Paradise Lost is one of the books which the reader admires and lays down, and forgets to take up again. None ever wished it longer than it is. Its perusal is a duty rather than a pleasure. We read Milton for instruction, retire harassed and overburdened,... The Monthly magazine - Page 120by Monthly literary register - 1839Full view - About this book
 | Lee Morrissey - Literary Criticism - 2008 - 242 pages
...differences between them with regard to reading. For example, Johnson writes, regarding Paradise Lost, "Its perusal is a duty rather than a pleasure. We read Milton for instruction, retire harassed and overburdened, and look elsewhere for recreation" (ibid., 183-84). On the one hand, we could say that... | |
| |