CORP$EY

no mickey mouse ting
God it's long

I'm not even halfway through it

But it's worth it

I might even read 'The Odyssey' after this
 

luka

Well-known member
thats why i wanted to read it fast cos i knew if i didnt i would get bogged down and start asking myself if anything really matters and what im trying to prove and i might have found myself just staring slack jawed at a spot on the wall paradise lost lying half finished on an unmade bed.
 

CORP$EY

no mickey mouse ting
Yeah I live in fear of that too

The audiobook thing really helps drag me along, that's why I have my eyes on the Odyssey, cos I've got the translation I need to buy the audiobook on audible and voila

I also got 'Ulysses' on audiobook a long time ago, thought 'well I'll never listen to that', but maybe I can combine it with the book ('well, I'll never read that') to finally tackle it?
 

luka

Well-known member
it's an easier read than the illiad. it's not bad actually. just a load of tall tales cobbled together. just need a transaltion with a little bit of fizz to it
 

CORP$EY

no mickey mouse ting
I like the idea of being able to read stories about giants and sea monsters without feeling like i'm flunking English

This is part of the appeal of Paradise Lost with all its silly angels and gorgons with dog-ravaged wombs etc

DEATH TO SOCIAL REALISM! (unless its chekhov)
 

CORP$EY

no mickey mouse ting
that's one of many problems with Milton's God - he's a right bastard

Satan always gets the bad rep for Hell but God basically came up with the whole plan

I just got to Raphael telling Adam about how Satan erred - and there's that delightful bit when God calls all the angels to a press conference and reveals his Son and says 'you'll all worship him, and be happy about it, or else you'll be eternally tormented'

Cheers God!

We'd all be complaining about him in a hastily convened cigarette break outside the gates of paradise

but He'd know about it and call us into a disciplinary

CUNT
 

luka

Well-known member
one of the important life lessons my dad taught me when i was still a young lad was that good intentions wont get you anywhere (except to hell naturally) and that you have to identify and ride the your real energy sources whatever they may be;
vanity, greed, anger, resentment, envy, lust etc
very good advice that everyone should take on board.
 

luka

Well-known member
you cant be squeamish about where the motivation comes from, it's hard enough to come by as it is.
 

CORP$EY

no mickey mouse ting
very much a parent/child analogy going on in PL between God/Satan and God/A&E

sure the Freudian critics can go and have gone berserk over it
 

Corpsey

bandz ahoy
Day 200 of reading PL

I'm fantasising about getting to read Henry IV now, a bit of fresh air after all this solemnity and awe, a bit of humanity

A commonplace observation but true - PL most compelling when most human. In the person of Satan, obviously, but also the instant A&E fall and start squabbling after shagging in the bush it really becomes much more interesting. The more divine and concordant things are, the more tedious. People who are divided against themselves, in pain, seduced, erring, are the meat on the bone. The pomp of Paradise is as detestably dull and triumphal as Nazi propaganda paintings.

But also to appaud Milton some more, Satan's heroism so seductive but also so false (a falsity even to himself). His understanding of things only in terms of power, condemning him to self servitude...

3 books left! I'll weep tears of joy when it's over, but I'm glad I've read it and thanks be to Luka for inspiring me to.
 

Corpsey

bandz ahoy
But tempted to, to reread, and read around it - easy to see how people become obsessed with this stuff and do PhDs and have entire careers around them
 

Corpsey

bandz ahoy
Had to laugh at the bit when God punishes the serpent for letting itself get possessed by Satan - by cursing it and it's progeny FOREVER

What a guy
 

luka

Well-known member
Had to laugh at the bit when God punishes the serpent for letting itself get possessed by Satan - by cursing it and it's progeny FOREVER

What a guy

yeah probably the biggest injustice in a book larded with injustice
 

luka

Well-known member
doesnt even make one bit of sense just vindictive. life is a tough gig as it is without an omnipotent cloud-cunt cursing you and all the generations to come.
 
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