Paradise Lost by John Milton
✨ my rating: 4 of 5 stars✨

To be honest, it wasn’t the easiest read for me (especially since I read the ebook version as I couldn’t get my hands on a physical copy). Reading it on the screen somehow made the thick blocks of text even chunkier and sometimes difficult to follow. However, that being said, I enjoyed it immensely. In the first few books, I even felt kinda guilty for feeling bad for Satan – I suppose it’s a testament to Milton’s evocative power that he can make literally the devil somewhat pitiful and humane. Moreover, I think it’s pretty genius how he pulled together strands of orthodox Christian doctrine and put his own imaginative spin to it – like Adam seeing the visions of the future generations, the demons having some democratic convention in hell, etc. It’s really incredible and I can see why it’s a classic. It’s also interesting to consider how much of Milton’s imagery has shaped our modern understanding of heaven and hell. I’m definitely going to re-read this in hardcopy, and I would recommend it though with the caveat that it’s not going to be everyone’s cup of tea, and you’d need a fair amount of focus and determination to finish this long epic poem, but it’s worth it!

🌹date read: 18 jun 2019 🌹

view all my goodreads reviews