This book was fantastic, but wasn't quite as good as Dante's work. Still, one of my favorites. ( )

Printed from the original text of a edition from the library of some Mr. Keightley who, apparently, kindly agreed to read each page one by one as they were printed.

It´s a great edition, pity it was not accompanied with some illustrations as it was the norm at the time with some publications of Milton´s poetical works. ( )

Very interesting and not what I expected at all. A different version of the Garden of Eden. Milton’s own twist to how the earth was created and the lives of Adam and Eve. Not sure I really liked it a whole lot.

Quite a powerful read, although not the easiest, what with all the classical illusions. But Milton's ability to conjure images with words just blows my mind. e.g. "From those flames, no light, but darkness visible" Has there ever been a better description of the pain of hopelessness? ( )

Mrs. Thrale and I had a dispute, whether Shakspeare or Milton had drawn the most admirable picture of a man. I was for Shakspeare; Mrs. Thrale for Milton; and after a fair hearing, Johnson decided for my opinion.

--Boswell in Life of Johnson

Don't care if it's blasphemy, Satan is awesome!!! He becomes a character that drives a much needed retelling of Genesis. Milton knew how to use his character and his words to create a book that was one of only two that would usually be found in anyone's house during the 18th and 19th century. ( )

On 30 April 1756, 20-year old John Adams wrote in his diary "A hazy, dull Day. Reading Milton. That mans Soul, it seems to me, was distended as wide as Creation. His Powr over the human mind was absolute and unlimited. His Genius was great beyond Conception, and his Learning without Bounds. I can only gaze at him with astonishment, without comprehending the vast Compass of his Capacity."

Sounds about right. I've been enjoying Paradise Lost for several weekends now, in the recent Modern Library edition (William Kerrigan, John Rumrich and Stephen Fallon, eds.). Each Saturday and Sunday morning I went out into the kitchen, away from the computer and other technological gadgetry, to read without distraction. Milton both deserves and demands this treatment, I found: the poem is complicated enough that to try and read it any other way would have been impossible, and it is brilliant enough that I wanted to savor it to the fullest.

The editorial introduction provided a good and thorough background into aspects of Milton's work, including brief discussions of the poem's publishing history, the author's worldview, the linguistic styles and effects deployed in Paradise List, and the critical controversies the work spawned. Beyond this, the unobtrusive but more than welcome footnotes throughout were very helpful.

I'll spare the plot details, since they are well known (if not to you, try here or here). What most impressed me about Milton's tale was his utterly brilliant use of the English language. The cadence and the rhythm of his words held me in thrall from start to finish; there were times when I couldn't help but read the lines out loud to hear the way the words rolled together, sometimes striking against each other, sometimes merging so gracefully it seemed almost musical. His depictions of the fall of Satan and his minions and their re-emergence in Hell is riveting: the language is beautiful, but the imagery is positively terrifying.

Fully deserving of its reputation. A poem to wonder at, by an author to gaze at with astonishment.

http://philobiblos.blogspot.com/2009/... ( )

I listened to an audio version of this book and really enjoyed it, but the narration sometimes flew by so quickly that I'm positive I didn't catch everything. I look forward to buying a print copy of the book and taking it at a slower pace, so I can luxuriate in the magnificent imagery of John Milton. ( )

I originally read this in response to finishing The Golden Compass series. Pullman spoke about Paradise Lost as one of the main inspirations for some of his thinking.

Though I did study literature, I never had any intention of reading this work. I am so glad that I did. There are lines in there that move the heart and mind of course, the imagery gave me bad dreams, and it the experience is something that I will keep forever.

Talk about closure, the last lines gave me so much hope and made me feel electric. ( )

Milton gets extra points for scope and ambition, but I have to admit that he tends toward the preachy (rather than allowing his characters to illustrate their own morals), plus some of his theology struck me as a bit simple-minded. That said, the descriptions of Hell remain both beautiful and terrible -- unparalleled in the English language. ( )

Certainly one of the best poems ever written in English! ( )

This is a beautiful edition of a classic work. Thick, bright pages make it easy to read through Milton's blank verse while a red ribbon book mark included in the spine makes it easy to find where you left off.

Pullman's introduction provides a good treatment of the work and some tips on how to best read and enjoy the verse. His introductions to each Book are also a nice addition. ( )

Another one of those freshman English assigments I cribbed my way through. When I reread it finally as an adult I was astonished. I returned to it because of Mike Carey's Lucifer and Steven Brust's To Reign in Hell, contemporary fantasy on the same themes. And I was surprised and delighted to find depth of character and excitement in a Stuffy Old Classic. ( )

Seeing as I took a class - an entire class, an entire semester dedicated to the reading of this single novel, I was praying I was going to enjoy it. And what heavy metal fan couldn't enjoy the battle of God vs. Satan? The fall of Satan from heaven is a brilliantly written tale and there is so much meaning within every stanza of this epic book. There has to be, I spent 3 months reading it and I think I even got a B in this class. ( )

How can I even write a review of John Milton and perhaps one of the ultimate works in the English language? You don’t. I’ll only say that after completing “Paradise Lost,” I wrote a huge amount of discordant information in my personal journal and reread enormous sections of the book. The introduction and notation provided in the Barnes & Noble edition of “Paradise Lost” by David Hawkes was invaluable to my enjoyment and understanding. And the ending comments provided in this edition from such noted authors as Thomas Gray, William Blake and Wordsworth brought about a level of appreciation and understanding I did not anticipate. ( )

This is another book that I appreciate for its brilliance (although this brilliance seems to come in spurts). I also thoroughly enjoy sections of this book (the fall, all of the scenes in the Garden of Eden). However, I find the writing to be challenging at times and the story, which is a true spiritual epic, seems silly at points. Also, I wish that heaven, its rulers, and it minions were more appealing. I understand Milton's argument that the devil is much more appealing because he is so darn easy to like, but I still want Heaven to appeal to me in different ways. Although Heaven can't offer sex, drugs, and rock and roll, I would hope that it can offer other things that are almost as appealing (safety, love, etc). Spenser's Heavenly character's can just seem boring. Unfortunately, this has become a story that people usually read for the devil and our fallen forebearers because Milton couldn't sell us on Heaven.

In Animal House, Donald Sutherland's Professor Jennings admits he finds Milton a little boring. He's being diplomatic. ( )

I have been wanting/intending to read this for a long time. I don't think I was ever required to read it in school other than maybe some small excerpts.

I've always enjoyed epic poetry like this and found Milton's imagery and language exceptional. On the down side, I was struck by his negative portrayal of Eve (Adam, of course, was pure as the driven snow until he ate the apple just to please her) and her exclusion from many of the scenes highlighted Milton's patriarchal bias.

Aesthetically, this edition by the Folio Society is awesome. Blake's illustrations are magnificent and the layout and design of the edition is impressive. The choice of font and it's size makes it much easier for me to read then when I attempt to read a long poem like this stuffed into small print. ( )

A difficult and demanding read, but I'm glad I've done it. ( )

Although this is not a light read and will require thought and maybe some research (on my part at least) to fully understand milton's meanings, this book is at very least profound. Milton's writing style has yet to be matched by any I've seen. ( )

Large 4to-12.8 x 9.8 inches.12 full colour plates reproducing the pen and watercolour illustrations that Blake created in 1808.Printed at the Cambridge University Press on Brunswick wove paper.Bound in quarter dark green morocco leather with tan Moire silk on boards.Spine lettered in gilt.Housed in a slipcase which reproduces on of the colour plates on the front

The classic epic poem of the Fall of Man. Still magnificent after three and a half centuries. ( )

As this was my first epic read, I cannot profess to be well-trained as to the vastness of other works, but the beauty of this work lies in its broad overview of Scripture, character, and life. Not merely striking the main points of Eden, as I was expecting, but surveying large portions of history. It felt huge without being overly laborious to read.

The wording was not nearly as stilted as I was lead to believe it would be, though at times the footnotes were indispensable--I am still rather ignorant of many of his references.

A wonderful work that I hope to reread in time. ( )

In Paradise Lost Milton produced poem of epic scale, conjuring up a vast, awe-inspiring cosmos and ranging across huge tracts of space and time. And yet, in putting a charismatic Satan and naked Adam and Eve at the centre of this story, he also created an intensely human tragedy on the Fall of Man. Written when Milton was in his fifties blind, bitterly disappointed by the Restoration and briefly in danger of execution Paradise Lost's apparent ambivalence towards authority has led to intense debate about whether it manages to justify the ways of God to men', or exposes the cruelty of Christianity.

The greatest poem in the English language.

This one definitely makes the short list of must reads. It's great poetry and I enjoyed the effect of its having originally been in English. It's also a great interpretation of the creation story; I observed a number of new ideas as well as some that I myself have posited and refuted. More than anything else I've read, Milton does a superb job of bringing out the essence of the situation, the passions that were felt, and the reason for each event. ( )