Paradise Lost (Penguin Classics) by John Milton (Epub)

Description

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, populated by a memorable gallery of grotesques. And yet, in putting a charismatic Satan and naked, innocent 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 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.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

User’s Reviews

Review “In this landmark edition, teachers will discover a powerful ally in bringing the excitement of Milton’s poetry and prose to new generations of students.”—William C. Dowling, Rutgers University “This magnificent edition gives us everything we need to read Milton intelligently and with fresh perception.”—William H. Pritchard, Amherst College

Reviews from Amazon users, collected at the time the book is getting published on UniedVRG. It can be related to shiping or paper quality instead of the book content:

⭐ 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.”

⭐ 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.

⭐ 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.

⭐ There are multiple versions of Paradise Lost here on Amazon all sharing the same review. This review is for the version with “The Demonologist” by Andrew Pyper. If you are looking for a copy of Paradise Lost, don’t grab this one but find one that only has Paradise Lost. Before you can read the title you thought you were getting, you suffer through a fairly long introduction by Mr. Pyper, followed by his own The Demonologist prose, then on to Milton. What a waste of time.

⭐ 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.

⭐ 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!!

⭐ 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.

⭐ The book came in good condition and is the perfect size for anyone looking to study the work. Allows for note space and annotation if needed or wanted. It’s easy to carry and read.

⭐ This review is for the Kindle edition of Paradise Lost that has been released by Penguin Classics.I obtained this for my Kindle because I wanted an edition of Paradise Lost for the Kindle that included the line numbers, and this one does. It also incorporates an introductory essay and notes written by John Leonard. As far as I can tell so far, the text is all properly formatted and there are no spelling or editing errors – recognizing of course that the text here is in accordance with how the poem was written by Milton so it is in Olde English and does not conform with contemporary style of writing.Of the many other editions of Paradise Lost available for the Kindle, I also have the one published by Simon & Schuster ( Paradise Lost ), which also includes line numbers but does not have any supplementary materials. I do not have the Kindle editions released by Oxford ( Paradise Lost ) or Modern Library ( Paradise Lost (Modern Library Classics) ) but I assume they would be comparable to the Penguin edition, including supplementary essays and notes as well as presenting the text with line numbers. I would expect that the most scholarly edition (for most readers) would be Paradise Lost (Norton Critical Editions) , however I don’t see a Kindle version available of the Norton edition.This Kindle edition is completely satisfactory, along with the previously mentioned Oxford and Modern Library editions, that I think would be pretty much equivalent. Any of these editions will generally sell for modest prices here on Amazon and can occasionally be found discounted (I picked up my Penguin edition at that 95 cents, for example, but as I write this review today it is selling for just over five dollars).

⭐ I was first introduced to Milton’s great epic at the age of 11, and loved it immediately. Over the years, I have read it several times, and my love for it has not diminished. I consider it one of the great epic poems of western civilization. It can be a difficult read for anyone not well grounded in Greek mythology and British history, and some readers may find the archaic spellings in this edition problematic. Still, it is worth the effort, or would be if not for the fact that it is an abridged edition, though it is not advertised as such. I dislike abridged books, and avoid them if at all possible. I would not have purchased this version had I known, even though it was paired with an unabridged audio version for immersion reading. I found this discrepancy somewhat annoying, and will not make that mistake again.

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