Paradise Lost (Penguin Classics) by John Milton
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Book Reviews of Paradise Lost (Penguin Classics)
Book Review: The Greatest Writing in the English Language
Summary: 5 Stars
There's enough already said about why and how Milton wrote this book, so I don't have anything to say about that. It's a story most people will be familiar with, and any surprises will involve the beauty of the language or a random, surprising insight into a character's motivation. In the end, Milton deserves to be called the greatest writer in English because of the pure strength and beauty of each individual sentence.
This is undoubtedly a difficult book to read. I teach a small bit in a sophomore high school English class, and I tell them, "This will be the most complex text you will encounter this year." We have to practice unpacking sentences one at a time and stating them in our own words in order to get their meaning. It's a slow process, and one that most adults will also need to go through.
But it's all worth it! Reading Milton might or might not change your view of God and man, but absorbing him will change your love of language. The words are vivid and powerful and beg to be read aloud. If you like your poetry Great in the sense of sounding larger than life and tackling humanity's major questions, Milton is it. (And, in my opinion, he even takes out other wonderful poets that I also love, including Dante, Virgil, Homer, and Shakespeare).
Book Review: The Epic Poem of the English Language
Summary: 5 Stars
John Milton's "Paradise Lost" is one of the all-time classics of English literature. The epic poem begins with Satan just having been expelled from Heaven. Adam and Eve are tempted in the Garden of Eden, and fall. Before the two are expelled from Eden, Adam has revealed to him some of the major events of the Old and New Testaments, culminating in the Second Coming of Christ. The epic has enthralled readers for well over three centuries.
One thing that must be borne in mind when reading this work is that Milton's theology was not orthodox Christian theology, but Arianism, as he denied the Trinity and believed that Christ was not eternal, but created by God the Father. Also, the seventeenth century English is difficult to plow through. However, by forcing the reader to reflect on the origin of evil and to consider what they believe about the concept of original sin, "Paradise Lost" proves to be worth the effort one must make in reading it.
Book Review: A Crown Jewel of Literature
Summary: 5 Stars
This is easily some of the best prose ever recorded. The stories related are Milton's interpretation of the war of the heavens, and man's expulsion from paradise, on earth. The words dance and sing above the pages, forming phrases that when spoken aloud are akin to your tongue parting your lover's lips for the first time after a lengthy courtship. This demands to be read, re-read-----studied, digested, and especially to be read aloud, for phonetically the lyricism expands dramatically, collapsing to a honed edge, then cuts to the very marrow of your being. It is not necessary to believe in the Judeo-Christian faith to be floored by this book, it kicks English up to the realm of the Romance Languages, pick it up today.Book Review: Read this book with others!!
Summary: 5 Stars
I had to read this book for a class. I love to read, but I never would have finished this without an instructor to guide me through it and classmates to discuss it with. But....I LOVED IT! It was great! If I'd tried to read it on my own, I wouldn't have made it through one sentence, but since I had assistance (someone to help me understand the references and the time period it was written in) I found reading it an absolute pleasure. I am SO glad I read this book/immense poem. Just don't try to do it alone!!! (Ditto with Divine Comedy which is also supremely excellent but impossible to grasp by one's self). You gotta read this, but do it in a group. Guess I've said enough!!!Book Review: In Breathless Wonder
Summary: 5 Stars
How a blind man could produce such a stunning work is beyond me. Paradise Lost chronicles the fall of Adam and Eve from Eden and the fall of Lucifer from Heaven. It is told in flashback and in current time, by angels and by the narrator. Milton is a breathtaking poet, even on par with the great one Shakespeare and at times surpassing him. The images of heaven and eden and of the war in heaven are astonishing. Then there is what lies beneath: The nature of free will, pride, blind love, and many other things are explored. Don't let the difficulty of the prose or the long length stop you, this is one of the greatest works of art in literature.