Reading Paradise Lost

Casting a fresh perspective on the greatest long poem in English, David Hopkins guides the reader through the inspiring poetic landscape of Milton's great epic Paradise Lost , a work of literature which has compelled and fascinated readers down the ages and which offers enduring insight into the human condition A welcome aesthetic focus on the poetic experience of reading Paradise Lost rather than its religious or political context Provides a nuanced, unified vision of the poem from a celebrated authority on English poetry of the period Includes consideration of the poem's earlier champions and critics Passionately advocates Paradise Lost' s continuing artistic and philosophical relevance

Table of Contents:
Preface vii 1 Paradise Lost : Poem or "Problem"? 1 2 God, Satan, and Adam 23 3 Eden 43 4 The Fall 63 Further Reading 85 Index to lines and passages from Paradise Lost 91 Index to main text and notes 93

About the Author :
David Hopkins is Emeritus Professor of English Literature and Senior Research Fellow at the University of Bristol, UK. A specialist on English poetry and literary criticism of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, he has written two books on John Dryden -- John Dryden (1986) and Writers and their Work: John Dryden (2004). His latest work, Conversing with Antiquity: English Poets and the Classics, from Shakespeare to Pope (2010), reflects Hopkins's interest in the enduring influence on English poetry of the literature and culture of classical antiquity. Prof Hopkins has also edited numerous volumes including (with Paul Hammond) an annotated edition of Dryden's complete poems.

Review :
"Written in lucid, unpretentious prose, (Reading Paradise Lost) has ... the character of a first-rate lecture. It opens an uncluttered path into 'the distinctive imagined world' of Paradise Lost and is a guide to understanding it as a long narrative poem. There is a place for such a book in Milton studies, specifically for students coming to the poem for the first time, before they move on to the large handbooks. The championing of the early critics gives the book a distinctive edge and the original and persuasive ideas of the first chapter will be of particular interest to Milton scholars." (Milton Quarterly, May 2014) "In true Miltonic style the content skilfully covers the well-known whilst encouraging the brave to question, deconstruct and think again." (The Use of English, 65.1 Autumn 2013) "Any library supporting the teaching of English literature to freshmen and sophomores should acquire it. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates and general readers." (Choice, 1 August 2013)