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What in Me Is Dark

The Revolutionary Life of Paradise Lost

Orlando Reade author

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Vintage Publishing

Published:14th Nov '24

Should be back in stock very soon

What in Me Is Dark cover

This book offers a fresh perspective on Milton's Paradise Lost, exploring its radical origins and the diverse ways it has influenced readers throughout history.

In What in Me Is Dark, Orlando Reade presents a compelling reexamination of John Milton's epic poem, Paradise Lost. This work delves into the poem's radical origins in the seventeenth century and its profound influence on contemporary culture. Reade draws from his experiences teaching literature in prisons, highlighting twelve unexpected figures who have engaged with Milton's work, including Malcolm X, Virginia Woolf, Hannah Arendt, and Thomas Jefferson. Through these diverse perspectives, the author reveals the complex and often contradictory interpretations of Milton's poem throughout history.

The narrative explores how Paradise Lost has been read and understood across different times and places, showcasing its ability to resonate with a wide array of readers. Reade's approach is both bold and original, as he not only recounts the epic's historical context but also reflects on its lasting impact on modern thought and imagination. By examining the lives and works of these readers, the book illustrates the dynamic relationship between literature and its audience, emphasizing the transformative power of Milton's writing.

Ultimately, What in Me Is Dark serves as a testament to the enduring relevance of Milton's poetry. Reade guides readers through the intricacies of the text, shedding light on how a work born from a failed revolution has become a cornerstone of literary and cultural discourse. This exploration invites readers to reconsider their own interpretations of Paradise Lost and its significance in today's world.

A testament to the enduring power of a great work of literature to inspire. * Financial Times, *Books of the Year* *
[A] thoughtful, wide-rangingand astute book... A remarkable feat of distillation and elucidation… As a response to such a complex and equivocal historical figure [as Milton] neither hagiography nor iconoclasm seems quite adequate, and Reade’s excellent book strikes a difficult and deft balance between the two. * Observer *
Clever, wide-ranging... Reade is an academic, but his book is mercifully unlike most academic works. It is witty and sardonic.... [Reade] is sensitive and shockable. -- Lucy Hughes-Hallett * New Statesman *
Eminently readable... Reade includes a wealth of curious detail * The Telegraph *
If we ever needed a lesson about the challenges of freedom it is now. Orlando Reade’s passionate and illuminating account of the afterlives of Paradise Lost is an urgent reminder that freedom- in all senses - is poetry: there to be loved, resisted, re-worked and made to sing again for each new generation. -- Lyndsey Stonebridge, author of We Are Free to Change the World
An admirably lucid new book * Independent *
Rare and refreshing... gloriously and uniquely about disobedience – both in human and cosmic terms. * The Spectator *
Fresh and arresting... What in Me is Dark is a lucid and sometimes moving reminder of how Milton’s epic, for all its pre-modern erudition and doctrinal complexity, has continually been given new life by its modern readers. * Literary Review *
Orlando Reade's immensely readable history of the reception of Paradise Lost shows how Milton's great poem vaults across the centuries to meet new readers, its radicalism undimmed. -- Adam Smyth, author of The Book-Makers
What in Me is Dark, with its brisk canter over a field as wild and varied as Milton's own masterpiece, will send readers back to the original text with a new sense of its paradoxes, beauties and continuing relevance. * Financial Times *

ISBN: 9781787334878

Dimensions: 242mm x 163mm x 27mm

Weight: 470g

272 pages