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Paradise Lost

Paradise Lost

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  • Create Date：2022-03-22 08:54:15
  • Update Date：2025-09-06
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  • Author：John Milton
  • ISBN：0140424393
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Summary

John Milton's Paradise Lost is one of the greatest epic poems in the English language。 It tells the story of the Fall of Man， a tale of immense drama and excitement， of rebellion and treachery， of innocence pitted against corruption， in which God and Satan fight a bitter battle for control of mankind's destiny。 The struggle rages across three worlds - heaven， hell， and earth - as Satan and his band of rebel angels plot their revenge against God。 At the center of the conflict are Adam and Eve， who are motivated by all too human temptations but whose ultimate downfall is unyielding love。

Marked by Milton's characteristic erudition， Paradise Lost is a work epic both in scale and， notoriously， in ambition。 For nearly 350 years， it has held generation upon generation of audiences in rapt attention， and its profound influence can be seen in almost every corner of Western culture。

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Reviews

ouijacine ，

I only had to read the first two chapters of this book but I am counting it as the entire book because absolutely not。

David Gialouras ，

along with Shakespeare probably the richest work of literature in the English languagesympathy for the devil - we get inside his headcan be trippy with it's astronomy and the astrophysics of the 17th CenturyMilton meeting Galileo was a revelation to me along with Shakespeare probably the richest work of literature in the English languagesympathy for the devil - we get inside his headcan be trippy with it's astronomy and the astrophysics of the 17th CenturyMilton meeting Galileo was a revelation to me 。。。more

Heikki ，

I did not enjoy a single page of the book。 The language was archaic old English that was painful to read and the book was loooong。 Finished anyways。 I hope I'm more civilized but I doubt。 I did not enjoy a single page of the book。 The language was archaic old English that was painful to read and the book was loooong。 Finished anyways。 I hope I'm more civilized but I doubt。 。。。more

Michael F Simpson ，

'Paradise Lost' is a difficult read， but one I'm glad I made。 In fact， I enjoyed it for most of the same reasons it was such a challenge。 The poetic writing， the long， detailed similes， the plentiful historical and mythological references。The main thing I loved， though， is the book's depictions of God， Satan， angels and demons， as well as the settings they found themselves in。 Presented through fascinating descriptive， poetic writing combining surrealist horror and epic fantasy， the book therefo 'Paradise Lost' is a difficult read， but one I'm glad I made。 In fact， I enjoyed it for most of the same reasons it was such a challenge。 The poetic writing， the long， detailed similes， the plentiful historical and mythological references。The main thing I loved， though， is the book's depictions of God， Satan， angels and demons， as well as the settings they found themselves in。 Presented through fascinating descriptive， poetic writing combining surrealist horror and epic fantasy， the book therefore impressed in an area I did not expect it to。 According to the back cover， the author had intended to "justify the ways of God to men，" but I think it only further enhances the horror modern readers feel towards the old testament God。 Rather， I think it justifies the ways of Satan。 But this isn't a flaw - I think character is the main area in which Milton succeeded with this story。 It's unfortunate then that Adam and Eve let this area down by being sort of。。。 pathetic？ Even so， the otherwise excellent use of character-based writing might have still pushed this book into 5* territory。Might， if not for the book's other main flaw - it has no ending。 Instead， the final chapter - Book XII - simply contains more references to biblical passages yet to come （in the narrative's current period of time）。 It would have been more effective to have returned to Satan in Hell， or God in Heaven， to further deliver on the theme of Paradise being lost。Despite this， I am glad to have read this classic epic fantasy， whose characters impressed a lot more than I expected， and I was pleasantly surprised to find so much fantastic surrealism in the story。 'Paradise Lost' is a tough read， but it's one I recommend you give a shot。 。。。more

John ，

Beautiful， difficult and complex， I finished reading this poem doubting that I will ever be "finished" with it。 It needs to be read multiple times。 I think this would be a great book for a book club。 I am in awe of John Milton and his masterpiece。 Beautiful， difficult and complex， I finished reading this poem doubting that I will ever be "finished" with it。 It needs to be read multiple times。 I think this would be a great book for a book club。 I am in awe of John Milton and his masterpiece。 。。。more

Charles Reed ，

Couldn't get interested。 Couldn't get interested。 。。。more

Hamidreza Ghasemi ，

ا‍ما تو به هیچ روی به ملاقات این چشمانی که بیهوده میگردند تا با پرتو نافذت مواجه شوند نمی آیی。。。！چشم هایی که دیگر با هیچ سپیده دمی مواجه نمی گردند بس که قطره ای آرام حفره هایشان را عمیقا خاموش ساخته وپرده ای تیره حجاب بر آن افکنده است از افکار و اندیشه های خود ماءده ای می ستانم چونان پرنده همیشه بیداری که در تاریکی نغمه سر میدهد و پنهان زیر انبوه ترین شاخ و برگ ها شکوه های شبانه اش را آه کشان ابراز می دارد بدین سان همره سال فصل ها از ره می رسند حال انکه روشنایی روز هرگز برایم باز نمی اید دیگر نز ا‍ما تو به هیچ روی به ملاقات این چشمانی که بیهوده میگردند تا با پرتو نافذت مواجه شوند نمی آیی。。。！چشم هایی که دیگر با هیچ سپیده دمی مواجه نمی گردند بس که قطره ای آرام حفره هایشان را عمیقا خاموش ساخته وپرده ای تیره حجاب بر آن افکنده است از افکار و اندیشه های خود ماءده ای می ستانم چونان پرنده همیشه بیداری که در تاریکی نغمه سر میدهد و پنهان زیر انبوه ترین شاخ و برگ ها شکوه های شبانه اش را آه کشان ابراز می دارد بدین سان همره سال فصل ها از ره می رسند حال انکه روشنایی روز هرگز برایم باز نمی اید دیگر نزدیک شدن لطیف و زیبای صبح را شاهد نیستم دیگر آمدن گل بهاری یا گلسرخ تابستانی یا گله های چهارپایان ویا چهره الهی بشر را نمیبینم به جای آن پیوسته ابر تار و ظلمتی همواره جاودان مرا در بر گرفته هم چنان که از همه ره ها و شیوه های خوشایند انسان ها دور مانده ام。 خرد و فرزانگی در ورودی های خود را بروی من بسته است 。ای نور آسمانی！ بیش از پیش در باطنم بدرخش ！ باشد که همهی قدرت های ذهنی ام از پرتو تو بهرهمند گردد دیدگانی به روحم عطا فرما و همه ی ابر های مه آلود را از مقابل چشمانم پراکنده و دور ساز تا یارای دیدن داشته باشم مرا که در زمین مهمانی بیش نیستم راهنما باش مرا به زادگهم بازگردان مبادا که در زمین سقوط کرده مبادا چو گمشده رها گشته ای آواره بمانم همچنان که در زمین متوقف گشته ام و بر فراز قطب به بالا ترین نقطه عالم هستی سعود نکرده ام به خواندن سرودم با آوایی فانی نشسته ام صدایم نه گرفته نه خاموش است هر چند در روز هایی فلاکت بار فروافتاده ام در بین زبان هایی بد و میان ظلمت و تاریکی محصور از انواع خطرات فرو افتاده ام لیکن تنها نیستم به ویژه آن هنگام که در رویا های شبانه ام به دیدارم میایی و یا آن هنگام که صبح شرق اسمان را ارغوانی می سازد 。。。more

Jared ，

Milton's daughters shoulda edited a lot out。。。 Milton's daughters shoulda edited a lot out。。。 。。。more

Freddie Sykes ，

Forced to read it in high school。

Jessica Patzer ，

I feel the need to give a quick background of my religious upbringing， given the subject matter of this book and my thoughts on it。 I was brought up Lutheran。 Went to a Lutheran school from preschool through 5th grade。 I went to church almost every Sunday from the time I was born （I’m pretty sure anyway） until I was 18 and could stop。 I went through a “Profession of Faith” class when I was 13。 Sometime after this， I became （and remain） Agnostic for reasons that might become clear as I review Par I feel the need to give a quick background of my religious upbringing， given the subject matter of this book and my thoughts on it。 I was brought up Lutheran。 Went to a Lutheran school from preschool through 5th grade。 I went to church almost every Sunday from the time I was born （I’m pretty sure anyway） until I was 18 and could stop。 I went through a “Profession of Faith” class when I was 13。 Sometime after this， I became （and remain） Agnostic for reasons that might become clear as I review Paradise Lost。I feel like Paradise Lost ended up highlighting a GIANT issue I have with the Judeo-Christian religions。 I’m sure that wasn’t Milton’s intention， but it was my takeaway。 The issue is God’s supposed Omnipotentence and Omniscience。 I’d just like to know why He apparently has to be a dick with his creations， angels and humans both。 I just keep coming back to Why？？ Why do all this shit？ Why allow it？ Why not just skip it？ And no， the answer of “God works in mysterious ways” does not actually answer anything。 It’s just infuriating。 I was infuriated through a good chunk of this by the decisions of God。I also know that this isn’t to be taken literally and with more metaphor than I probably read it。 However， that lovely religious upbringing of mine kicked in and I took things more exactly as written rather than looking at the philosophy that’s apparently there… which I don’t read much into in most of my reading anyway so… yeah。 Reading between the lines has never been my forte。I also spent a good chunk of Paradise Lost being confused as to what was going on， in all honesty。 Reading poetry isn’t really a thing I do， like， at all， so even getting through this one was impressive for me。 Just spent a lot of time flowing with the words and not knowing what was going on or who was talking at any given moment。The last batch of “books” were somewhat amusing to me in their cherry-picking and rushed telling of the Bible stories。 A large chunk devoted to Noah， a tiny bit about the Tower of Babel， Abraham， and the barest mention of David before picking back up with the Nativity。 I was legit rolling my eyes by this point， not going to lie。 Let’s just skip over giant portions of the Old Testament， like everyone seems to do… but that’s an entirely other thought train I don’t have time to follow right now。 I was definitely not at all into the ending parts of this and was just ready for it all to be over。Definitely not my favorite or anywhere close to the top。 Not terrible， though。 Made me rage a lot as I was reading， in all honesty。 。。。more

Nikhil Boorgu ，

Really tough read filled with ancient linguistics and heavy poetic liberty and I don’t really feel qualified to rate it。 It is a 400 years old text comprised of 10000 lines of blank verse and I simply don’t have the ability to appreciate the nuances yet even while annotating。 I’ll get there soon though。 But I did learn quite a bit about poetic purpose and theology， both of which interest me。 So I’m glad I finished it。 3 stars as a default rating

Maggie Gately ，

Read this for school and I actually really enjoyed it shockingly！ My english class this year has been a struggle because of the fact of the matter that my teacher has not chosen any books I have had actual interest in， so this was a nice change。 I thought it was so interesting。 Milton is a propaganda king。 If you have the time and energy， I would definitely suggest giving it a read:）

Matthew Huff ，

An absolute cathedral。

Justin Stevens ，

Hard to read， but dang is it an epic tale with some beautiful language！ I found reading aloud to myself to be helpful。 Hearing it helped me find the cadence and rhythm。 Then， when I found myself wondering ‘what the heck did that mean？’， I would reread the passage until I understood。 At some point in this process （around book 3 or 4 I think，） my brain adapted to the writing and then I could read the rest faster with better comprehension on first exposure。 I also started playing Elden Ring while r Hard to read， but dang is it an epic tale with some beautiful language！ I found reading aloud to myself to be helpful。 Hearing it helped me find the cadence and rhythm。 Then， when I found myself wondering ‘what the heck did that mean？’， I would reread the passage until I understood。 At some point in this process （around book 3 or 4 I think，） my brain adapted to the writing and then I could read the rest faster with better comprehension on first exposure。 I also started playing Elden Ring while reading this， and lemme tell you- Milton would’ve loved that game。 His gargantuan demons， macho angels， world-rumbling battles， and inter-dimensional travel fit right in。 Plus， of course， there is a fair dose of good philosophy。 Milton drops gems in a couple lines here， or one line there， but the whole of the poem serves as a context to make them more meaningful。 At least in my interpretation。 。。。more

Arnab Chatterjee ，

Milton is a genius！

Basel ，

John Milton's Paradise Lost is simply one of the greatest literary achievements， and I believe it to be the greatest poem written in English。 As much as it tells the biblical story of Adam&Eve's loss of paradise and their descent， it's also the story of Satan's loss。 Paradise Lost's Satan， who I consider to be the poem's actual protagonist， is one of the finest achievements in a literary construction of a story's hero/villain that I've read。 The poem has a huge impact not only on art and literat John Milton's Paradise Lost is simply one of the greatest literary achievements， and I believe it to be the greatest poem written in English。 As much as it tells the biblical story of Adam&Eve's loss of paradise and their descent， it's also the story of Satan's loss。 Paradise Lost's Satan， who I consider to be the poem's actual protagonist， is one of the finest achievements in a literary construction of a story's hero/villain that I've read。 The poem has a huge impact not only on art and literature， but also on the English language where we tend to use figures of speech and quotes taken directly from it。 It is a monumental work that I recommend everyone to read。 It's story of loss， pride， and vengeance， along with many of its other themes， remain as powerful today as when it was first published。 。。。more

Dexter ，

8/10

Historical Dolls Alice ，

For the Devil does not create he will only ever destroy。

William Schram ，

Paradise Lost is the story of the fall of mankind from paradise。 Yeah， mankind， I don't care about your sensitive language bullshit。 It frames the story around Satan， framing him as a tragic hero。 The poem starts with Satan and his lackeys already defeated， lying in a lake of fire。 We don't get exciting battle scenes， but that isn't the point。 The Son of God takes out all of Satan's forces singlehandedly， and we don't get to see how。 I would call that disappointing。Satan states his ideals and be Paradise Lost is the story of the fall of mankind from paradise。 Yeah， mankind， I don't care about your sensitive language bullshit。 It frames the story around Satan， framing him as a tragic hero。 The poem starts with Satan and his lackeys already defeated， lying in a lake of fire。 We don't get exciting battle scenes， but that isn't the point。 The Son of God takes out all of Satan's forces singlehandedly， and we don't get to see how。 I would call that disappointing。Satan states his ideals and beliefs at this point。 Why should he serve under heaven when he can rule hell？ All of his followers agree to some extent。 Mammon builds Pandemonium， and they all meet in the beautiful halls。 Satan plans to drag human beings down from their pedestal。 God knows about this， but we don't know about his knowing until book three。God states that he needs someone to step up and save everyone。 So the Son of God volunteers， and all of heaven rejoices。 We all know what happens next; Satan is successful， Adam and Eve leave Eden forever， and all of hell receives punishment。Paradise Lost is a powerful poem， but it is tricky。 Most of the difficulty stems from Milton's use of old language and references to other works。 The edition I read had a commentary for each book by Philip Pullman。 It gives a rough framework of what happens。 One other thing， I thought I read this already。Thanks for reading my review， and see you next time。 。。。more

Anesa ，

only read book IX for school

Joelle Murphy ，

2。5。 This was a reread for me so that may have affected my review？ There’s some very quotable lines which I liked

Megan ，

I had to read this for a class and I hated it。

Jimgosailing ，

“The mind is it’s own place， and in itself Can make a Heaven of Hell， a Hell of Heaven”What a great line - and only 254 lines in。 Followed by“Here we may reign secure; and， in my choice，To reign is worth ambition， though in Hell:Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven。”And further， in book 6， line 178-181:“This is servitude:To serve th’ unwise or him who hath rebelledAgainst his worthier as thine now serve thee，Thyself not free， but to thyself enthralled。”I wonder at how our distant ancesto “The mind is it’s own place， and in itself Can make a Heaven of Hell， a Hell of Heaven”What a great line - and only 254 lines in。 Followed by“Here we may reign secure; and， in my choice，To reign is worth ambition， though in Hell:Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven。”And further， in book 6， line 178-181:“This is servitude:To serve th’ unwise or him who hath rebelledAgainst his worthier as thine now serve thee，Thyself not free， but to thyself enthralled。”I wonder at how our distant ancestors sat looking at the stars at night and tried to make sense of the seasons as the Milky Way through the year rose then dipped below the horizon， and watched the roamers （the planets） come and go， and developed explanations of such events， and how this evolved into nine orders of Angels， and specific names of those thrown out of Heaven （Beezelbub， Belial， Mammom， Moloch） and those who did not rebel （Michael， Gabriel， Uriel）In Book II The Argument， Mammom argues that instead of open war， proposes a “tawdry*” imitation-Heaven in Hell。 I wonder if this influenced Tolkien in his development of Sauron in the First Age。 （*Norton FN）This work had been in my TBR queue but not near the top， then the reddit/literature group picked it for their weekly read。 I thought， why not？ I was expecting stilted， archaic language but this was anything but; it is beautifully written （I guess that’s why it’s still being read 400 years later。 Current times are fraught with tensions， Trumpers， anti-vaxxers， the rise of fascism， undisguised racism， etc with divisions even within families with one side not understanding the other， each accusing the other of having been gaslit; yet here we see not just Satan cast out of Heaven， but legions - legions！ - of his followers。 If Satan was able to talk legions into following him， polluting their minds to in the Presence of God， is it understandable that differences today exist？ 。。。more

soph ，

read for school

Adam ，

Ah John， thy parents did aptly name thee。 Mystical poet and divine seer，Theologian gifted， resting on ChristHimself， communing with God while writingPoesy of fall， of sin and promise。Of course thou writest in books which numberTwelve， which number， of tribes and ApostlesFrom Is'rael's loins and fishermen offspring。Such books twelve shall inspire and instructNumerous， and shall prove our native tongue Capable to converse on heavenly things，High and wise and beautiful， and also Broad and vast and Ah John， thy parents did aptly name thee。 Mystical poet and divine seer，Theologian gifted， resting on ChristHimself， communing with God while writingPoesy of fall， of sin and promise。Of course thou writest in books which numberTwelve， which number， of tribes and ApostlesFrom Is'rael's loins and fishermen offspring。Such books twelve shall inspire and instructNumerous， and shall prove our native tongue Capable to converse on heavenly things，High and wise and beautiful， and also Broad and vast and earthly。 O thou poetBlind of sight but lucid of speech， if thouCouldst know thy numbering amongst the greatOnes， thou wouldst still repent thy sin， raise upThy voice， and sing to God Everlasting， Thanking Him for such beauties infiniteThrough time stretching back to Eden， alsoThrough space， from earth to stars empyrean，From Promise to prophecy， visions sweet，To antitype fulfillment in our Lord，Who comest as Judge with banners raising To complete the Father's work perfectly。 。。。more

Eileen O'Donohue ，

Personally I would much rather serve heaven， I don't know about anyone else。Some parts I enjoyed， in reference to Biblical stories， and the comparisons to mythology。 Like an angel kicked out of heaven， Hesphaestus was kicked out of Olympus。 Like the serpent telling Eve how she can become like the Lord， Prometheus introduced mortals to fire （a godly substance）。 When Eve encounters the serpent， it is like the myth of a man finding his wife in bed with a serpent。Further consequences of the sin， bes Personally I would much rather serve heaven， I don't know about anyone else。Some parts I enjoyed， in reference to Biblical stories， and the comparisons to mythology。 Like an angel kicked out of heaven， Hesphaestus was kicked out of Olympus。 Like the serpent telling Eve how she can become like the Lord， Prometheus introduced mortals to fire （a godly substance）。 When Eve encounters the serpent， it is like the myth of a man finding his wife in bed with a serpent。Further consequences of the sin， besides being kicked out of Eden， references the birth of giants usurping the land。 Milton even makes reference to Tartarians， of few people are aware about， in the underworld （as well as Russia or so I have heard）。As irrelevant to Milton's writing maybe， I still have this to say digressively: Much of what I learned online suggests the sin was not fruit， but that Adam knowing Eve which caused them to become self aware。 Adam was born on the earth， much like how Geb （Egyptian earth god）。 He is occasionally depicted as a snake too。 Some say that Eve is really Ether （heaven/outerspace）， similar to Nut。 Both Nut and Geb were seperated， as heaven and earth are （waters from the waters）。 。。。more

Audrius Slanina ，

Šiuolaikinis skaitytojas gali nesunkiai susigundyti Šėtono， kaip personažo， įvaizdžiu。 Manau po juo gali slėptis autoriaus liberalios pažiūros ir požiūris į ateizmą。 Bet kuriuo atveju knyga tikrai užbūrė， nors ir nėra pateiktas pilnas kūrinio vertimas。

talia ♡ ，

what on earth can I possibly say about PARADISE LOST that hasn't been said before in a much more eloquent， graceful， and analytical manner？？？？this book turned my brain to mush and i was holding hands with Satan throughout it all。 what on earth can I possibly say about PARADISE LOST that hasn't been said before in a much more eloquent， graceful， and analytical manner？？？？this book turned my brain to mush and i was holding hands with Satan throughout it all。 。。。more

Jason Moscatello ，

I received this book for Christmas and was very excited to get into it。 A minor issue is the back cover contains editing problems （the inside might too， I couldn't bring myself to read it）。 However， the text itself has no annotations at all。。。in the supposed annotated edition。 There are many printings of this epic poem， steer clear of this one。 I received this book for Christmas and was very excited to get into it。 A minor issue is the back cover contains editing problems （the inside might too， I couldn't bring myself to read it）。 However， the text itself has no annotations at all。。。in the supposed annotated edition。 There are many printings of this epic poem， steer clear of this one。 。。。more

Samantha4550 ，

*3。5

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=Paradise Lost

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=Paradise Lost&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,Paradise Lost&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0