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Paradise Lost

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Paradise Lost

By: John Milton
Narrated by: Anton Lesser
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About this listen

"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. Ancient, Classical & Medieval Literature European Poetry World Literature
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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.

Sonorous metal

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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.

Lesser Oratorio

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Absolute glorious work from John Milton, and such a superb delivery by Anton Lesser, Extremely thrilling and engaging, most enjoyable audio book, I have ever discovered.

A truly divine work of art.

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Great performance by Anton Lesser makes this a much more accessible text. His narration really helped me understand it better.

Great performance

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“Of man’s first disobedience, and the fruit
Of that forbidden tree, whose mortal taste
Brought death into the world, and all our woe,
With loss of Eden, till one greater Man
Restore us, and regain the blissful seat.”

This quote from book one of Paradise Lost sets out in simplistic terms what John Milton’s poem is about. It is considered to be his masterpiece and established Milton as one of the greatest English poets of all time. It concerns the fall of man, the temptation of Adam and Eve by Satan in the guise of a serpent and their expulsion from the Garden of Eden. It is split into 12 books, starting with the prime cause of the fall of man and the revolt of Satan resulting the dismissal from heaven of him and his legions of angels.

I have to admit I have many times in the past attempted to read this but have shied away from it usually after only a few pages, it seemed to me impenetrable. Then I came across the Audible version read by Anton Lesser and suddenly it all became clear. His reading is superb. For me it was like the difference between watching a movie in Ultra HD with Dolby Atmos compared to watching it on an old black and white TV with mono sound. Also each book begins with an ‘argument’ which is a brief synopsis of that book, this helped to make the text that followed clearer.

Having finally, with the help of Anton, conquered Milton’s epic poem I discovered that it isn’t as impenetrable as I first thought. It is incredibly detailed and descriptive (the battle scene in book VI is awesome), the story itself complex and imaginative. Satan for example isn’t as clear cut as he first seems, he is a complex character. Although his actions can be called into question his motives less so. He was just rebelling against what he perceived to be the tyranny of heaven, “Better to reign in Hell, than to serve in Heaven.”

Milton also confronts the science against religion argument. In book XIII Adam asks Raphael about the movement of the stars and planets. Raphael explains that it doesn't matter whether Earth moves or the heavens. God has made some things unknowable adding the complexities of the universe are beyond Man's understanding and he should be satisfied with what God allows him to know. (It’s the religious sidestep of ‘God moves in mysterious ways’ whenever an unexplained action is questioned.) In the final two books we are told that God is always at work in the world, often seemingly insignificantly and the greatest heroes are those who suffer for truth, and that death leads to eternal life. His ultimate message being that through obedience and love we can live good lives and overcome evil. At the end of the book having been banished from paradise Adam and Eve go forth into the world with hope knowing with love and obedience to God they can overcome evil and this is the ultimate message of Paradise Lost.

Paradise Lost is a joy. On the one hand I can’t believe I left it so long to read, but on the other hand I am older and wiser now (and more patient). It is beautiful and rich. It has all the ingredients of the greatest of the Greek epics (on which it is based) and like the works of Homer it’s a great story and being the first story of good versus evil, could it be the greatest story ever told? It certainly has a claim.

Fabulous narration by Anton Lesser

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