Review of MAKING DARKNESS LIGHT: A Life of John Milton
If you feel it is time to read about John Milton, this is the book
Paradise Lost began showing up all over my various readings starting four or five years ago. A mostly unread college assignment, I respected it as a keystone in English Literature and even Western thought but found it beyond my paygrade. Soon, however, I began to read reviews of this new unconventional biography on this brilliant but still very controversial 17th century poet. Why Milton now? While this book goes part way to explaining it both directly and indirectly, my suspicion is that his obsession with the glory and horror of Satan and man’s relationship with sin must feel more alive today than ever as democracies fade, tyrants kill, and men twiddle their thumbs and imbibe in short term pleasures as their earth disintegrates around them.
It was a difficult read. The writing is excellent, and the use of Milton’s material is consistently illuminating. But it IS Milton and there are times where I never imagined getting to the end as I reread and reread excerpts from his works. I was always wanting more about his life – one lived as a fiery Puritan during the dramatic and fatal 17th century. The source of my reading frustrations (beyond an underdeveloped appreciation of poetry) is revealed in the book’s title. The biography is “A” life of the poet. It was as much a story of what it was like to be Joe Moshenska, gifted academic and family man, as he trapses around Britain reimagining his beloved but unsettling poet. Joe’s grip on Milton’s poetry is firm and instructive. I even tried to read the epic poem after finishing the book – and failed. But Joe’s handle of Milton the man is not so sure. I think Joe even disliked this Puritan prone to misogyny and intolerance. Regardless, Moshenska did something right. The critics loved it and I read it and I am glad I did.
Making Darkness Light: A Life of John Milton
Joe Moshenska
2021 466 pages (including notes)