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  • Paradise Lost

  • By: John Milton
  • Narrated by: Anton Lesser
  • Length: 10 hrs and 42 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (473 ratings)
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Paradise Lost cover art

Paradise Lost

By: John Milton
Narrated by: Anton Lesser
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Summary

"Of Man's First Disobedience, and the Fruit
Of that Forbidden Tree, whose mortal taste
Brought Death into the World, and all our woe...."

So begins the greatest epic poem in the English language. In words remarkable for their richness of rhythm and imagery, Milton tells the story of man's creation, fall, and redemption, "to justify the ways of God to men". Here, unabridged, and told with exceptional sensitivity and power by Anton Lesser, is the plight of Adam and Eve, the ambition and vengefulness of Satan and his cohorts.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

Public Domain (P)2005 Naxos Audiobooks Ltd.

What listeners say about Paradise Lost

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Sonorous metal

Paradise lost is a poem that gains greatly by being read aloud. Passages which on the printed page may seem convoluted and obscure can be made clear by a good reader, and Anton Lesser is, as always not merely a good but an outstanding reader. His voice at first may seem slight and lacking resonance but he follows the argument and pace of the narrative with great intelligence and is able to differentiate and characterise convincingly all the different voices that speak in the poem. This skill is essential, since unlike the abridged version published by Naxos some years ago, he is the sole narrator. As such he does a superb job throughout the long and varied length of this poem.
The old Argo recording of substantial portions of the epic still seems to me unmatched -with Tony Church as a superb narrator, Michael Redgrave as a splendidly theatrical Satan, Michael Hordern as a plausible God the father, Prunella scales as a movingly characterised Eve. The use of different voices is undoubtably better and more in keeping with the strong dramatic element in this epic. It is a pity that this and other Argo recordings are no longer available. But Anton Lesser as a single narrator does the job perhaps as well as it can be done (and is certainly preferable to the pedestrian version by Frederic Davidson). If you know Paradise Lost, you will find Anton Lessor's reading always clear and often illuminating.If you are approaching this marvellous poem for the first time, this reading is an ideal way to gain an overview of the whole epic.

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117 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Lesser Oratorio

If you could sum up Paradise Lost in three words, what would they be?

Seminal, opinionated, blind.

Would you be willing to try another book from John Milton? Why or why not?

Milton is very much the key to the Puritan Commonwealth, and a huge influence on most later English writing down to about the 1920's. If you want to understand the Puritan regime, you probably need to read lots of Milton. If you only want to know what happened next (after Shakespeare) Paradise Lost on its own is probably enough (especially in this version).

Which character – as performed by Anton Lesser – was your favourite?

One of the strengths of Lesser's performance is that he allows the blur between (say) Satan and Moloch to come through, without entirely obliterating the difference between their characters. Milton's characters are not strongly differentiated (the way that Shakespeare's and Marlowe's are) - this is a Borg world. Lesser is nearly unique among readers in showing this without letting it become a weakness.

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

You can't film Paradise Lost. Milton was blind by the time he wrote it. It is an invisible poem- that is half the point.

Any additional comments?

The Puritans shut the theatres for a generation, but Milton's early work Comus is a play without the costumes, the scenery, or most of the characterisation. Paradise Lost is best thought of as an Oratorio: a drama, but with most of the action removed, and a heavy dollop of moralising to make up for that. Lesser has the dramatic skills of an actor, but also the penetration of a philosopher. You need both for this hybrid work. Anton Lesser's reading is by far the most coherent of the many available.

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25 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Sonorous metal

Paradise lost is a poem that gains greatly by being read aloud. Passages which on the printed page may seem convoluted and obscure can be made clear by a good reader, and Anton Lesser is, as always not merely a good but an outstanding reader. His voice at first may seem slight and lacking resonance but he follows the argument and pace of the narrative with great intelligence and is able to differentiate and characterise convincingly all the different voices that speak in the poem. This skill is essential, since unlike the abridged version published by Naxos some years ago, he is the sole narrator. As such he does a superb job throughout the long and varied length of this poem.
The old Argo recording of substantial portions of the epic still seems to me unmatched -with Tony Church as a superb narrator, Michael Redgrave as a splendidly theatrical Satan, Michael Hordern as a plausible God the father, Prunella scales as a movingly characterised Eve. The use of different voices is undoubtably better and more in keeping with the strong dramatic element in this epic. It is a pity that this and other Argo recordings are no longer available. But Anton Lesser as a single narrator does the job perhaps as well as it can be done (and is certainly preferable to the pedestrian version by Frederic Davidson). If you know Paradise Lost, you will find Anton Lessor's reading always clear and often illuminating.If you are approaching this marvellous poem for the first time, this reading is an ideal way to gain an overview of the whole epic.

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18 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Excellent narration of a classc

Paradise Lost was always something I wanted to read but never got round to. This is an excellent performance; Anton Lesser brings the text to life, imbuing the characters with power and emotion. Because of this, I would recommend this audiobook over the print version any day of the week.

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15 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Perfect

What does Anton Lesser bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

Lessers narration was brilliant , giving a much clearer understanding of what can be at times a complex text.

Any additional comments?

Definitely worth getting, I probably would never have finished the book had I been reading it!

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14 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Making sense of Milton

Anton Lesser's sensitive reading of Paradise Lost made it, for me, a wonderful walk through the maze of Milton's endless confusion of clauses and sub-clauses. By means of subtle alteration to timbre, tone and volume, Lesser gives each of the many voices character and colour. Now, when I re-read Milton's amazing poem, I will do it hearing Anton Lesser's beautifully moderated voice at every word. Pure joy.

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13 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

the best way to read this masterpiece

I could not have read Milton's masterwork without the help of Anton Leader's frequently marvellous narration. Lesser brings out the emotional power and poetic gravitas of Milton's story that it might be easy to miss just reading it. Paradise Lost is not an easy read by any means, and there are passages which will be of little interest to most modern readers, but I would recommend it to anybody who loves language and literature. It asks questions about the nature of existence and of human nature which resonate to this day, even if Milton's theologically derived (though frequently non conformist and even heretical) answers might not chime with our modern worldview.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great performance - poor recording

Why can’t publishers be bothered to re edit a great performance to fit a digital medium? The chapter breaks have wining ‘period’ music. The chapter breaks do not fit the books chapters or add anything to this excellent performance. Seem to be leftovers from what was edited for tapes or CDs.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

12 books divided into 9 chapters... why?

Wonderfully read, period music not too intrusive, why not a chapter for each book? Baffling.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Well narrated

If you're struggling to read this epic poem or understand it, try this audible tape. Well narrated and helps you understand the books a lot more through the narration. I advise reading it alongside it to let it sink in.

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