Lewalski's passion to provide readers with all the help they need to understand the greatest of all English poems."
–Gordon Campbell, University of Leicester

"Teachers and scholars will welcome Barbara Lewalski’s Blackwell edition of Paradise Lost, one not only informed by the erudition of a prominent and highly respected Miltonist but advantaged by her sound decision to reproduce the original language, spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and italics of the 1674 text."
–Edward Jones, Editor, Milton Quarterly

"For the student or general reader, looking for an old-spelling edition that is faithful to the original punctuation, this edition has much to recommend it. Its annotation is crisp, purposeful and well-judged."
–Thomas N. Corns, University of Wales, Bangor

"A superb teaching text. Lewalski’s edition respects Milton’s original poem and offers supremely clear introductions, bibliography and special material to guide the student reader and educated lay person alike to new discoveries in a work that, quite simply, has it all: good, evil, God, Satan, humans, angels, love, despair, war, politics, sex, duty, and sublime poetry—set in a cosmic landscape that inspires wonder and seduces new readers in every generation."
–Sharon Achinstein, Oxford University

--This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

Book Description

This authoritative edition of Miltonrsquo;s great epic, Paradise Lost, presents the poem in the original language (spelling and punctuation) of its 1674 publication. It thereby recovers pronunciations, sonorities, and rhythms often lost in modernized editions. Barbara K. Lewaiski offers readers the opportunity to experience the brilliance and beauty of Paradise Lost as that poem was experienced by Miltonrsquo;s contemporaries. Beginning with a brief historical and critical introduction, Lewalski also provides judicious explanatory annotations that clarify names and places, identifyrsquo; biblical and literary allusions, and gloss unfamiliar words. She includes as well a textual apparatus of variant readings, a select bibliography, and several illustrations from the 1688 Folio edition. Lewalskirsquo;s Paradise Lost is the first of three paperback volumes presenting authoritative texts of the complete poetry and major prose of John Milton in original language, thereby making these texts readily available to students and scholars. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

PARADISE LOST the printer to the reader

Courteous Reader, there was no argument at first intended to the book, but for the satisfaction of many that have desired it, I have procured it, and withal a reason of that which stumbled many others, why the poem rhymes not. S. Simmons

The Verse

The measure is English heroic verse without rhyme, as that of Homer in Greek, and of Vergil in Latin; rhyme being no necessary adjunct or true ornament of poem or good verse, in longer works especially, but the invention of a barbarous age, to set off wretched matter and lame meter; graced indeed since by the use of some famous modern poets, carried away by custom, but much to their own vexation, hindrance, and constraint to express many things otherwise, and for the most part worse than else they would have expressed them. Not without cause therefore some both Italian and Spanish poets of prime note have rejected rhyme both in longer and shorter works, as have also long since our best English tragedies, as a thing of itself, to all judicious ears, trivial and of no true musical delight; which consists only in apt numbers, fit quantity of syllables, and the sense variously drawn out from one verse into another, not in the jingling sound of like endings, a fault avoided by the learned ancients both in poetry and all good oratory.

1. The defense of blank verse and the prose arguments summarizing each book “procured” by Milton’s printer, Samuel Simmons, were inserted in bound copies of the first edition beginning in 1668, with this brief note.

This neglect then of rhyme so little is to be taken for a defect, though it may seem so perhaps to vulgar readers, that it rather is to be esteemed an example set, the first in English, of ancient liberty recovered to heroic poem from the troublesome and modern bondage of rhyming.

Book I The Argument

This first book proposes, first in brief, the whole subject, man’s disobedience, and the loss thereupon of Paradise wherein he was placed: then touches the prime cause of his fall, the serpent, or rather Satan in the serpent, who revolting from God, and drawing to his side many legions of angels, was by the command of God driven out of Heaven with all his crew into the great deep. Which action passed over, the poem hastes into the midst of things, presenting Satan with his angels now fallen into Hell, described here, not in the center (for heaven and earth may be supposed as yet not made, certainly not yet accursed) but in a place of utter darkness, fitliest called Chaos. Here Satan with his angels lying on the burning lake, thunder-struck and astonished, after a certain space recovers, as from confusion, calls up him who next in order and dignity lay by him. They confer of their miserable fall. Satan awakens all his legions, who lay till then in the same manner confounded; they rise, their numbers, array of battle, their chief leaders named, according to the idols known afterwards in Canaan and the countries adjoining. To these Satan directs his speech, comforts them with hope yet of regaining Heaven, but tells them lastly of a new world and new kind of creature to be created, according to an ancient prophecy or report in Heaven; for that angels were long before this visible creation was the opinion of many ancient Fathers. To find out the truth of this prophecy, and what to determine thereon, he refers to a full council. What his associates thence attempt. Pandaemonium the palace of Satan rises, suddenly built out of the deep. The infernal peers there sit in council.

Of man’s first disobedience, and the fruit

Of that forbidden tree, whose mortal taste

Brought death into the world, and all our woe,

With loss of Eden, till one greater man

Restore us, and regain the blissful seat,

Sing Heav’nly Muse, that on the secret top

Of Oreb, or of Sinai, didst inspire

That shepherd, who first taught the chosen seed,

In the beginning how the heavens and earth

Rose out of Chaos: or if Sion hill

Delight thee more, and Siloa’s brook that flowed

Fast by the oracle of God, I thence

Invoke thy aid to my advent’rous song,

That with no middle flight intends to soar

Above th’ Aonian mount, while it pursues

Things unattempted yet in prose or rhyme.

And chiefly thou, O Spirit, that dost prefer

Before all temples th’ upright heart and pure,

Instruct me, for thou know’st; thou from the first

Wast present, and with mighty wings outspread

Dove-like sat’st brooding on the vast abyss

And mad’st it pregnant: what in me is dark

Illumine, what is low raise and support,

That to the highth of this great argument

I may assert eternal providence,

And justify the ways of God to men.

Say first, for Heav’n hides nothing from thy view

Nor the deep tract of Hell, say first what cause

Moved our grand parents in that happy state,

Favored of Heav’n so highly, to fall off

From their Creator, and transgress his will

For one restraint, lords of the world besides?

Who first seduced them to that foul revolt?

Th’ infernal serpent; he it was, whose guile

Stirred up with envy and revenge, deceived

The mother of mankind, what time his pride

Had cast him out from Heav’n, with all his host

Of rebel angels, by whose aid aspiring

To set himself in glory above his peers,

He trusted to have equaled the Most High,

If he opposed; and with ambitious aim

Against the throne and monarchy of God

Raised impious war in Heav’n and battle proud

With vain attempt. Him the Almighty Power

Hurled headlong flaming from th’ ethereal sky

With hideous ruin and combustion down

To bottomless perdition, there to dwell

In adamantine chains and penal fire,

Who durst defy th’ Omnipotent to arms.

Nine times the space that measures day and night

To mortal men, he with his horrid crew

1. The first line’s introduction of an exemplary man recalls the epics of Homer and Vergil. Milton’s theme, however, is neither martial nor imperial but spiritual: humanity’s disastrous failure to obey God counterpoised by the promise of redemption. Of man’s: The proper name Adam is also the Hebrew word for generic man or humankind. He is both an individual male and, with Eve, the entire species: “so God created man . . . ; male and female he created them” (Gen. 1.27). Of man translates the Hebrew for “woman” (Gen. 2.23). fruit: Its dual meanings (outcome, food) are put in play by enjambment, a primary formal device by which Milton draws out sense “from one verse into another” (The Verse).

4. one greater man: Jesus, second Adam (1 Cor. 15.21–22; Rom. 5.19). Cp. PR 1.1–4.

5. blissful seat: translates Vergil’s epithet for Elysium, Aen. 6.639.

6. Sing Heav’nly Muse: the verb and subject of the magnificently inverted sixteen-line opening sentence. By invoking a Muse, Milton follows a convention that dates from Homer. Yet Milton’s Muse is not the muse of classical epic (Calliope) but the inspiration of Moses, David, and the prophets (cp. 17–18n). secret: set apart, not common. When the Lord descends to give Moses the law, thick clouds and smoke obscure the mountaintop, and the people are forbidden on pain of death to cross boundaries around the mountain (Exod. 19.16, 23).

8. shepherd: The vocation of shepherd is a key vehicle for Milton’s integration of classical and scriptural traditions. Moses encounters God while tending sheep on Mount Horeb (Oreb) and later receives the law on Sinai, a spur of Horeb (Exod. 3; 19). (Or the doubling of names may simply acknowledge the inconsistency of Exod. 19.20 and Deut. 4.10.)

9. In the beginning: opening phrase of Genesis and the Gospel of John.

10. Chaos: classical term for the primeval state of being out of which God creates, also referred to as “the deep” (as in Gen. 1.2) and “the abyss” (as in l. 21). Sion hill: Mount Zion, site of Solomon’s Temple, “the house of the Lord” (1 Kings 6.1, 13). Adding to the persistent doubleness of the invocation, Milton requests inspiration from two scriptural sites associated with God’s presence and prophetic inspiration. Both sites receive dual designations: Mount Horeb/Sinai and Mount Zion/Siloa’s brook.

11–12. Siloa’s brook . . . God: spring whose waters flowed through an underground aqueduct, supplied a pool near (Fast by) Solomon’s Temple, and irrigated the king’s lush garden (cp. 4.225–30). Jerome says it ran directly beneath Mount Zion (A. Gilbert 1919, 269). Scripturally, it symbolizes David’s monarchical line (Isa. 7–8, esp. 8.6). In opening the eyes of the man born blind, Jesus sends him to wash his eyes with its waters (John 9). Cp. 3.30–31. oracle of God: the holiest place in the Temple, the tabernacle of the Ark of the Covenant (1 Kings 6.19). The classical Muses haunt a spring (Aganippe) on Helicon (cp. 15n), “the sacred well, / That from beneath the seat of Jove doth spring” (Lyc 15–16). In identifying the spring near the “Holy of Holies” as similarly a site of inspiration, Milton again links scriptural and classical prophetic and poetic traditions.

14. no middle flight: Milton will go beyond middle air, whose upper boundary is as high as the peaks of tall mountains, and soar to the highest Empyrean, the abode of God. His soaring ambition recalls the myth of Icarus, whose failure to follow a middle flight caused him to tumble into the sea (cp. 7.12–20).

15. Aonian mount: Helicon, Greek mountain favored by the Muses (cp. 11–12n). Hesiod says that while he tended sheep on Helicon (like Moses on Horeb), the Muses called him to sing of the gods (Theog. 22).

16. Translates the opening of Orlando Furioso (1.2) and is reminiscent of Masque 43–45; cp. similar claims by Lucretius (De Rerum Nat. 1.925–30) and Horace (Odes 3.1.2–4).

17–18. 1 Cor. 3.16–17, 6.19. The Spirit is the Holy Spirit (l. 21). In Milton’s theology, the diverse functions of the Holy Spirit derive from “the virtue and power of God the Father,” in this case “the force or voice of God, in whatever way it was breathed into the prophets” (CD 1.6, p. 1194). The site of revelation progresses from Horeb/Sinai to Sion hill/Siloa’s brook to, finally, the individual human heart.

21. brooding: Milton thus renders the Hebrew word translated as “moved” in the AV (Gen. 1.2) but as incubabat (brooded) in St. Basil and other Latin patristic authors (see also 7.235). Cp. Sir Thomas Browne, Religio Medici: “This is that gentle heat that brooded on the waters, and in six days hatched the world” (73).

24. argument: subject matter; cp. 9.28.

25. assert: take the part of, champion.

26. justify: vindicate; cp. Pope, Essay on Man: “Laugh where we must, be candid where we can,/But vindicate the ways of God to man” (1.15–16). Milton’s word order permits dual readings: either “justify (the ways of God to men)” or “justify (the ways of God) to men.” Cp. SA: “Just are the ways of God,/And justifiable to men” (293–94).

27–28. Milton introduces the narrative with a query, an epic convention; cp. “Tell me, O Muse, the cause” (Vergil, Aen. 1.8). Homer also depicts the Muses as all-knowing: “Tell me now, ye Muses that have dwellings on Olympus—for ye are goddesses and are at hand and know all things” (Il. 2.484–85).

29. grand: great, original, all-inclusive; cp. line 122.

30. fall off: deviate, revolt (as in l. 33).

33. Cp. Il. 1.8.

36. what time: when; cp. Masque 291, Lyc 28.

44–49. Him . . . arms: “God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness” (2 Pet. 2.4; cp. Jude 6).

45. “I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven” (Luke 10.18); cp. Homer’s Hephaestus “hurled . . . from the heavenly threshold . . . headlong” (Il. 1.591–92).

46. ruin: a fall from a great height, from the Latin ruina; cp 6.867–68.

48. adamantine: unbreakable (Gk.); cp. Aeschylus’s Prometheus, clamped “in shackles of binding adamant that can- not be broken” (Prom. 6). The myth of adamant persists today; the indestructible claws of the Marvel Comics hero Wol- verine are made of “adamantium.”

49. durst: dared.

50–52. The rebel angels regain consciousness after nine days falling from Heaven (6.871) and nine days rolling in the fiery gulf. Hesiod’s Titans fall nine days from heaven to earth and another nine from earth to Tartarus (Theog. 720–25). Milton, like many Christian mythographers, deemed the Titans’ rebellion a pagan analogue for Satan’s fall. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

From AudioFile

PARADISE LOST is a classic that requires slow, careful reading and rereading. Ralph Cosham's smooth voice is a fine match for Milton's blank verse epic. Cosham deserves praise for ably handling the phrasing and pronunciation of Milton's 12 books. However, there could be more clarity between the opening arguments and the beginning of each book. The scenes of wrath and dread are read at the same pace as the final scene of humanity's exile from the Garden of Eden. But these are minor quibbles as Cosham is consistent in his presentation of the text. His choice to read rather than interpret is a wise one. This high-quality production may inspire listeners to further exploration of this significant text. R.F. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

From the Back Cover

This authoritative edition of Milton’s great epic, Paradise Lost, presents the poem in the original language (spelling and punctuation) of its 1674 publication. It thereby recovers pronunciations, sonorities, and rhythms often lost in modernized editions. Barbara K. Lewalski offers readers the opportunity to experience the brilliance and beauty of Paradise Lost as that poem was experienced by Milton’s contemporaries.

Beginning with a brief historical and critical introduction, Lewalski also provides judicious explanatory annotations that clarify names and places, identify biblical and literary allusions, and gloss unfamiliar words. She includes as well a textual apparatus of variant readings, a select bibliography, and several illustrations from the 1688 Folio edition.

Lewalski’s Paradise Lost is the first of three paperback volumes presenting authoritative texts of the complete poetry and major prose of John Milton in original language, thereby making these texts readily available to students and scholars.

--This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

From the Publisher

This is the first fully-annotated, old-spelling edition of Paradise Lost to be published in this century. It surveys in its introduction and incorporates in its notes the large amount of criticism published between 1965 and the present--not to mention the criticism that began with Dryden, Addison, Samuel Johnson, and William Blake--and it reflects critical perspectives from New Criticism to Deconstruction, from Philology to New Historicism and Feminism. On the page, the book combines the look and feel of original editions with the convenience of wide margins and thorough annotation. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

From the Inside Flap

--This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B009G3T4Y0
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Simon & Schuster (December 18, 2012)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ December 18, 2012
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 4019 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 98 pages
Lending ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled

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David Hawkes
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David Hawkes was born in Cardiff, Wales and educated at Stanwell Comprehensive School. He has a B.A. from Oxford University and a MA, M.Phil. and Ph.D. from Columbia University. His work has appeared in the Times Literary Supplement, The Nation, The New Criterion, Quillette and many other popular and scholarly journals. He is a Professor of English Literature at Arizona State University, and has held visiting appointments in Turkey, Japan, India and China, as well as a long-term fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities. He lives in Phoenix and Istanbul.
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The Wily One

A few comments on the 984,562 editions of Paradise Lost on Amazon

Reviewed in the United States on January 24, 2015

Verified Purchase

Amazon has the bad habit of lumping reviews of multiple editions of a book without regard as to author/editor or publisher, to the detriment of the buyer's choosing an edition, so I write to make a few comments on the 984,562 editions of "Paradise Lost" listed for purchase. I have used the titles as listed by Amazon to help find the editions I refer to, and, with the exception of the books by Kastan, Lanzara, and BookCaps, the ones I discuss below are ones I own and am familiar with.

The version with an introduction and comments by Pullman has text that is large and readable, line numbers and some nice illustrations, taken from the first illustrated edition, published in 1688. It is a nice copy for those who want just the text of the poem. The text is based on Stephen Orgel's 2008 Paradise Lost (Oxford World's Classics) which has been modernized presumably with respect to capitalization, spelling and punctuation. The comments by Pullman are worthwhile, but, while he may be a very good writer, he is not a scholar of Milton. Unlike Orgel, there are no annotations or notes to explain Milton's often arcane language and allusions.

For readers seeking annotated versions, I suggest the following.

The ultimate edition of Milton is Alastair Fowler's Milton: Paradise Lost : it has been called the Bible of Milton scholars; one review I saw called it suitable for graduate students majoring in Milton. It is one of the few available based on the first edition of "Paradise Lost", published in 1667, but Fowler states that it also includes the additions made in the second edition of 1674 --- the version that most of today's editors use. Know that Fowler has produced a very, very scholarly version with many, many notes, sometimes to the point that they leave only two or three lines of the poem on the page, so I strongly urge using the "Look Inside" feature before deciding to buy it. I recommend Fowler's 1998 Milton: Paradise Lost (2nd Edition) edition in used paperback ---- reissued in 2006 with a new cover and much higher price.

The blurb from the publisher on the Pullman webpage misleads the reader by mentioning "This is the first fully-annotated, old-spelling edition ..." It ain't (as the small print says). I can't find the actual book this blurb refers to, there are several that might be the one mentioned. One such version, with very favorable recommendations, is Barbara K. Lewalski's 2007 Paradise Lost that reproduces the original language, spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and italics of the 1674 text. Its annotations are on the same page. Again, I would again urge potential buyers to "Look Inside." (Incidentally, I was able to find a .pdf copy of it online).

Another annotated edition, again with those on the same page, that sticks close to the original 1674 text (but with some minor modernization) is Merritt Y. Hughes' Paradise Lost (Hackett Classics) , first published in 1935, and revised in 1962. It is advertised as one popular with college professors for their classes, whatever that may mean. From what I gather, Fowler has replaced Hughes as the scholarly version to use.

The edition by Hughes was taken in 2003 by David Scott Kastan ( Paradise Lost (Hackett Classics) ) and edited more extensively, again with the annotations on the same page. Incidentally, Kastan's comments on how he edited, along with comments on any editor's choices when dealing with Milton, are well worth reading, and can be found under "Textual Introduction" using the "Look Inside" feature. I urge reading them to understand how and why there are so many different editions of Milton.

Yet another annotated edition that comes close to the original is by John Leonard's Paradise Lost (Penguin Classics) . The ad for this version states that the text has been modernized to the degree of reducing some capitals and italics, and correcting the spelling and some punctuation. It is annotated, but not to the degree of Fowler --- but the notes are at the back of the book rather than the bottom of the page as seems customary and which I personally find difficult to use because of constantly having to flip between pages. Again, I would urge potential buyers to "Look Inside."

There are many other scholarly editions available in addition to the ones I have mentioned here, including one online at the John Milton Reading Room at Dartmouth College.

For those who might like a less challenging version of "Paradise Lost", I suggest BookCaps "translation" (Amazon's words, not mine) Paradise Lost In Plain and Simple English or at an even less difficult level, Joseph Lanzara's John Milton's Paradise Lost In Plain English: A Simple, Line By Line Paraphrase Of The Complicated Masterpiece . Should those prove too difficult, there might be somewhere a copy by Classics Illustrated comics, although a search by Google turns up nothing --- perhaps they never published one.

Since each edition of "Paradise Lost" has its strengths and weaknesses, how does the buyer go about selecting an edition for purchase? To me, it's rather like buying a car --- ultimately based upon personal preference, but in this case, rather than engine and body style, determined by the way the editor has modified Milton's language and added annotations, and their degree of adherence to his original language --- some editors produce as little modernization as possible to retain Milton's original meter and rhythm for reading aloud, while others try for a more modern sound. I would suggest using the "Look Inside" feature, to see what the editor has done, to help making a decision.

Whichever edition you buy ---- and I recommend the one by Lewalski ---- may you find great enjoyment in reading what I consider the greatest epic poem in the English language --- although you might agree more with what Donald Sutherland's character, Jennings, had to say about it in the movie "Animal House": "Now what can we say about Milton's "Paradise Lost"? It's a very long poem. It was written a long time ago, and I'm sure a lot of you have difficulty understanding exactly what Milton was trying to say. ..... Don't write this down, but I find Milton probably as boring as you find Milton. Mrs. Milton found him boring too. He's a little bit long-winded, he doesn't translate very well into our generation, and his jokes are terrible."

768 people found this helpful

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The Bible as Epic

Reviewed in the United States on November 1, 2019

Verified Purchase

Paradise Lost is one of the greatest works of the human imagination. There is no need to review it as if by a casual reading I could critique it properly.

But the text is so different from contemporary literature that I can provide some context so that the potential reader will know what to expect.

Ever since the writing down of the Iliad and Odyssey, artists have striven to mimic its form and attain its stature. Most famously, Virgil was commissioned by Augustus to write the Aeneid so that Rome would have a national epic like the Greeks.

If you’ve read either the Iliad, Odyssey or Aeneid, or even some of the lesser epics of antiquity, you are well prepared to read Paradise Lost. It’s basically the casting of the story of creation found in the Bible into the epic genre.

Why did Milton want to do this? It may be pure speculation but perhaps he wanted to write an epic narrative to ground his vision of an English Protestant Commonwealth as Virgil did for pagan Rome.

What I can say as critique is that, at least compared to translations of Homer and Virgil, Milton possessed the artistry to imitate the masters.

In short, if you like the epic genre, whether or not you are particularly interested in Biblical mythology, you will enjoy Paradise Lost. Those interested in the pure religious content should rather consult a good commentary on the Bible.

28 people found this helpful

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Marie

Read it out loud

Reviewed in the United States on November 5, 2020

Verified Purchase

My husband caught me reading this aloud and asked whether I was reading to the dog. I was initially drawn into finally buying and reading this because of the extraordinarily large contribution it made to he English language. If one pauses to read all the footnotes one misses the SOUND. So yes, I seemed to be reading to the dog but I was reading to hear it myself.

19 people found this helpful

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Bob

The footnotes are not linked to the text in the Kindle version

Reviewed in the United States on May 11, 2019

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All the learning, the scholarship and the great strivings on the part of the editor to achieve clarity, relevance and accuracy in order to make this great text accessible to modern readers—all was wasted because someone, probably some sub-sub-editor, did not understand what a footnote is.

In the Kindle edition the footnotes are not linked to the text. So you if you encounter a word which you do not understand and want to see if the editor glossed it, you have to wade through hundreds of pages of footnotes to locate the place where such a footnote might be. There is no hyperlink in the text to take you there directly.

I am sure Dante had a place in his inferno for such a sub-sub-editor, who should be accompanied there by all those supposedly supervising the sub-sub-editor, but who nonetheless authorized the publication of this Kindle text.

Fortunately, Amazon makes it easy to get your money back.

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melissa

Tough to understand, but super entertaining!

Reviewed in the United States on September 2, 2018

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It was recommended to me by the Church of Satan to read this book along with a few others. If you're not into 16th/17th century euphamisms, poetry, slang, or old English spelling, this book will be tough to get through!! But my boyfriend and I are loving it. I use the SparkNotes website if I have any trouble understanding what's going on in any chapter. But Milton's idea of how Satan's war on heaven affected both sides, and how he attempted to mess around with Adam and Eve, is absolutely wonderful and a fresh take on the story. I throughly enjoy seeing Satan's side of things as well. Definitely worth a read or two!!

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Steven R. Robertson

Milton = excellent; commentary = beyond awful.

Reviewed in the United States on August 5, 2017

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Milton is a genius, but the introduction and commentary on the poem are atrocious. It reminds me of Chesterton's comment about John and Revelation: "Though St. John the Evangelist saw many strange monsters in his vision, he saw no creature so wild as one of his own commentators."

A far more helpful guide to Paradise Lost is Leland Ryken's volume in his series Christian Guides to the Classics. The detail is not as granular, but it's a far more reliable commentary on the poem itself.

33 people found this helpful

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Gussie

Epic journey

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 8, 2017

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I wanted to read this especially as I love the Iambic Pentameter blank verse style of writing but also because I have been thinking of writing a major biblical poetic work since I started writing spiritual poetry for about four years now. The idea of reading Milton had been on the back burner for years.

I read it through lightly, as I am not versed in the classics, but was looking for inspiration from the poem for my own project. I got that in bucketloads and have since started my poem, having written over 1050 lines so far. It will take time but I will get there. Paradise Lost is a real journey, difficult at times, but so worth it. Essential reading.

39 people found this helpful

Alfie

The one star is for content.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 26, 2019

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Somewhat pretentiously, I decided to read some of 'The Classics' in order to inflate an already bloated ego. This was one of those classics. Now I don't doubt Milton's skill, or that some people find it fascinating, but, having been a huge fan of The Secret 7 as a boy, I'm sorry to say that the rather protracted and verbose text left me cold. Perhaps I'm simply not ready for 'The Classics' after all.

15 people found this helpful

Araminta D-M

Disappointing

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 2, 2020

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New Penguin cloth-bound edition - not great quality tbh.
Pages are made from paper so thin it’s possible to see the print on the page overleaf coming through.
This volume came with a sticky label (why?) which removed some of the pattern when it came off - see photo. I’m keeping this for myself but if it was a gift I would not have been happy.
No idea why this volume had a sticky label when another bokok in the clothbound series I ordered came with a cardboard label.....(see other pic)

9 people found this helpful

Concise

Reminds me of that phrase "Put your brain in Mr President", still locating mine.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 26, 2019

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It's a classic which I have never read in the past. Should've, didn't. So I am slowly wading my way through but I am no Stephen Fry so it's taking me a bit of time.

13 people found this helpful

Neasa MacErlean

Is Satan outdone by his rival, the Son?

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 2, 2013

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The famous interpretation of Paradise Lost is that Satan is the hero with all the best lines. And there is a lot of validity in that. When he rebels in Heaven, taking with him a third of the angels, stricken by "envie" of the Son, he reveals himself as a thoughtful, interesting, innovative, brave character. But you can interpret Paradise Lost as a comparison of Satan and the Son. And the Son is presented as a kind, modest, thoughtful, innovative, brave character. He is kinder and softer than the humanised Son of the New Testament, and he softens the Father who immediately accepts his pleadings on behalf of mankind. The love that comes from the Son seems similar to me to the love which Popes, archbishops and cardinals refer to when they repeat the idea that "God is love". His love is immediate and merciful - not like the angry love of Jesus in the New Testament or the tough love of the Father. For instance, the Son is described as having a "sense of new job ineffably diffused" within him and of having "Divine compassion" which visibly appeared on him, and showing "Love without end, and without measure Grace". The Father also becomes deeply merciful, stating at one stage that either justice will survive or that man will - meaning that, if he wants man to survive, he must be merciful.
Another hero is Adam who also becomes thoughtful and brave as he becomes older and develops. Eve is tricky as she is painted as the traditional, beautiful wife who gets into terrible trouble when she uses her initiative (and eats the apple). The portrait of Eve is shocking, in fact. No wonder women were repressed by men when they read this or the Old Testament. She was blamed for everything and was untrustworthy and, under pressure, slippery. (At one stage she blames Adam for having listened to her entreaties to let her go off alone and, as it worked out, to be tempted by the serpent.)
Anyway, this is an astounding tale with wonderful characterisation, put together by someone with great imagination and great rationality. It is hard to read, however. Milton was a great linguist and his Latin style influences the construction of his sentences.
Just to quote a little on Satan. After "the Arch-fiend lay/Chain'd on the burning lake", having left Heaven, he has to work out what to do and how to organise Hell as far as he can. He says that "The mind is its own place and in itself/Can make a Heav'n of Hell, a Hell of Heav'n". Later he tries to work out what doing evil means in practice, and so aims to create a system in which "Fate shall yield/ To fickle Chance, and CHAOS judge the strife". That is an interesting definition of Hell, in my view, and one that we do import to earth (in civil wars, extreme poverty and even in normal life).
This is ultimately a very optimistic work in many ways. For instance, the Angel Michael tells that fallen Adam that if he can feel love for others he "shalt possess a Paradise within thee" and that this could make him "happier farr" than just being in Paradise. Also, and this is easy to miss in the blandishments of the Testaments New and Old, man was created as a beautiful creature in the image of God. Adam and Eve seem "Lords of all" in Paradise.

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