Surprised by Sin: The Reader in Paradise Lost Paperback – 15 Mar 1998
Product ID: 150364112
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Review Thirty years after its original publication. Surprised by Sin remains the one indispensable book on Milton. This dazzling, high-stakes work of mind taught a generation of readers how to read anew. And, lest we thought its rigorous injunctions had been dulled or blandly assimilated by the intervening years, Fish dares us, in a formidable new preface, to think again.--Linda Gregerson, University of MichiganThirty years ago, Surprised by Sin initiated the modern age in Milton criticism. Still the one book necessarily engaged by Milton scholars, it continues to provoke, irritate, and illuminate. Reissued now, with a substantial new preface, it clarifies in fascinating ways not only the course of Milton studies but also the continuing career of its controversial author.--Marshall Grossman, University of Maryland at College ParkThe first edition of Surprised by Sin revised the critical landscape of Milton studies more significantly and more influentially than any other analysis of Paradise Lost in modern history. The second edition contains a substantial preface, not only an apologia but also a brilliant critical manifesto in its own right. Fish thereby affirms the validity, preeminence, and timeliness of his "great argument," which will continue to inform critical debates unremittingly in the future.--Albert C. Labriola, Duquesne University Synopsis This text was first published in the 1960s, in an era that no longer saw the need to choose between Milton's orthodoxy and heresy. Rather, Stanley Fish allowed us to see the epic poem as a self-revelatory experience in which the reader is "intangled" in the folds of Satan's rhetoric and is forced to re-evaluate his or her judgment of Satan by being led to experience unreliability, inadequacy, or falseness of what had once seemed to be clear or true. In a new preface, Fish revisits the thesis of "Surprised by Sin" and considers the challenges offered by post-structuralism, late-20th-century historicism, and political criticism. See all Product description
A**R
Rhetoric
Mr Fish also plays upon the contemporaneous fear of demagoguery and quotes the prosecution of an Harvard divine for inciting his audience. He quotes Aristotle "on Rhetoric" and thereby underpins the careful reasoning that lies behind this epic poem.Satan is the rhetorician but his fallen language is as is Milton's similes, just attempts at portraying grand scale in time and place, except that Milton repeatedly admits his under-reaching.A wonderful primer for this grand epic
C**S
indeed surprised
I loved his reader-response criticism. He argues that the reader is initially tricked by Satan by his use of persuasive and seductive language, thus when he tricks Eve to eating the fruit, we are surprised at how much we were nearly caught up by Satan and trusting him. This allows us to appreciate God's grace more, because it is as though we have committed some kind of sin, together with Adam and Eve.It is a highly sophisticated argument, very interesting, and I think it has opened a new way for me to approach Paradise Lost.
O**A
Five Stars
Excellent scholarship and precise analysis. An invaluable resource for those studying Milton and/or Paradise Lost.
S**T
After 300 years, the final word.
Critics, including Shelley, have argued over "Paradise Lost" for over 300years. Stanley Fish has answered the crucial question once and for all: "Whatwas Milton doing?" In a critical masterpiece, Fish has opened for all of usthe pedagogic purpose of this monumental work. With a pattern of "mistake,correction, instruction," Fish has broken the code; showing at once that weare still "fallen" and susceptible to the rhetoric of Satan and his minions,and in what ways we, as "fallen man" continue to respond to the persuasionof the serpent in the Garden. It's hard to see what more can be written about"Paradise Lost" after this landmark exigesis. Read it and see how easily wecan be seduced - and today's political discourse continues the tradition.
S**K
Fish is a bloody genius!
He also tends to be a bit long winded. Like nearly all literary criticism, the pages wasted on explication and redundancy are boring and just plain time-consuming. His thesis is brilliant. It's obvious once he states it, but it's not anything I have ever considered. It was originally published in 1967, so his theory has been out in academia for a long time now, but this is the first time I have been confronted with his perspective on the role of the reader in _Paradise Lost_. It also, in effect, makes Milton even more brilliant. I suppose I could have gone with 5 stars, but seriously, it's literary criticism: It's hard to "Love" Lit Crit...
R**A
Great Resource
I used this book as a resource for an essay back in college (got an A+). It's fairly easy to read and offers some wonderful insights on Milton.
D**E
Reading Milton? Carry this with you.
Stanley Fish's Milton study is somewhat academic but readable. If you're a non-scholar, as I am, you'll likely find it handy for understanding many of the subtleties of Paradise Lost.
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