/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.20361968]

I come across this book all the time and occasionally read reviews that are mostly positive. It seems to be a classic. I read a little about it and i'm just wondering if it's something that anyone can enjoy, people of faith, or atheists? I know it's about Satan, Adam and Eve and whatnot. I'm not sure if it's just telling stories from the bible in the authors own interesting way (something like Dante's Inferno) or if it's by a religious author that is biased and puts nothing in the story for non believers. I read Milton's purpose for the book is to "justify the ways of God to men". That doesn't sound appealing to me.

[Anonymous No.20361971]

>>20361968
Talking about Paradise Lost

[Anonymous No.20362049]

>>20361968
No it's an incredibly boring story. It utterly fails to justify God, and unless you are criminally retarded it's pretty clear that the message is very anti-satan (which hasn't stopped people from thinking Satan is a good guy).

[Anonymous No.20362068]

>>20361968
Just read it. It's one of the best poems in the English language. Also,

>I'm not sure if it's just telling stories from the bible in the authors own interesting way (something like Dante's Inferno) or if it's by a religious author that is biased and puts nothing in the story for non believers

Milton should have way more mass appeal than Dante. The Inferno and the rest of the Comedy is pretty explicitly moralistic and theological. Either you didn't read the Comedy or you only read the Inferno and greatly misinterpreted it. In contrast, Milton deals with his epic in a vein more similar to other works in the epic tradition (think a Christianized Iliad or Metamorphoses). That's not to say that there isn't any theology or moralism, but there's little of it that's memorable or notable compared to the grand aesthetic spectacle of the work itself. Unless you're a totally autistic fedora tipper (and plenty of fedora tippers love this book) I don't think you'll find anything inoffensive about it. But to answer your question, it's both a Biblical tale told in an interesting way and something written by a believer for believers, though it incidentally can be and is greatly appealing to nonbelievers. I'm sure you'll like or at the very least sympathize with Satan character-wise, as the general audience tends to.

[Anonymous No.20362075]

>>20362049
>He lets the story and message get in the way of enjoying good verse
shiggy diggy

[Anonymous No.20362181]

>>20361968
>i'm just wondering if it's something that anyone can enjoy, people of faith, or atheists?
The book was written when Milton was going through a deep crisis with his faith (which he later regretted and returned to Protestantism in Paradise Regained).

>I'm not sure if it's just telling stories from the bible in the authors own interesting way (something like Dante's Inferno) or if it's by a religious author that is biased and puts nothing in the story for non believers.
Dante couldn't care less about pleasing people. Dante cut Mohammed in half, put homosexuals to walk through hell for all eternity, and sent the Popes he didn't like to the flames. You must be very autistic if you think that Milton or Dante had an audience in mind like "religious" or "non believers" for their works, instead of writing them because they wanted to reach artistic fulfillment for their own.

[Anonymous No.20362187]

>>20361968
>>20361971
>Paradise Lost
Even the Protestant version of the Divine Comedy is good.

[Anonymous No.20362968]

>>20361968
It's the greatest work of literature the world has ever produced, listen to this particular Penguin audiobook edition narrated by Adrian Schiller if you find it difficult, start with the sample here:
https://www.amazon.com/Paradise-Lost-Penguin-Classics/dp/B07VRDTV2Z/