Paradise Lost Hardcover – Unabridged, September 1, 2013

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.

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!!

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.

This is a review of the book's presentation.This is a review of the Slipcase edition.The value for your money with this hardcover edition is going to be hard to beat. I already had a paperback version of Paradise Lost and I was looking for a version that presented the contents with appropriate decoration. This edition makes the most of Gustave Dore's illustrations with an embossed picture on the front cover of the book. The slipcase itself is done nicely and is a small peak at what to expect. Once you remove the book you see the embosssd picture of one of Gustave Dore's illustrations and throughout the book all of his illustrations are printed very large on their own page.I'd say this version is definitely for someone (like myself) who is already familiar with this poem and wants a deluxe presentation of it. However looking at the price of this book just being £10, which I cannot believe as this would easily pass for a book of £50 and considering the price of paperback editions if you are buying this poem for the first time you might as well buy this version and not bother with a cheap paperback.

Somewhat pretentiously, I decided to read some of 'The Classics' in order to inflate an already bloated ego. This was one of those classics. Now I don't doubt Milton's skill, or that some people find it fascinating, but, having been a huge fan of The Secret 7 as a boy, I'm sorry to say that the rather protracted and verbose text left me cold. Perhaps I'm simply not ready for 'The Classics' after all.

The famous interpretation of Paradise Lost is that Satan is the hero with all the best lines. And there is a lot of validity in that. When he rebels in Heaven, taking with him a third of the angels, stricken by "envie" of the Son, he reveals himself as a thoughtful, interesting, innovative, brave character. But you can interpret Paradise Lost as a comparison of Satan and the Son. And the Son is presented as a kind, modest, thoughtful, innovative, brave character. He is kinder and softer than the humanised Son of the New Testament, and he softens the Father who immediately accepts his pleadings on behalf of mankind. The love that comes from the Son seems similar to me to the love which Popes, archbishops and cardinals refer to when they repeat the idea that "God is love". His love is immediate and merciful - not like the angry love of Jesus in the New Testament or the tough love of the Father. For instance, the Son is described as having a "sense of new job ineffably diffused" within him and of having "Divine compassion" which visibly appeared on him, and showing "Love without end, and without measure Grace". The Father also becomes deeply merciful, stating at one stage that either justice will survive or that man will - meaning that, if he wants man to survive, he must be merciful.Another hero is Adam who also becomes thoughtful and brave as he becomes older and develops. Eve is tricky as she is painted as the traditional, beautiful wife who gets into terrible trouble when she uses her initiative (and eats the apple). The portrait of Eve is shocking, in fact. No wonder women were repressed by men when they read this or the Old Testament. She was blamed for everything and was untrustworthy and, under pressure, slippery. (At one stage she blames Adam for having listened to her entreaties to let her go off alone and, as it worked out, to be tempted by the serpent.)Anyway, this is an astounding tale with wonderful characterisation, put together by someone with great imagination and great rationality. It is hard to read, however. Milton was a great linguist and his Latin style influences the construction of his sentences.Just to quote a little on Satan. After "the Arch-fiend lay/Chain'd on the burning lake", having left Heaven, he has to work out what to do and how to organise Hell as far as he can. He says that "The mind is its own place and in itself/Can make a Heav'n of Hell, a Hell of Heav'n". Later he tries to work out what doing evil means in practice, and so aims to create a system in which "Fate shall yield/ To fickle Chance, and CHAOS judge the strife". That is an interesting definition of Hell, in my view, and one that we do import to earth (in civil wars, extreme poverty and even in normal life).This is ultimately a very optimistic work in many ways. For instance, the Angel Michael tells that fallen Adam that if he can feel love for others he "shalt possess a Paradise within thee" and that this could make him "happier farr" than just being in Paradise. Also, and this is easy to miss in the blandishments of the Testaments New and Old, man was created as a beautiful creature in the image of God. Adam and Eve seem "Lords of all" in Paradise.

Written in the early part of the Enlightenment or Age of Reason period, a wonderful, poetical, 17th.C. attempt to explain the human condition based on the mythical, biblical account of the creation of planet Earth. In short a text so good, I suggest, that it might easily make today's, 21st.C. non-indoctrinated, free thinking, materialist reader sad to be so enlightened! The 'kindle' format I received was in ten chapters with no notes so 'not the one to be with' if you're memory of and ability to understand the text is to be questioned.To call it 'illustrated' is an insult to anyone capable of reading it; the text most worthy of illustration I personally, have ever read, painting pictures continuously before ones eyes is supplemented here by a landscape 19th.C. painting at the beginning of each chapter by artists such as Anton Hlavacek and Albert Bierstadt not to detract from their works in any way.'Mustn't grumble', mind, @ 99p, worth every newpence and more.

New Penguin cloth-bound edition - not great quality tbh.Pages are made from paper so thin it’s possible to see the print on the page overleaf coming through.This volume came with a sticky label (why?) which removed some of the pattern when it came off - see photo. I’m keeping this for myself but if it was a gift I would not have been happy.No idea why this volume had a sticky label when another bokok in the clothbound series I ordered came with a cardboard label.....(see other pic)