Ian Richardson Reads Satan’s First Speech
January 9, 2010
Margaret Thickstun writes
For people planning spring syllabi: YouTube has two excellent short
clips (under three minutes each) of Sir Ian Richardson reading the
Invocation to Book One and Satan’s first speech.
Go to YouTube. Type in “Ian Richardson Paradise Lost First Part” for
the Invocation; then try “Ian Richardson Paradise Lost Book 1,” which
will get you Satan’s first speech.
I have put these to links on my syllabus. It seems an excellent way to
help students adjust to the cadence of the language without having to go
through more complicated steps, like putting recordings on reserve, etc.
BBC Season Lifts Poetry Sales
June 26, 2009
BBC2 has produced a series of episodes focusing on poetry. According to theBookseller.com, sales of John Milton’s Paradise Lost have increased threefold since the episode of Poetry Season aired. In that episode, Armando Iannucci analyzed the poem.
Two Paradise Lost Movies?
May 15, 2009
Reuters wrote in late April of competing film productions of Paradise Lost. One will be a small, independent film, while the other will be produced by Warner Brothers.
NPR: John Milton, 400 Years of “Justifying God To Man”
December 8, 2008
National Public Radio has a story on the 400th anniversary of Milton’s birth. Duncan Kiely, an exhibit curator at New York City’s Morgan Library, and William Kerrigan are interviewed.
In additon to a web page with a summary and images of Milton and Paradise Lost, there is the audio of the story itself (6 min., 42 sec.). At the bottom of the web page you’ll find links to audio exerpts of Anton Lesser’s reading of Paradise Lost.
Paradise Lost and other events in Cambridge
October 20, 2008
An update on events in Cambridge for the Milton 400th Anniversary
Celebrations from Dr. Gavin Alexander.
This Thursday 23 October, members of the Faculty of English will present
a reading of the whole of Paradise Lost, in collaboration with students,
colleagues, artists, and musicians. The reading will be broadcast live
online, and will begin at 9 am (BST). Further details:
http://www.christs.cam.ac.uk/milton400/paradiselost.htm
Sharon Achinstein’s lecture on ‘Milton: Poetry vs. Prose’ is now
available as a podcast, along with lectures by Quentin Skinner and
Christopher Hill. The final two lecturers in the series are Geoffrey
Hill (29 October) and Christopher Ricks (26 November). Details and
links: http://www.christs.cam.ac.uk/milton400/lectures.htm
Further information about the year’s events:
http://www.christs.cam.ac.uk/milton400
Milton with Professor John Rogers
October 20, 2008
Open Yale Courses has just posted Milton with Professor John Rogers, a collection of 24 lectures plus midterm and final exams. The lectures are available as text transcripts, embedded audio, or embedded video (including a closed-captioned edition). Class handouts are available as PDF resources.
Paradise Lost Audiotexts
June 30, 2008
Olin Bjork writes to tell of a project he and John Rumrich have been developing for the last 3-4 years: Paradise Lost Audiotexts. Books One and Nine are currently available.
Audio Readings of L’Allegro and Il Penseroso
June 30, 2008
Gardner Campbell has posted recordings of Il Penseroso and L’Allegro on his web site.
Il Penseroso with introduction (MP3)
L’Allegro (MP3)
John Basinger’s Paradise Lost on DVD
June 17, 2008
John Basinger has produced a DVD set of his performances of Paradise Lost. The four-disc set includes his performances of all twelve books of the poem, along with a documentary, “Thus Spake John,” a short film, “The Golden Smile,” and a monody, “Forsake me not thus, Adam.”
Podcast: Anna Beer on Milton
February 28, 2008
Anna Beer has a 23 minute podcast at the Guardian Unlimited in which she “discusses the times in which he lived, the impact of his relationships with friends and family, the work for which we know and revere him, and the power and passion of Paradise Lost’s Satan, perhaps his greatest creation.”
Anna Beer is the author of Milton: Poet, Pamphleteer and Patriot. [Thanks to Paul Miller on Milton-L]
