Milton - Paradise Lost

"Unfortunately, the book is a chore and a bore. The whole thing is written in blank verse, which puts a stranglehold on composition. Shakespeare was smarter: he only used meter when he thought it made things better, but Milton has to shove words around and play games counting syllables even when it hurts readability. Frankly I might have been able to slog through this is I'd been able to reading it in translation; say in French or German where some later writer had moderated Milton's poetic compulsion.

But that isn't the only flaw. Milton wants to cram more erudition into this absurdly long poem than it really needs. So he tosses in references to stuff that have nothing to do with the story. Reading along, and suddenly there's an unknown word: some place Satan flew over, or maybe an animal who's fur is a color that makes a nice comparison to the color of an angel's robe. But you've got to check, in case that unknown word actually is important. The bottom of each page is full of footnotes explaining what these words mean, and almost all of them are worse then useless, since they distract from the flow of the text (which, recall, is already burdened by that meter)."


"I am fairly certain that we can blame this author for all gender inequalities in the chrisitan faith"

"This book is responsible for most of the incorrect assumptions Christianity has held for centuries concerning male superiority"

"Thanks to this wonderful book...women around the world are viewed as less than men. Thank you so much John Milton, for your negative portrayal of Eve."

THANK YOU LADIES. MIGHT I SUGGEST THAT YOU REACQUAINT YOURSELVES WITH LITERALLY EVERYTHING THAT HAS OCCURRED IN THE WESTERN WORLD SINCE THE INVENTION OF WRITTEN LANGUAGE


"Up in my top 10 worst/most boring books ever. Prose makes no sense and to me it's the opposite of an epic. You compare this load of crap to Homer's verse and there really is no comparison. This is no epic. It's insipid and boring with literally zero plot."


"Thought this was a novel."


"I dislike having to read a book in which I have to analyze every word just so I can gain a better understanding of what the author wants us to understand."


"I do love summarizing/paraphrasing sections for other people, though. I always make Jesus sound like a stoned hippie."


"Okay, we all know by now that John Milton was blind. WE KNOW!"


"First, let me state that I am not a fan of poetry. I find the way it obscures meaning and ebroiders every last thought in metaphor and simile to be frustrating and distracting... Although stated at the start of the book that rhyme was deliberately avoided, I found the absence of any rhyme reduced the poetic impact for me."