Paradise Lost & Paradise Regained

By: John Milton

Narrated by: Charlton Griffin

Length: 16 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's summary

Paradise Lost, along with its companion piece, Paradise Regained, remain the most successful attempts at Greco-Roman style epic poetry in the English language. Remarkably enough, they were written near the end of John Milton's amazing life, a bold testimonial to his mental powers in old age. And, since he had gone completely blind in 1652, 15 years prior to Paradise Lost, he dictated it and all his other works to his daughter.

The main work represented in this recording, Paradise Lost, is divided into roughly three sections. In the first section, covering books one through four, we are shown how Satan manages to regroup his followers after their defeat in Heaven, how they decide to renew the struggle with God, how Satan escapes from Hell and makes his way to earth to do mischief, and how God discovers Satan's new plot and decides to allow it to unfold.

The next section, books five through eight, take place on earth as we are introduced to Adam and Eve, their discourses with God's angels, and a retelling of the battle between God and Satan as rendered by the angel Raphael.

In the last section, books nine through 12, Eve is seduced by a disguised Satan and eats the forbidden fruit. Adam, distressed at the event, yet unwilling to be parted from Eve, decides to eat the fruit and share her fate. God sends His Son to earth to render punishment, but only after the Son pleads successfully on their behalf for mercy. He descends and tells Adam that they can no longer remain in Eden, but then takes him to a place and shows him a vision of mankind's future.

Paradise Regained follows the Gospel of Luke in presenting the story of Satan's temptation of Jesus in the wilderness. In striking contrast to Adam and Eve, Satan is utterly foiled in his attempt to corrupt the Son of God.

Public Domain (P)2008 Audio Connoisseur

Paradise lost by a fantastic narrator!

I have about 7,500 hours of audible listening and this book is probably 10% of that.

Fantastic narrator....he makes it sound like a fullcast production!

Time to finally tackle Milton!

You know you'll never read this heady classic, so why not let Charlton Griffin bring it to life as you listen. You might imagine, as you listen, the work as blind Milton dictated it to his daughter.

Except for the lack of thoroughness a great version of Milton’s work.

I would give the narrator a 4 but gave the performance only a 3 because of the laziness of the persons responsible for putting the book together. The title is Paradise Lost and Paradise regained, however there is no mention of a biography of Milton being included. In fact the entire first chapter, all 2 hours is a biography. Then the 2 books are grouped together as chapters 2 through 17. No indication when either book starts or ends even though they are separated. Chapter 1 is the biography, should have been labeled as such. Chapters 2 through 13 are books 1 through 12 of Paradise Lost, should have been labeled as such. Paradise Regained starts at chapter 14 and ends at chapter 17, books 1 through 4 respectively. The books are verbally identified but it would have been so easy to mark the 3 parts with Milton Biography, Paradise Lost books 1-12 and Paradise Regained, books 1-4.

Read at least once in your lifetime.

Two great books, wonderfully narrated. beautifully imagined. Take your time and don't rush. Enjoy the marvelous pictures and vocabulary.

A classic

This is a fairly good reading of a true classic. Worth the time for those looking to jump in to renaissance literature.

Awesome!

I have read many classic books throughout my life but I always had a hard time getting through this one. The narration made it all possible this time around. I will never hesitate to listen to any book that he narrates.

Richer with repeated listening

I have often attempted Milton and found myself getting somewhat lost in his syntax, which was meant as guide to pause, semi pauses, and complete stops in the reading of the poem. Once you get a feel for how Milton constructs a passage of verse, the poem will unfold its story beautifully and so sublimely that it almost makes the first few chapters of Genesis feel like the Cliff notes version of the story. I don’t mean this to be blasphemous, but Milton professes to have been inspired and I believe him—“Paradise Lost” is that good!
There are plenty of reviews that delve into the story, but suffice it to mention that before you undertake this poem, I think it is imperative that you not only get a good grounding the Pentateuch, but also in Greek mythology, the gospels, and cosmology (yes, there are some really interesting descriptions that lean strikingly open to Copernicus and Galileo). It will not hurt to include some basic grounding of the Protestant Reformation as well before reading the poem.

Sounds like a lot of work? Believe me, if you are interested in reading the poem, such foregrounding will only enrich your enjoyment of Paradise Lost, which is chock full of references to mythology.

Here I highly recommend readers to seek out this audible edition by Charlton Griffin that includes a biography of John Milton in the first two hours, followed by “Paradise Lost” and its lesser-read sequel “Paradise Regained.” Milton deserves to heard as well as read, and my reading intensified by following the words in the book while Griffin read with all the appropriate pauses as the playful language shined through. Griffin’s narration helped me through “Paradise Lost” and I see this as an audiobook that will only get richer with repeated listening.

Shakespeare and Milton, the masters of English!

Beautiful almost Beyond Compare. Beside William Shakespeare there's no master of the English language that compares with John Milton. The performance too is masterful and brings a work with somewhat antiquated language truly to life.

A classic but....

I had a hard time with this book. It is long winded and to be honest , just a little too boring.

very intriguing listen

I deeply enjoyed and appreciated the short biography in the beginning and the author truly is s master in his craft. I found the language more understandable than the Divine comedy series, and found the biblical stories very practical/down to earth interpretations. The characters were very believable and relatable and the content was meaningful for not only Christians but for all philosophers, thinkers and theologians alike