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Making Darkness Light: A Life of John Milton
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About This Book
An innovative and elegant new biography of John Milton from an acclaimed Oxford professor John Milton was once essential reading for visionaries and revolutionaries, from William Blake to Ben Franklin. Now, however, he has become a literary institution—intimidating rather than inspiring. In Making Darkness Light , Oxford professor Joe Moshenska rediscovers a poet whose rich contradictions confound his monumental image. Immersing ourselves in the rhythms and textures of Milton's world, we move from the music of his childhood home to his encounter with Galileo in Florence into his idiosyncratic belief system and his strange, electrifying imagination. Making Darkness Light will change the way we think about Milton, the place of his writings in his life, and his life in history. It is also a book about Milton's place in our about our relationship with the Western canon, about why and how we read, and about what happens when we let someone else's ideas inflect our own.
Reviews
"Yet it would be harsh...to be overly critical of a brave study that offers much insight."
"Moshenska unapologetically inserts himself into Milton's story."
"With no aspirations to produce a definitive biography, Moshenska has crafted, instead, an incisive portrayal."
"several fictional passages...replace close readings of supporting evidence—from correspondence to household bills—as to what kind of man Milton may have been, and serve only to make us feel that the book is not so much a distillation of research as a self-portrait of the don as creative writer ..."
"Nonetheless, Making Darkness Light emerges as an extraordinary, seductive work of intellectual imagination ..."
"avoidance of easy certainties is typical of this subtle, challenging book."
"Literature lovers of all sorts will find something to savor here."
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