Break on Through to the Other Side

I'm sure there's more than a few English Literature students who would agree that Paradise Lost can be a difficult read, and I'd say even more difficult if you're just trying to read and appreciate it. After all, it's considered the greatest of English Literature so why not see what all the fuss is about?

It's not really a big surprise that it can be impenetrable to a modern reader, there are a few factors that conspire to confound our reading perspective:

• While the general themes are familiar and from a human perspective almost timeless, Paradise Lost was released in 1667.  The world around us, and lives we lead are in many ways vastly different from how it was in the 17th century.
• Not only have we (and society with us) changed, the English language has evolved through natural use, and to incorporate new concepts.
• The form of the poem isn't one that is generally encountered by modern readers. This is coupled with poetry not being as often read.
• The references used by Milton to enrich his writing are not ones we encounter too often these days unless studying classical history or related subjects.  
• The story is a religious one (although I would argue that it's core themes are more fundamental than that) , and as such is replete with religious and theological imagery and thinking. 

Some or all of these represent barriers to entry for the new reader, and all too easily can put a new reader off that they do not enjoy, or get to appreciate why it deserves its classic status. That's not to say that you should force yourself to read it (unless you're studying it maybe) - people's tastes are different, but also evolve as you pass through life.

There are ways I've discovered over the years that may help make Milton's epic work easier to get into.

While Reading

• Don't try and read too much in a single sitting. You can binge it once you are comfortable, but at first read a book at a time (there are 12 depending on which version you're reading), or just a page, or even just the argument (it's a summary of what is to come in that book), and then put it aside and let what you've read percolate nicely in your mind.
• You don't have to understand every metaphor. As with all good writing, the reader is rewarded for multiple reads. Mark it in your mind and look the reference up once you've ended your session.

Parallel Prose Edition

This is one of my favourite versions of the poem. It is a prose translation of the poem and structured so you havre the poem on one page and the matching prose on the neighboring page. So you can easily switch between the two. It's almost like cheating, it's so easy to follow.

It can be a little hard to get hold of, although a quick search has found a few copies on ebay. Expect to pay at least £20 for it, but it's well worth the money. If you're new to classic literature of this style then I'd recommend this edition before the others. Get the bug and then start your quest for editions from all the ages.

The author, Daniel Danielson was one of the early guest authors on my The Cult of Me blog. You can read it here (who is an actual Paradise Lost scholar):

https://thecultofme.blogspot.com/2012/09/guest-author-interview-dennis-danielson.html

Audio Book

I confess that I'm a late convert for audio books. I found it frustrating how slowly listening was when compared to reading. However for poetry or any writing that should be read aloud and with a cadence is automatically made better if you can hear it as intended.

It's important find a good production. Thankfully there are plenty to choose from, here's one I recently enjoyed https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GINzUBvQ5nw

For your first listen I advise refraining from pausing to look up an obscure phrase, but instead just immerse yourself in just listening - headphones are good for this as they reduce distractions.

As I'm listening to it now - here's a decent (if abridged) audio version of Paradise Regained - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GINzUBvQ5nw Emperor Palpatine performs a most excellent Satan. 

Dive On In

Contrary to my earlier advice dive on into the world of Paradise Lost. Learn about John Milton and the world he lived in. Listen to the band (very little to directly relate to the topic, but an excellent band anyway). Read the history of the classical world and its rich tapestry Milton draws upon.

And while generally you should read the poem before venturing into professional critiques and essays, in the case of C.S.Lewis' Prelude to Paradise Lost is a wonderful introduction and commentary on the book, but also explains about the various forms of epic poems. An excellent read.

Hopefully there's a few useful hints there is you are a new reader - if you have any tips or suggestions then comment below.

Paradise Lost (AI Illustrated Edition) - Introduction

The start of a project is always very exciting - there's a newness to it, although not quite in this case as it's taken a decade or so to get going. This first post was originally intended to be the first part of the book, but it's evolved a bit beyond that! No great surprise there - I can waffle on sometimes...

People who know me are aware of my love for Paradise Lost - whilst it's not my favourite book, it is my favourite story and probably the greatest story ever told. So a few years ago I treated myself to antique copy that cost me more than I'd ever spent on a book, but that didn't matter - I had an over 300 year old copy of the book. It still has pride of place in my collection (I would love a first edition, but £50,000 is a bit beyond my means at the moment), although I did order an older version last night 😇 )

Since owning it I've described it as a 1797 edition (because apparently I can't read Roman numerals) and tonight I discovered that it is actually a 1794 edition. I'd always planned to digitise and transcribe it, so there was some sort of online record for it. Naturally someone has already done exactly that:

https://openlibrary.org/books/OL14033609M/Paradise_lost

I guess that's my own fault for not getting on with it in the ten years or so since thinking of the project.I'm not a great believer in duplicating effort, or reinventing the wheel, so if that had been the only reason to finally start the project, then this may well as been the second, and last post.

As Vader finally realised, 'There is another!'. In this case not a sister, but a reason. I recently discovered an AI art creation tool. As an untalented creator of art, except maybe with the written word, I've always dreamed of a method to translate the images (probably best not to do all of them) in my head, into the real world somehow. Midjourney is frustratingly close to that dream. Unlike previous examples, Midjourney is capable of creating images that look composed as a single whole, rather than a collection of disparate objects because the user can't quite describe what they want.

You can follow my experiments with this wonderful tool here:

https://www.midjourney.com/app/users/882974693294997555/

My first Midjourney created image that I was reasonably happy with. It's far from perfect and does generate some odd outputs. You prompt it with descriptions, and the system doesn't parse the language in the same way a human does. This means that writing the prompts is an art form in itself, and one that I have far from mastered, but am able to use to a certain extent. To improve my skill I decided to set myself a project (because I do have an abundance of spare time - not) to provide an end goal that also allowed for a degree of experimentation. This seemed to gel nicely with the idea of digitising the prized copy of Paradise Lost (as an aside I do own a few versions, so I'll set up a page to add them to - they won't be fully scanned though. Well, not at first). Thus a large part of the project will be using Midjourney to create artwork for this version.

Because all good things come in threes - there is a third reason. Since first reading Milton's poem I appreciated how difficult it could be to connect with. I've read it several times and also various opinions and studies (I repeat from yesterday's post that I am no scholar, but say a devoted fan), and still find myself skipping over obscure references or alien language. For many people living 300 years later it is a hard read, and while I have encountered some incidents of intellectual snobbery that one should have to learn to read it properly I thought it a shame that so many people couldn't enjoy Milton's magnificent octopus.

A not quite successfull Midjourney image that I've yet to complete - the main challenge is controlling the layout - which I haven't mastered yet.

The idea was to create a film telling the story. Maybe not the most original idea, but I wanted to be both authentic and accessible, so had the idea to make two films for the price of one! The classic version would replicate the poem exactly in form, but with visuals and audio from the modern version. The modern version would follow the same plot, but with it being expressed in a friendlier fashion, one that would connect more easily with contemporary audiences. I wasn't the first with that general idea, and that will be the subject of a future post.

It would have been an ambitious project, one currently in the 'When I win a Euromillions jackpot' list, along with some decent Lovecraft film adaptations. And being on such a list, it's probably not going to happen, but here I can at least have some creative input to show my love for John Milton's Paradise Lost.

The Greatest Story Ever Told

I wish I had a first edition :-)

A new project is building momentum, and this one is significant enough to need its own blog so it doesn't get lost in other random activities I post about on my personal blog  - the link below will take you there if you've not previously visited. As the title of this post indicates, I'm a big fan of John Milton's epic poem Paradise Lost, in fact it's the greatest story ever told. I've previously waxed lyrical on the subject here:

http://thecultofme.blogspot.com/2012/08/paradise-lost-greatest-story-ever-told.html

I've read the book a few times since and has sparked some additional thoughts, so I'll need to write an updated version at some stage. I should be clear, that I'm not a scholar or an expert, nor can I quote it from memory :-)

Tomorrow I'll post the start of the project.