Milton and the making of Paradise lost

Poole (New College, Univ. of Oxford, UK) offers an authoritative, and accessible, introduction to Milton's life and an engaging examination of the process of composing Paradise Lost. He is well qualified for the task, as author of the award-winning Milton and the Idea of the Fall (2005) and articles in The Milton Encyclopedia, ed. by Thomas Corns (2012), Milton in Context, ed. by Stephen Dobranski (CH, Sep'10, 48-0131), and The Oxford Handbook to Milton, ed. by Nicholas McDowell and Nigel Smith (CH, Aug'10, 47-6726). The present volume is divided into two parts: in part 1, "Milton" (chapters 1-13), the author discusses Milton's life and the genesis of Paradise Lost; in part 2, "Paradise Lost" (chapters 14-22), he analyzes the poem's structure, genre, content, purpose, and method. The study offers a useful appendix, "Milton's Classroom Authors," which records the works that Milton taught, and thus reengaged, as a schoolmaster. This new approach considers Milton as a reader, scholar, and teacher, discussing how those roles influenced the poem, even after the poet's total blindness. Poole's book is required reading for seasoned Milton scholars and students serious about the study of Milton. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty. --Philip Edward Phillips, Middle Tennessee State University

Two questions-"How does a masterpiece come to be written?" and "What influences help forge it?"-concern this focused examination of the creation of Paradise Lost, John Milton's enduring epic poem. Poole (The World Makers), who is John Galsworthy Fellow and tutor in English at New College, Oxford, splits his study into two distinct but linked sections. The first focuses on Milton's background and personality: his education and subsequent teaching career, his admiration for Italian culture and poetry, and his participation in heady religious and social debates. At the center of this section is the onset of Milton's blindness, which led to the extraordinary circumstance of Paradise Lost being dictated to a series of amanuenses. The second half looks critically at Paradise Lost itself, exploring its structure, theological implications, and influences. Early on, Poole expresses his hope that his volume will engage even newcomers to Milton, but this hope may be in vain, due to the book's somewhat technical nature. Poole's goal is commendable, however, and limiting the scope of his study to Milton's life as it pertained to his masterwork is wise. (Oct.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

In his book Milton and the Idea of the Fall (2005), Poole (English, New Coll., Oxford Univ.; John Aubrey and the Advancement of Learning) examined John Milton's treatment of the element of the Fall in his works, especially in Paradise Lost (1667). Here Poole ranges widely in theme and narrowly in focus, concentrating on a single poem yet showing how Milton's earlier works led to the epic's creation. The first part of this book presents an intellectual biography of the 17th-century English poet, noting his extensive reading. An appendix lists works Milton taught in his school, and Poole demonstrates how Milton drew on these for his masterpiece. The second part of the book analyzes Paradise Lost, concentrating on its theology and ignoring its politics. There is little discussion here of critical debates around the work, such as the extent of Milton's Pauline stance toward women. Poole shows how Milton adopts a largely Arminian (as opposed to Calvinist) and Arian position, a point earlier critics have also made. Various poetic devices are examined, such as doubling: sin emerges from Satan's head, Eve from Adam's side; Satan curses the sun, Adam invokes it. A final chapter looks at the poem's afterlife. VERDICT A readable and learned introduction to the creation and meaning of Paradise Lost.-Joseph Rosenblum, Univ. of North Carolina, Greensboro © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.