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Title: Paradise Lost: An Authoritative Text Backgrounds and Sources Criticism (Norton Critical Edition) by John Milton, Scott Elledge ISBN: 0-393-96293-8 Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company Pub. Date: April, 1993 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $14.20 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.86 (7 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: The Best Work of Literature in the English Language
Comment: Milton's "Paradise Lost" is the best work of literature in the English language, bar none. Christians and non-Christians alike should marvel at the vision presented by Milton. He is not a Satanist, as the Romantics would have you believe. Indeed, he is a devout Christian. This is what makes the work so extraordinary. Milton's vision of the astral world invokes various responses from the reader, all of them genuine and some contradictory. No matter who you are or what you believe, you will thoroughly enjoy this imaginary look into the events surrounding the fall of Lucifer and the beginnings of man in the Garden of Eden.
Rating: 5
Summary: Incredibly valuable
Comment: I was assigned to read Paradise Lost on my own over the summer and I am so glad that I chose the Norton Critical edition. Obviously, reading Paradise Lost is a daunting task for anyone who isn't a religious historian and without the Norton Critical edition, I might not have finished the epic at all (which would be much of a loss, not only in my grades.)
This edition has a vast array of extremely helpful footnotes (have a Bible at hand for all those cross-references) and it has large margins for taking plenty of notes of your own. More than half of the book is a collection of various literature, excerpts and explanations that are also quite helpful.
Certainly, there is no doubt that Paradise Lost is an excellent work, but the Norton Critical edition is invaluable for any average person (like me) who wants to truly appreciate it. I highly recommend this.
Rating: 5
Summary: Greatest Epic Poem in English, Norton Edition is Outstanding
Comment: Paradise Lost was not part of my core curriculum in science and mathematics. I was of course aware that scholars considered it a great work, a classic. But it seemed a bit daunting - long, difficult, dated, and possibly no longer relevant.
A few years ago I made two fortunate decisions. I elected to read Milton's Paradise Lost and I bought the Norton Critical Edition (edited by Scott Elledge). I read and reread Paradise Lost over a period of three months as well as the 300 pages of the Norton critical commentary. I was stunned by the beauty and power of Milton. Why had I waited so long to even approach such a literary masterpiece?
Make no mistake. I had been right in several ways. Paradise Lost is difficult, it is long, and full appreciation requires an understanding of the historical and religious context. But Paradise Lost is a remarkable achievement. It explores questions regarding man and God that are as relevant today as in the 17th century. And the genius of Milton has never been surpassed.
I found the Norton footnotes extremely helpful - definitions for rare or archaic words and expressions, explanations of the historical context, and links to the critical commentary section. The footnotes are at the page bottom, making them readily accessible.
The Norton biographical, historical, and literary commentaries were fascinating in their own right. I may well as spent as many hours reading commentary as with Paradise Lost itself.
John Milton led a remarkable life. His enthusiastic euology on Shakespeare was included in the second folio edition of Shakespeare in 1632. This was Milton's first public appearance as an author! While traveling as a young man he "found and visited" the great Galileo, old and blind, a house prisoner of the Inquisition for his astronomical heresy. Years later Milton, a close supporter of Cromwell, barely escaped the scaffold at the Restoration and was at risk for some period afterwards. Many considered Milton no more than an outcast, now old and blind himself, a republican and regicide who had escaped death by too much clemency. Within a few years this aging blind outcast created one of the masterpieces of the English language.
Milton broke all English tradition by writing Paradise Lost in blank verse. Homer in Greek and Vergil in Latin had used blank verse, but English demanded rhyme. Although others failed to imitate Milton's blank verse (I suspect that none wanted to be compared directly with genius), the praise was without exception. Dryden, a master of rhyme, is attributed with saying, "This man cuts us all out, and the ancients too".
Milton's characterization of Satan, Adam, Eve, the archangels Raphael, Michael, and Gabriel, and even God himself are masterful. The debates and arguments that evolve around free will, obedience, forbidden knowledge, love, evil, and guilt are timeless. And fascinating. And thought provoking.
Paradise Lost will require commitment and patience and thought. The commitment in time is substantial. (I enjoy Samuel Johnson's subtle comment: "None ever wished it longer than it is.") But the return is a personal experience with great literature, one of the masterpieces of the English language. I consider myself fortunate to have made such an investment.
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Title: Preface to Paradise Lost by C. S. Lewis ISBN: 0195003454 Publisher: Oxford Press Pub. Date: December, 1942 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: Paradise Lost (Cliffs Notes) by Bob Linn ISBN: 0764586661 Publisher: Cliffs Notes Pub. Date: 23 November, 2000 List Price(USD): $5.99 |
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Title: Edmund Spenser's Poetry: Authoritative Texts, Criticism (A Norton Critical Edition) by Edmund Spenser, Hugh Maclean, Anne Lake Prescott, Edmund Spencer, Hugh Spenser ISBN: 0393962997 Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company Pub. Date: April, 1993 List Price(USD): $18.25 |
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Title: The Canterbury Tales: Nine Tales and the General Prologue: Authoritative Text Sources and Backgrounds Criticism (Norton Critical Edition) by Geoffrey Chaucer, Glending Olson, V. A. Kolve ISBN: 0393952452 Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company Pub. Date: May, 1989 List Price(USD): $12.80 |
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Title: DoreÂs Illustrations for "Paradise Lost" by Gustave Dore ISBN: 0486277194 Publisher: Dover Pubns Pub. Date: 22 September, 1993 List Price(USD): $8.95 |
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