What in Me Is Dark: The Revolutionary Life of Paradise Lost

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A dynamic reappraisal of Milton's epic poem Paradise Lost, exploring its radical origins in the seventeenth century and its revolutionary impact on our culture ever since. **A FINANCIAL TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR** 'Lively and humane... Reade's enthusiasm and curiosity are winning' GUARDIAN Summoned in Haiti's struggle against colonial rule, read in prison by the young Malcolm X, and reimagined by Virginia Woolf Orlando Reade shows the many different, surprising, and often contradictory ways in which Milton's epic poem Paradise Lost has been read across centuries and continents. Boldly original, lively, and far-reaching, What in Me is Dark is the story of how a work of literature born in the ashes of a failed revolution became an indelible part of the modern imagination. Reade guides us through the epic, exploring how Milton came to write its dark and dazzling poetry, and offers us a new account of its radical, ever-evolving legacy. 'Clever, wide-ranging...witty and sardonic' NEW STATESMAN

Reviews

A brilliant close reading of Miltons verse. Reade possesses a sharp eye for the details of Miltons verse and his writing crackles with imaginative energy * The Times *
A testament to the enduring power of a great work of literature to inspire. * Financial Times, *Books of the Year* *
[A] thoughtful, wide-ranging and 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 Reades excellent book strikes a difficult and deft balance between the two. * Observer *
Lively and humane, Reade is the friendliest of academics. Like many an English literature undergraduate, he was initially daunted by Paradise Lostbut came to adore it while teaching poetry to prisoners, and he wants you to love it, too Reades enthusiasm and curiosity are winning * Guardian, *Book of the Day* *
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 Reades 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 Miltons epic, for all its pre-modern erudition and doctrinal complexity, has continually been given new life by its modern readers. * Literary Review *

Author Bio

Orlando Reade is a writer from London. He studied English at Cambridge and Princeton, where he received his PhD in 2020. He has written about culture and politics for publications including Frieze, the Guardian, and the White Review, where he served as a contributing editor. He is currently Assistant Professor of English at Northeastern University London.