Milton, John Books

Paradise Lost (Penguin Classics)

John Milton

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 26 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Possibly the Best Edition Out There 5 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

I have read "Paradise Lost" four times, and took no less than three semesters on it at university. This was the edition we used to work. Modernised spelling, coherent punctuation (plus variations of it in the notes), good introduction, and enormous work in the notes; this edition has all you need for a good reading of the epic poem.

As to the poem itself, some people are hard on it for all the wrong reasons. Remember that it is a 17th century poem, that English was not exactly similar as it is today, and that there are many, many words which were first used in English in "Paradise Lost". Milton was innovative with words, and he gave English new words, and expressions, such as the most famous "all Hell broke loose", which was first uttered in "Paradise Lost".

A poem like this cannot be read without good notes, and this is what this edition has to offer. Notes aren't enough, though, they have to be good, and in this edition, they are. The poem itself is not burdened by the numbers of the notes, because there are so many, the editor decided not to show them in the text per se, but at the end of the book, you will always have the reference, the lines, which the notes are about.

As to the poem itself, if you don't know it, you certainly know of the story of the Fall of Man, Adam and Eve, and the rebellion of Satan in Heaven. I'll only say that Milton's God is one seriously problematic figure in the poem, and that it caused centuries of academic discussion as to whether Milton's God is a good God or a devilish one, whether "Paradise Lost" was truly a "myth", in the old sense of a story which explains why we're here and how it got to be, or whether it was an attack on Christianity. Scholars still discuss this today, so make your own mind if you can!

Editorial Review:

Edited with an introduction and notes by John Leonard.

Paradise Lost: Parallel Prose Edition

John Milton

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Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Stanley Fish Reviews This Book 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 2 people found this review helpful.

I am going to buy this book. Stanley Fish, a university literature professor who writes the "Think Again" blog for the New York Times, reviewed this book on 2008 November 30. The title of his blog column is "'Paradise Lost' in Prose." Just go to the New York Times website and search for the column (I can't include the URL here).

Fish fairly and lucidly explains the reasons for writing a translation of "Paradise Lost" in English, and he favors having the original poem side-by-side with the prose translation. He explains that the translator, Dennis Danielson, has to repeatedly make choices between ambiguous and multiple meanings of words, which unavoidably loses much of the poem's power and the poet's intent, but having the original text in parallel view mitigates this problem. Fish concludes that the prose translation is just the thing for readers who don't have the time or energy to read "Paradise Lost" with full appreciation, which by the way is quite a task.

Editorial Review:

Paradise Lost has long been hailed as one of the most compelling stories of all time. Its cosmic canvas--heaven, hell, chaos, and the Garden of Eden--has enthralled thousands of readers for more than three centuries. For others, however, it has remained an unopened treasure because of the perceived difficulty of its archaic vocabulary and poetic structure. Dennis Danielson's new edition of Milton's great epic offers a vibrant, authoritative rendition in modern prose alongside the original text of Milton's story of heroism, pathos, beauty, and grace, making accessible for the first time a work that continues to be acclaimed as "possibly the most profound meditation on good and evil ever written" (Toronto Globe & Mail, 2000).

Paradise Regained

John Milton

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 25 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

John Milton was a 17th century poet famed for his two epic poems Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained. Milton came under scrutiny for his radical political views and his heretical religious beliefs. T S Eliot in particular wrote against Milton. Milton writes in Paradise Regained about Jesus' temptation in the wilderness. He speaks of his hunger both spiritually and physically. Satan is seen with the fallen angels plotting on how to conquer Jesus. An excerpt reads as follows. "Think not so slight of glory, therein least Resembling thy great Father. He seeks glory, And for his glory all things made, all things Orders and governs; nor content in Heaven, By all his Angels glorified, requires Glory from men, from all men, good or bad, Wise or unwise, no difference, no exemption. Above all sacrifice, or hallowed gift, Glory he requires, and glory he receives, Promiscuous from all nations, Jew, or Greek,Or Barbarous, nor exception hath declared; From us, his foes pronounced, glory he exacts."

Paradise Lost (Norton Critical Editions)

John Milton

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Total reviews: 12 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

This Norton Critical Edition is designed to make Paradise Lost accessible for student readers, providing invaluable contextual and biographical information and the tools students need to think critically about this landmark epic. Gordon Teskey's freshly edited text of Milton's masterpiece is accompanied by a new introduction and substantial explanatory annotations. Spelling and punctuation have been modernized, the latter, importantly, within the limits imposed by Milton's syntax.

"Sources and Backgrounds" collects relevant passages from the Bible and Milton's prose writings, including selections from The Reason of Church Government and the full text of Areopagitica.

"Criticism" brings together classic interpretations by Andrew Marvell, John Dryden, Victor Hugo, and T. S. Eliot, among others, and the most important recent criticism and scholarship surrounding the epic, including essays by Northrop Frye, Barbara Lewalski, Christopher Ricks, and Helen Vendler.

A Glossary and Selected Bibliography are also included.

About the Series: No other series of classic texts equals the caliber of the Norton Critical Editions. Each volume combines the most authoritative text available with the comprehensive pedagogical apparatus necessary to appreciate the work fully. Careful editing, first-rate translation, and thorough explanatory annotations allow each text to meet the highest literary standards while remaining accessible to students. Each edition is printed on acid-free paper and every text in the series remains in print. Norton Critical Editions are the choice for excellence in scholarship for students at more than 2,000 universities worldwide.

Paradise Lost (Oxford World's Classics)

John Milton

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 13 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Paradise Lost is the great epic poem of the English language, a tale of immense drama and excitement, of rebellion and treachery, of innocence pitted against corruption, in which God and Satan fight a bitter battle for control of mankind's destiny. The struggle ranges across heaven, hell, and earth, as Satan and his band of rebel angels conspire against God. At the center of the conflict are Adam and Eve, motivated by all too human temptations, but whose ultimate downfall is unyielding love. This marvelous new edition boasts an introduction by one of Milton's most famous modern admirers, the best-selling novelist Philip Pullman. Indeed, Pullman not only provides a general introduction, but also introduces each of the twelve books of the poem. In these commentaries, Pullman illuminates the power of the poem and its achievement as a story, suggests how we should read it today, and describes its influence on him and his acclaimed trilogy His Dark Materials, which takes its title from a line in the poem. His observations offer a tribute that is both personal and insightful, and his enthusiasm for Milton's language, skill, and supreme gifts as a storyteller is infectious. He encourages readers above all to experience the poem for themselves, and surrender to its enchantment. Pullman's tremendous admiration and passion for Paradise Lost will attract a whole new generation of readers to this classic of English literature. An ideal gift, the book is beautifully produced, printed in two colors throughout, illustrated with the twelve engravings from the first illustrated edition published in 1688, with ribbon marker.

The Complete Poetry and Essential Prose of John Milton (Modern Library)

John Milton

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

John Milton is, next to William Shakespeare, the most influential English poet, a writer whose work spans an incredible breadth of forms and subject matter. The Complete Poetry and Essential Prose of John Milton celebrates this author’s genius in a thoughtfully assembled book that provides new modern-spelling versions of Milton’s texts, expert commentary, and a wealth of other features that will please even the most dedicated students of Milton’s canon. Edited by a trio of esteemed scholars, this volume is the definitive Milton for our time.

In these pages you will find all of Milton’s verse, from masterpieces such as Paradise Lost–widely viewed as the finest epic poem in the English language–to shorter works such as the Nativity Ode, Lycidas, A Masque, and Samson Agonistes. Milton’s non-English language sonnets, verses, and elegies are accompanied by fresh translations by Gordon Braden. Among the newly edited and authoritatively annotated prose selections are letters, pamphlets, political tracts, essays such as Of Education and Areopagitica, and a generous portion of his heretical Christian Doctrine. These works reveal Milton’s passionate advocacy of controversial positions during the English Civil War and the Commonwealth and Restoration periods.

With his deep learning and the sensual immediacy of his language, Milton creates for us a unique bridge to the cultures of classical antiquity and medieval and Renaissance Christianity. With this in mind, the editors give careful attention to preserving the vibrant energy of Milton’s verse and prose, while making the relatively unfamiliar aspects of his writing accessible to modern readers. Notes identify the old meanings and roots of English words, illuminate historical contexts–including classical and biblical allusions–and offer concise accounts of the author’s philosophical and political assumptions. This edition is a consummate work of modern literary scholarship.

Praise
“Over the coming months, [John Milton’s] 400th anniversary will be celebrated in many different ways, but it is highly unlikely that any of the tributes he receives will do as much for him as the appearance of the Modern Library edition of his collected poetry and selected prose. The edition is a model of its kind, well designed and attractively produced. There are scholarly but unintimidating footnotes and helpful introductions to the major works. Spelling and punctuation have been modernized -- a difficult decision but the right one….A great deal has been packed in, but Milton has still been left room to breathe. The whole enterprise is meant to be reader-friendly, and it succeeds.” — The Wall Street Journal

“This magnificent edition gives us everything we need to read Milton intelligently and with fresh perception. You could take it to a desert island, or just stay home and further your education in a great writer.”
–William H. Pritchard, Amherst College

“For generations of readers Milton has been the measure of both eloquence and nobility of mind. For the next generation this new Modern Library volume will be the standard: it is meticulously edited, full of tactful annotations that set the stage for his work and his times, and it brings Milton, as a poet and a thinker, vividly alive before us.”
–Robert Hass

“Years ago I began a series of poems about Milton and his daughters. Ever since, I have been combing through Milton’s poems and prose for those moments when the poet would turn and speak to the poet in me. It is in the new Kerrigan-Rumrich-Fallon edition that I now find prompt rejoinders to questions, ready clarifications of problems, and a more intimate dimension of that formidable adjective Miltonic.”
–Richard Howard

“A superb edition of the great poet, with modernized spelling, lucid introductions to each work, illuminating footnotes, and fresh prose translations of poems in Latin, Greek, and Italian. This will surely be the edition of choice for teachers, students, and general readers too.”
–Leo Damrosch, Harvard University

“The introductions alone constitute a fine new book on Milton, beautifully written, challenging and balanced, with equal care and insight given to textual, biographical, historical, literary-historical and literary-critical concerns. It is a book to last a lifetime.”
–James Earl, University of Oregon

“In this landmark edition, teachers will discover a powerful ally in bringing the excitement of Milton’s poetry and prose to new generations of students. In the clarity of its overall conception, its thoroughness, and its never-faltering attention to literary and historical detail, the Modern Library Milton serves almost as another teacher–patient, thoughtful, endlessly concerned with genuine comprehension.”
–William C. Dowling, Rutgers University

“The editors display a remarkable combination of scholarly rigor and sensitivity to literary values, expressed in prose of exemplary clarity and extraordinary grace; even the notes, concise as well as precise, approach a kind of epigrammatic brilliance. A superb edition.”
–Edward W. Tayler, Columbia University

“The editors succeed gloriously, meeting the needs of the whole spectrum, from general readers to advanced students. A modernized text, one sensitive to Milton’s poetic rhythm, illuminates both the author’s meaning and artistry. It’s a beautiful edition–a home worthy of its subject.”
–Marina Favila, James Madison University

Milton's Paradise Lost

John Milton

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 7 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Breathtaking 5 out of 5 stars.
15 of 15 people found this review helpful.

With its fine binding, large type, and beautiful paper, this large addition of Milton's Paradise Lost will make a handsome addition to any shelf. Some will say that it is not well suited for the first time reader, lacking the line notes of other annotated additions. I would beg to differ, as such commentary, while deepening ones understanding, can also detract from the majesty of Milton's words. Yes, it is true that the laymen will miss many or even most of the references woven into this, perhaps after Shakespeare's work the greatest piece of literature ever produced in English. However, once captivated by the poetry, readers can always go back and peruse thicker, commentary laced edition. First and foremost, one must dive into the language of Milton, before attempting to wring every drop of meaning from that pool's heady wine.

A note, of course, must also be given to the extraordinary illustrations of Gustave Dore included in this volume. Dore's vision, especially the inexorable dissent of Satan from angelic beauty to demonic ugliness can only add to the readers' joy. At less than $20, one cannot go wrong in acquiring this very fine edition.

Editorial Review:

Paradise Lost is the greatest work of one of the most acclaimed poets in English literature. It has had a profound influence on Western culture, and has attracted a vast amount of critical commentary of every sort. First published in 1968, Alastair Fowler's annotated edition of Paradise Lost is acknowledged as the most authoritative guide to this major work, and to the critical analysis that it has prompted. This important new edition maintains the detailed annotation that has for many years provided an interesting and comprehensive explanation to this difficult but compelling poem, making it accessible both to the student and the general reader. It is the only recent edition of Paradise Lost to be based on the text of the first (1667) edition, now widely accepted to be closer to Milton's intention than that of 1674.

Paradise Lost

John Milton, David Scott Kastan, Merritt Yerkes Hughes

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 19 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Paradise Lost remains as challenging and relevant today as it was in the turbulent intellectual and political environment in which it was written. This edition aims to bring the poem as fully alive to a modern reader as it would have been to Milton’s contemporaries. It provides a newly edited text of the 1674 edition of the poemâ€"the last of Milton's lifetimeâ€"with carefully modernized spelling and punctuation. Marginal glosses define unfamiliar words, and extensive annotations at the foot of the page clarify Milton’s syntax and poetics, and explore the range of literary, biblical, and political allusions that point to his major concerns. David Kastan’s lively Introduction considers the central interpretative issues raised by the poem, demonstrating how thoroughly it engaged the most vitalâ€"and contestedâ€"issues of Milton’s time, and which reveal themselves as no less vital, and perhaps no less contested, today.

The edition also includes an essay on the text, a chronology of major events in Milton’s life, and a selected bibliography, as well as the first known biography of Milton, written by Edward Phillips in 1694.

John Milton, Complete Poems and Major Prose

John Milton

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

This is the best edition 5 out of 5 stars.
32 of 32 people found this review helpful.

Others have suggested the Norton is the edition for college students. I disagree. The Hughes edition is definitely worth the money. The notes are the best -- in reading criticism on Milton, there's usually plenty of references to Mr. Hughes's notations themselves. This is the standard, accepted text. This is the complete poems, with his Latin and Italian poetry appearing ajacent to an English translation. There's a generous selection of Milton's prose, too.

Spend the wad and buy the book. If you're reading this, then you're a bibliophile, no doubt. For the rest of your life wouldn't you prefer to have the best edition of Milton on your shelf, or will you be satisified with a $9 Signet Classic? (I tossed mine.)

Check out the Dore Illustrations for PL, too.

BTW, after reading Areopagitica, I believe that everything Jeffereson said was a debt to Milton.

Editorial Review:

First published by Odyssey Press in 1957, this classic edition provides Milton’s poetry and major prose works, richly annotated, in a sturdy and affordable clothbound volume.

The Major Works (Oxford World's Classic)

John Milton

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Church, or Muse . . . Doctrine, or Verse ... 5 out of 5 stars.
6 of 9 people found this review helpful.

[John Milton, son of a scrivener and musician...]
This review is of the Oxford World's Classics edition of
-John Milton: The Major Works- (ISBN: 019280409X),
edited and with an Introduction by Stephen Orgel and
Jonathan Goldberg.
"That kings for such a tomb would wish to die" (John
Milton-- "On Shakespeare") -- "one of the greatest,
most noble, and most sublime poems which either this
age or nation has produced" (John Dryden -- on -Paradise
Lost-). The picture drawn of Milton, his life, and his
career (or careers) by Orgel and Goldberg is of a
man of intelligence and means who had been educated
for the life of a gentleman and a scholar in his
early life, yet finding that the surge of events
and ideologies has a way of changing one's timing,
course of expression, and even personal fate. Thus
Milton makes conflicting statements about his intents,
his "ripeness" (maturity of intellect and wisdom, more
than age), and which venue is his real chosen arena
of expression.
His first published poem, is anonymous, and is
"On Shakespeare" included in "the dedicatory verses
to the second Shakespeare folio[1632]." (Chronology.) Yet
in his first signed publication, -The Reason for Church
Government- (1642), a prose tract, "Milton presents himself ...
as a poet who uses only his 'left hand'
in writing prose. In the account he gives, his entire
life appears to have been spent in training as a poet." (Introduction.)
As the eldest son, however, he "had been from childhood
'destined'...to a Church career." (Introduction.) But
events intrude, as well as yearnings, and the 2 Jan. 1646
publication of -Poems of Mr. John MIlton, Both English
and Latin-, dated 1645. The Church career never materializes,
but in a strange way, a more interesting "preaching" or
"exhorting" or "inspirational" one does, through his
poetry, rather than his political tracts. And Milton,
perhaps even oblivious to his own constantly self-
revisionist attitudes and stances, creates a more
enduring legacy which has influenced literature,
scholarship, views about justifying "the ways of
God to man" (from -Paradise Lost-), and the common
cultural views about Satan, and Hell, and the Fall,
even more so than those of Dante.
This is an excellent edition which contains the
shorter English poems, the Latin poems (with both
Latin text on left pages -- and the Enlish translations
on the right pages), Selections from -A Book of
Sylvae-, Greek poem added 1673, Carmina Elegiaca,
the Prose Works: from -The Reason of Church Government-,
from -An Apology for Smectymnuus-, -The Doctrine and
Discipline of Divorce (Complete), -Of Education-
(Complete), -Areopagitica- (Complete), -The Tenure
of Kings and Magistrates- (Complete), from -The
Second Defence of the English People, -The Ready and
Easy Way to Establish a Free Commonwealth- (Complete).
Of course, there is also -Paradise Lost- (Complete);
-Paradise Regained- (Complete); and -Samson Agonistes-
(Complete). Highly enlightening are 3 Familiar Letters
of 1674: "To Charles Diodati, 1637"; "To Benedetto
Buonmattei, 1638"; and "To Leonard Philaras, Athenian."
There is a lengthy excerpt from -Christian Doctrine-
which starts out talking of "restoring religion to
something of its pure original state" and has the
very interesting (telling) perspective on Milton's
own "cross": "If I were to say that I had focused
my studies principally upon Christian doctrine because
nothing else can so effectually wipe away those two
repulsive affictions,tyranny and superstition [of
course, no idea that doctrine itself might promote
those two evils -- R.K.], from human life and the
human mind, I should show that I had been concerned
not for religion but for life's well-being." And
the glory of Oxford editions, there are copious
notes in the back going from page 735 to page 959,
Further Reading List, and Index of Titles and First
Lines. At this price, this volume is a real steal
(er, get thee behind me, Satan...) ... bargain!
-- Robert Kilgore.

Editorial Review:

Previously published in the Oxford Authors series, this unique one-volume selection of Milton's poetry and prose includes all the English and Italian verse and a generous selection of his major prose works. Modernized spelling, extensive notes, and a helpful introduction make the text immediately accessible to the modern reader.