Adam and Eve were more interesting than the Devil. ( )

audiosync free title 2022 (9+ hrs)

God vs. Satan re: Adam and Eve. I think the audiosync staffers chose this to balance out the various other titles featuring Muslim protagonists, and also because the written text would fall in the public domain and thus be cheaper. I like how the poetic phrases trip prettily off the tongue of the narrator, but truthfully I zoned out every time I tried to listen, absorbing less than half of the content--it does however work splendidly for putting one to sleep when played at low volume.

Thus I listened to the whole thing but would not say that I actually 'read' it, and from the helpful chapter/'book' subheadings I would also say that whatever I missed wasn't worth repeating--it was all flowery language and nothing much actually happening. Thumbs up for narration; thumbs down for a rambling story stretched too long, which even in the most skilled portrayal is pretty dull. Recommended only for those looking to 'enliven' their bible study and drab classic lit scholars with nothing better to do with their time. ( )

I'm about to lose some of my cool points here, because this was absolutely dreadful. Long-winded, repetitive, and rambling throughout its entirety, ESPECIALLY the dialogue, almost nothing actually happens here. If you cut out all of the needless fat and just kept what little plot there is it would be, like, a third of its length. I don't need one hundred lines of wordy poetry just to say "Satan to turned into a cormorant". Hell, I tried skipping ahead multiple times just to see if it would pick up and it actually got WORSE as it went on. The "plot" seems to deviate needlessly and it becomes a padded, bloated mess.

You can pull some great lines out of it: "better to reign in hell than serve in heaven", "not light but a darkness visible", etc., but if I'm going to be totally honest, this is literally the most mind-crushingly boring thing I've ever tried to read in my life. I was actually getting outwardly angry trying to slog through this thing. Not entertaining in the least. I'll just stick with Homer and Dante for some actually good epic poetry.

Ugh...2/10 ( )

This edition is just a mini book with a few extracts from Paradise Lost alongside a few other poems by Milton. I've had it on my shelf forever and never got around to reading it. I found it a bit dense really and probably needed some guidance to get more out of it. ( )

Well - it is awfully great. The language .... so remote but biting. The psychology .. the depth of characterization. Pretty much always accessible - at least to the 80% stage. Tired at times of the preachy god is always perfect backdrop, but we knew that going in, right? So- i just pass that off and if you let that go, the story contains such fine, unexpected drama and tension (even if we do know how it is going to turn out). Adam / Eve / Satan - so well drawn. Last 2 books are a bit of a drag- Michael telling Adam what to expect in the old and new testament pretty much and i don't really know what the point is ... ? Why do we need to hear Michael making this summary? what does it add? i don't really know, though it was entertaining enough in a twice told tale sort of way. Really glad i finally got around to reading this. ( )