David

The book tries to please in the way that a summer movie pleases, which is to say that it is shallow. Moreover, it lacks the special effects available to a movie producer. The plot is rushed and so packed with suspense that there is room for little else. Of course, this audio book must be judged in context, with consideration of the quality of its counterparts, which is why I have awarded it two stars.

This edition of Paradise Lost seems superior to the one narrated by Fredrick Davidson, which is also available on Audible. Davidson'a intonations are more emphatic, but he misses the stately regality and austerity which are more appropriate for this epic.

Short music precedes each of the books of the poem, the baroque nature of which helps to prime the reader for a magnificent theme. Paradise Lost itself has been compared to organ music, and the analogy is an apt one.

Of course, listening to this audiobook with full perception requires wholehearted attention; it is not the one to mitigate the boredom of jogging or divert the mind while doing laundry.