Vintage Tales discussion

I noticed there were a few mentions of Paradise Lost. Thought I might start a thread of this epic poem to discuss and critic it.

I read this when I was still fairly new to reading (seemed like the pretentious choice). So my thoughts of this book are very dated and limited but I do remember enjoying it.

This is my current read. I'm half way through book 2 and I must admit, I'm massively enjoying it. It's exceeded my expectations so far.

I guess I thought it would be really, really hard. But once you get your head around the blank verse, you just treat it like it is prose and I found that so much easier. The plot (I'm currently listening to Satan's council debate over whether to go to all-out war or be far more sly) is oddly gripping. Satan's monologue in Book 1 was very good, and I almost sympathise with him.

It's one that I've been meaning to read, just because its referenced so much in other literature and culture. I know I probably won't get the most out of it as other people, mainly because of my age and how much I've read. But it's been good so far and I can't wait to continue.

(It also is one that I have to annotate, otherwise I forget links to stuff etc, which is great practice for me!)

I read this back in the 90s, as well as the less well-known sequel, Paradise Regained, which is a poetic retelling of Christ's temptations in the wilderness by Satan. Overall, I enjoyed the former poem, and appreciate Milton's masterful, eloquent style. But it is marred in places, IMO, by the author's sexist views. :-(

I've just finished this. Some of it was tedious but overall I enjoyed it. There are some amazing images. I just added some of my favorite quotes from the book to my profile. The edition I checked out from the library has notes that explain the references and obscure words, which was helpful. Holly, you listened to it on audio? I'm surprised, I tried that once (with the audiobook at LibriVox), but I couldn't keep up with it. Reading a print version let me slow down a bit.