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jennykeery's review against another edition
5.0
This is hands down the best work of literary criticism I have come across, it's insightful and interesting the whole way through!
jensteerswell's review against another edition
3.0
If you're one of the three people who fits in the vector of 'read Paradise Lost' and 'enjoys theological discussion from an atheist / secular perspective,' this is the book for you. The other 10 billion of you can probably safely give it a miss.
And yes, as one of the few people who HAS read Paradise Lost but isn't a member of a Literature department, you can safely skip it. Pilgrim's Progress? No, you have to read that because it's really good. Faust? Also fantastic. Paradise is just a slog by comparison.
And yes, as one of the few people who HAS read Paradise Lost but isn't a member of a Literature department, you can safely skip it. Pilgrim's Progress? No, you have to read that because it's really good. Faust? Also fantastic. Paradise is just a slog by comparison.
lydia_reads's review against another edition
1.0
Not quite sure why my university library is still loaning this archaic rag of a text. It's thoroughly disappointing.
Every critic seems to think they have the only authoritative angle on Paradise Lost but I can assure you, this guy doesn't. In this book, Empson (another white, middle class, male academic) attempts to force his own personal views on theology into a poem that purposefully contradicts itself almost every other line. Empson is a staune atheist who really has it in for God and is determined to prove his evil intent using only his own opinions (usually unaccompanied by textual evidence) and the odd quote from a work of fiction (Paradise Lost). Milton has probably been continually turning in his grave since the publication of Empson's book in 1965, to think that his maginificent achievement has been reduced to such a one-sided analysis. Empson present no alternative reading, ignores a great deal of contradictory primary material and managed to irritate me to the point of exasperation! A much more comprehensive study needed to be deserving of Milton.
That said, if an opportunity arises to write an essay on issues in criticism of Paradise Lost I'll definitely be using this book!
Every critic seems to think they have the only authoritative angle on Paradise Lost but I can assure you, this guy doesn't. In this book, Empson (another white, middle class, male academic) attempts to force his own personal views on theology into a poem that purposefully contradicts itself almost every other line. Empson is a staune atheist who really has it in for God and is determined to prove his evil intent using only his own opinions (usually unaccompanied by textual evidence) and the odd quote from a work of fiction (Paradise Lost). Milton has probably been continually turning in his grave since the publication of Empson's book in 1965, to think that his maginificent achievement has been reduced to such a one-sided analysis. Empson present no alternative reading, ignores a great deal of contradictory primary material and managed to irritate me to the point of exasperation! A much more comprehensive study needed to be deserving of Milton.
That said, if an opportunity arises to write an essay on issues in criticism of Paradise Lost I'll definitely be using this book!
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