Paradise Lost (Penguin Classics) by John Milton
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Book Reviews of Paradise Lost (Penguin Classics)
Book Review: A timeless classic of English literature
Summary: 5 Stars
Justly placed at the head of the canon of Western literature behind Shakespeare and Dante by Harold Bloom, Milton stands as a towering creative genius in English literature and epic poetry.
Milton conceived of his vast epic as a way to justify the 'ways of God to man.' Strangely, the character of Satan is absolutely central to this epic more so even than Adam and the rest of humanity, and often one can't help comparing Satan and his journeys and battles against misfortune as akin to those of other great literary heroes, such as Prometheus, Odysseus or Aeneas. I feel in a way the message of Milton is more than just good Protestant Christian apologetics; if you read his passionate and brilliant defense of freedom of the press and of thought in works like Aeropagitica, I am sure Milton in a way showed the power of free choice and what heights it allows any being to soar to, even those who are damned. I always get a sense from reading Milton a great trust in the human spirit and an expectation to rise against tyranny.
While ultimately I feel Milton does not really justify the 'ways of God to man' in an intellectually satisfying way, and his vision lacks the brilliant unity of that of Dante, Milton is certainly a poet and genius of first order and probably the greatest writer in English after Shakespeare. His poetry contains great depth and beauty, not just the Paradise Epics but many other poems as well, and his learning and erudition are immense.
In Milton there is a great confidence in human reason and in the individual to prevail in the face of disaster and hardship. One can't help but admire Satan's stubborness and determination in the face of so much which goes against him, and his incredible efforts to achieve his goals. If you ever wanted an example of 'self-help' look no further than the devil in Milton; despite the most hopeless situations he never gives up. Perhaps conciously or unconciously Milton embodies in Satan and also in Samson our own present confidence in our creative abilities and our determination and intelligence to overcome any obstacles in our way, and perhaps in a world as turbulent as ours, that isn't such a bad hope to have after all.
Book Review: !!!VERVE!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
what joy to read galaxian epics, large in their characters, profound in their language, jumbo-gigantic in their theme! for this work concerns nothing more than the salvation of mankind, the source of all our toxica, the origins of reality's thrash of contradiction, decapitation of sense, the justice of God's infi-nite bewilderment and a host of other themes, some limpid, some latent. yet the true irony of this story, although milton eventually loses interest in him after his hallow triumph is greeted in inferno with the hiss of snakes, is that the author's sympathies, obsessions and fascination lies most in the charac-ter of satan! for did not milton jail-suffer at the hands of the restoration of the house of stuart? the blind english word-smith thus explores in depth this cosmic character of rebellion! for he himself most likely also from time to time longed to attack authority, shirk government decrees and restore to power the creed that he thought would best help mankind rose-flourish and ivory-prosper! here we witness satan's frustration, his nails of soul, his menace of catastrophe! here we read of satan's inappeasable torrent of rats as he witnesses adam in the garden, content, at ease, pax surrounding him and satan thus languishes, yearning for the former splendo-times he passed in celestium. and when adam does finally eat of the apple and is thus exiled from eden's rapture - what hiròshimum! what blight! for he laments his fall from grace in a torrent of mental cacophony and quickly sets about to blame eve for his slither among adders! but the work's most rubylicious feature is its language! how rarely do we encounter whole stories written in iambic pentameter verse! and milton embellishes his cosmic tale with all sorts of unexpected syntax, rioting images and flaxen parallels!
author of Lorelei Pursued and Wrestles with God
Book Review: Possibly the Best Edition Out There
Summary: 5 Stars
I have read "Paradise Lost" four times, and took no less than three semesters on it at university. This was the edition we used to work. Modernised spelling, coherent punctuation (plus variations of it in the notes), good introduction, and enormous work in the notes; this edition has all you need for a good reading of the epic poem.
As to the poem itself, some people are hard on it for all the wrong reasons. Remember that it is a 17th century poem, that English was not exactly similar as it is today, and that there are many, many words which were first used in English in "Paradise Lost". Milton was innovative with words, and he gave English new words, and expressions, such as the most famous "all Hell broke loose", which was first uttered in "Paradise Lost".
A poem like this cannot be read without good notes, and this is what this edition has to offer. Notes aren't enough, though, they have to be good, and in this edition, they are. The poem itself is not burdened by the numbers of the notes, because there are so many, the editor decided not to show them in the text per se, but at the end of the book, you will always have the reference, the lines, which the notes are about.
As to the poem itself, if you don't know it, you certainly know of the story of the Fall of Man, Adam and Eve, and the rebellion of Satan in Heaven. I'll only say that Milton's God is one seriously problematic figure in the poem, and that it caused centuries of academic discussion as to whether Milton's God is a good God or a devilish one, whether "Paradise Lost" was truly a "myth", in the old sense of a story which explains why we're here and how it got to be, or whether it was an attack on Christianity. Scholars still discuss this today, so make your own mind if you can!
Book Review: Who Knew Satan Was So Darn Cool?
Summary: 5 Stars
At least in Paradise Lost. Here, when among his own kind, we find the much-maligned Fallen One to be noble, honorable, brave, loyal, beautiful, eloquent, intellectual, defiant and determined--mostly exact opposites of all we humans have been told of him. Satan, in fact, is all-but perfect, and yet it is his own arrogance that undermines him and makes possible his terrible exile from the paradise that will ever after be denied him. Satan, defeated in his Heavenly rebellion in which one-third of all the Host of paradise sided with him, will throughout eternity be God's foe, and because of this, he hates man, God's greatest creation, with all his being, hence his efforts throughout history to oppress and ruin man's relationship with its creator.
It took me three face-first dashes into this heavier than lead poem, but I'm glad I finished it. Satan is the best heroic villain in English literature, and God is crafty beyond expectations (although He is God, so how can that be possible?) to use Satan's vast pride against him in His plan for man's future. Some say the ebb and flow of Milton's lines here is akin to the notes of a perfectly-tuned pipe organ blasting out music, and I like that description. This is a great tale full of lines so utterly quotable (or at least paraphrased, as in: "better to rule in Hell than serve in Heaven") that it amply rewards the exertion it takes to your force protesting mind through it.
Even if you have to take some time off from this HEAVY poem, come back to it. You'll be glad you did.
Book Review: Definately not for everybody
Summary: 5 Stars
First of all I want to say that reading Milton is very difficult at best and impossible at worst. So if you really want to read this don't be turned down if you have problems. And if you don't like reading this kind of stuff I strongly advise you to try something else first.
Second of all this is one of the best books ever written. Not only because of the (my point of view) wonderful and amazing language. But only because this is better than the story told in the Bible !!!
Really because the Bible has left us hundreds of unanswered questions and a story that doesn't make any sense at all. While Milton present us a story wish shows us all motives and gives us all the answers. Non of the philosophical are left unanswered. Therefore I can give him only praise for he succeeds there where thousands and thousands of religious people have failed.
In the end Milton gives us that what he promised.
"To explain the ways of God to men." (I don't remember the exact quote.)
So be aware of that what you are going to read and remember that before you lays not only one of the greatest epics ever told (I can compare this even to Iliad and the Devine Comedy) but also one of the best religious books (I can compare it even to the Bible and the Dhammapada).
This book stands on a lonely height.