Has anyone ever read Paradise Lost?

[Camby Savelle]

John Milton first published work. If so could you give me your insight on the book? I'll be reading it shortly, but I'm stuck with about a 3 day waiting period before I can actually check it out of my library.

any thoughts or comments would be appriciated. thanks.

[KilLAtomiK]

i read it and its an awesome story its a bit hard to read so i had to reread alot of it when ur done you should read the continuation paradise regained

[Kidthorazine]

i thought it was ok

[Amelia G]

I bought it when I was in school. Might still own a copy of it. Never could get all the way through it. Interesting themes, but I'm just a fan of more modern writing styles.

[23*]

i found it very very tedious.
in fact i'm sure i never finished it.
Milton was blind when he wrote paradise lost, the whole poem was actually dictated by word of mouth, this makes it all the more impressive if not less onerous! I think Milton was trying to imagine pleasure without pain, the joy of food without the pain of hunger etc. and can this dichotomy be resolved?
I did an exam on Milton this Christmas and am trying my best to forget all about paradise lost!

Milton was an exceptionally cool guy however, he's like a precursor Wilson type figure.

Its well known that he started a fist fight with his tutor in university
and was subsequently expelled for a term...that’s gotta be cool right?!

Samuel Johnson said "Milton is of no religion". Milton was basically sceptical of all priests and organised religion and believed that it was all a mere enterprise to deceive us and make money. Milton's analogy of the priest is that of the wolf in sheeps clothing, the white gown over the black undergarments.
He actually encouraged people to make fun of priests. I guess he was a bit like Luther but more of a charlatan too. Its apparent that he thought most people were more than a little dim and probably downright stupid.

he also declassified 'common sense' and said that it is only common sense because its always been that way, not because it is any inherent insight...he was recommending a revaluation of rationality, something which even today is very avant-garde .

oh yeah, Milton was a big fan of Jacob Boehme. also a pretty interesting guy.