Do I want to read Paradise Lost?

[Amethyst]

I have never read it. Should I? 
 

To be clear, I have no interest in any religious revelation it may contain. I am only interested in it for cultural relevance. 
 

I sometimes will read books for their cultural relevance and not any other desire to read it. Recently (finally) read Tale of Two Cities and enjoyed it. Same for Les Miserable (though it was quite the slog at times). Read Anna Karenina for the same reason but was mostly disappointed. Tried Pride and Prejudice but couldn’t finish. I read much of Beowulf when one of my kids needed to read it in college and glad I did. I remember not hating Inferno (but that was in high school with a teacher to guide me.) Loved Frankenstein. I like some Shakespeare but not others (can’t call myself a fan). Will probably never attempt Ullysses by Joyce because I hear it’s unreadable. 
 

All this to say that I’m not completely  intimidated by old books. But. Is it just torture to read? Has anyone read it? Recommend or not? 

[Jean in Newcastle]

We read it when homeschooling high school. It was fine. Not a favorite but no one said that it was torture. You could always just stop reading it if you found it too much of a slog. 

[eagleynne]

I read it in college as part of a class on epic poetry and the thing I found most interesting was just how much of our popular conception of heaven and hell/Satan comes from Milton and not out of the Bible.

If you do decide to read it I recommend getting the edition edited by William Kerrigan, John Rumrich, and Stephen M. Fallon. It has a lot of really good info on both Milton and the poem itself at the beginning and in footnotes throughout the work that I found really helpful in understanding the nuances of the text.

[Lady Florida.]

I tried and just couldn't get through it. I even tried a version in modern English though I don't remember the edition. 

To be clear I too am not interested in the religious aspect but wanted to understand why it's a classic. I read and very much enjoyed Les Miserables, Middlemarch, War and Peace, Anna Karenina, much of Shakespeare and much of Dickens. I read but didn't like Moby Dick and Don Quixote. The only reason I finished both of those is I wanted to understand why they endure. I did understand but still didn't like them. So, having read many classics and enjoyed most of them I still just couldn't make it through Paradise Lost.

Try it. If you don't like it, don't finish it. You can probably find a free ebook version so if you don't finish it you won't have wasted money. 

[shawthorne44]

Yes!    

I simultaneously listened to the Great Courses lecture series on it, and an audiobook on it.    There are a couple of options for the audiobook.   I *think* I ended up with the Audible version because the translation sounded better.   I'd also looked into Librovox.   
The parts I missed in the audiobook, I picked up in the lecture series.   I'd go back and forth keeping in around the same part of the book in both.  

After I finished, my brain needed some Regency romances.   But it was interesting and worthwhile.  
 

Edited May 22, 2022 by shawthorne44

[Terabith]

Yes.  I was an English major, and there's a lot of classic literature that I am cool with people skipping, but that one is not to be missed.  It's a genuinely good read and is massively influential.  I love Milton.  His poem "On the Morning of Christ's Nativity" is one of my favorites.  

[ScoutTN]

Seconding an audiobook. 

[cintinative]

Frankenstein has multiple nods to Paradise Lost.  In fact, the teacher my son had said that if you hadn't read Paradise Lost first, you probably wouldn't understand Frankenstein properly.  So, I vote yes, read it. And consider using this Paradise Lost read along by House of Humane Letters. She was my son's teacher and I listened to her lectures. She is really good.

 

 

[Harriet Vane]

Yea, definitely. Gorgeous description.

For what it’s worth, I found the first bunch (??) richer than later passages. 
 

[Idalou]

Ooh, I loved this one. I have a Norton critical edition that was so helpful. There are also some older lectures I watched a few years ago that may still be on youtube by a guy at Yale, just 4 or 5, if I remember correctly.

I barely made it through Moby Dick, didn't love Anna Karenina, was neutral on Frankenstein, and totally bored with Les Miserable. I loved Don Quixote but only because Man of La Mancha was one of my favorite movies when I was a teen. I remember reading A Tale of Two Cities in 9th grade, I had the best teacher and she made it resonate.

Edited May 22, 2022 by Idalou

[Amethyst]

So much helpful advice here! Thank you for all of this. Including the reminder that if I don’t want to, I don’t have to finish it. I appreciate suggestions about editions, and audiobooks, and the idea to follow along with a lecture series, and the nudge to go ahead and give it a try. Thank you all so much!

[Mrs Tiggywinkle]

1 hour ago, cintinative said:

Frankenstein has multiple nods to Paradise Lost.  In fact, the teacher my son had said that if you hadn't read Paradise Lost first, you probably wouldn't understand Frankenstein properly.  So, I vote yes, read it. And consider using this Paradise Lost read along by House of Humane Letters. She was my son's teacher and I listened to her lectures. She is really good.

 

 

also, I was part of that read along so you’d get to see me, so there’s that. 😂😂