Robert Tulip wrote:

Thomas Hood wrote:Milton may have based Paradise on the signs of the zodiac.

Hi Tom, this is a reasonable line of speculation. . . .

Thank you, Robert. I have many lines of speculation But if you will dash over to

http://www.fortunecity.com/meltingpot/w ... astes.html

you will find a structural interpretation of a text in terms of the zodiac that cannot be speculation. The fit is too good. Plus, as you are probably aware, every ancient synagogue that has been excavated has contained a mosaic of a zodiac.

My fundamentalist acquaintances, by the way, tell me that the zodiac is the work of the devil

Tom

Robert Tulip wrote:Thinking of Paradise Lost as a movie, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie could play Adam and Eve. I can't think who would make a good Satan

Satan could be Jack Nicolson's crowning role if only he were a younger man. But I'd probably go with someone with matinee-idol good looks, or maybe Russell Crowe.

Here's something on Milton's impact on the language. He added not only famous phrases, but also vocabulary that we use commonly. He was not unlike Shakespeare in this regard. (The helpful bolds in the original didn't come through.) See the complete article at http://www.christs.cam.ac.uk/milton400/matters.htm

Milton and the English language

Every day we use words and phrases that Milton contributed to the stock of the English language. Like other great writers of his period, he used his knowledge of Latin and other languages to suggest words that might have entered English more organically. The Oxford English Dictionary lists over 600 words which Milton was the first to use (at least as far as we know). Some are typical of the poet who so frequently stretched the language beyond its ordinary limits, and did not enter ordinary usage

DWill wrote:

Robert Tulip wrote:Thinking of Paradise Lost as a movie, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie could play Adam and Eve. I can't think who would make a good Satan

Satan could be Jack Nicolson's crowning role if only he were a younger man. But I'd probably go with someone with matinee-idol good looks, or maybe Russell Crowe.

I agree with Robert on Angelina Jolie -- I can't think of anyone who looks the part more -- not Brad though. I am having a harder time thinking of someone to play Adam. How about Hugh Jackman? Russell Crowe as Satan, humm, it has a certain rightness to it.

Saffron wrote:Who would have guessed, a children's book version of PL!

Here is a description and review for A Tale of Paradise Lost

I have been rather impressed with Nancy Willard's treatment of Paradise Lost. She retains the sense of high drama of the original work and the beauty of Milton's language when ever possible. It struck me that the story itself reads like so many of today's popular fantasy books that the kids are crazy about. I had my 15 year old daughter read to me the first two books; she loved it! It has been fun to read Willard's prose version while reading the original poem. I have to admit that it has been a help -- knowing the basic story ahead of listening (I have PL on CD) allows me to enjoy the language without having to work hard on following the story line or characters.

I was amused to read this on the book flap: ....Nancy Willard, retells Milton's astonishing poem in a prose adaption that faithfully captures his vivid imagery and cinematic flourish." I guess DWill is not alone in his thinking of PL cinematically!

Now that I am more than half way through Milton's PL I see what a truly remarkable work it is.