I tend to be a very fast reader, and unfortunately that doesn't work well with poetry. A few years back I read the "Divine Comedy" and couldn't help racing through it. I missed a lot of the beauty of the work because of my reading habits. I have been listening to several audio books on my daily commute and saw that this work was available and decided to give it a try. I felt that listening to poetry in a spoken format would allow me to enjoy the beauty of it more since I believe most poetry was originally designed for oral transmission.
I found that listening to "Paradise Lost" did meet my expectations. I had to concentrate, but the effort was well worth it. I couldn't race through it and enjoyed it as intended. Anton Lesser did an excellent job as usual as the reader. His voice seemed appropriate for this type of work; though I agree with another reviewer that a more powerful voice may have been appropriate for the voice of God.
I really enjoyed Milton's vision of the creation and fall. The epic descriptions of the heavens and Satan and the other characters were vivid and I could see why this is considered such a great work. From a theological perspective, it was interesting to see his view of the origin of the angels, the Son, and Satan. He did a very good job of taking cryptic verses from the Bible and other sources and expanding them out into a powerful story.
I highly recommend this audio book and feel that this is a very good way to be introduced to Milton. |
Paradise Lost (Naxos AudioBooks) Books In Print, Audio Books.