Paradise Lost

As he was cleaning is flat one day, listening to the BBC's 1992 adaptation of John Milton's Paradise Lost, Will Franken heard a mispronunciation, and then another, and then noticed entire passages had been expunged. He realised he could do better. A cursory survey of the extant audio book versions of John Milton's epic poem revealed that on average, up to four hours of the work had been redacted. That January day in 2020, Will Franken knew what his next project was going to be: The definitive reading of Paradise Lost. This thirteen hour and thirteen minute rendition (auspicious tally for a triskaidekaphobic) leaves absolutely nothing behind: all twelve books, all twelve arguments preceding all twelve books, every speech, every antiquated place name, every point of theology, every dispute of philosophy, every satanic sophism, and Christ-like aphorism are on auditory display. It isn't just Milton's work you'll be getting though. It is also Will Franken's double touch as actor and producer. Every character from God the almighty all the way down to purgatorial man, and further down still to the lowest sycophantic demon surrounding Satan's throne, every character is brought to life with the same conviction and intensity that Franken has for decades brought to his comedic opus. Moreover, these characters do not inhabit the world of abstracted space. The vibrant soundscapes, using Milton's words as his only guide, Franken as producer lights the fires of hell, makes the birds sing in the garden of Eden, and accompanies God's act of creation with auditory aplomb. By the time he had begun work on Book Three, the global Covid lockdown had just been enacted, and consequently in its own uniquely ethereal way, this labour of love also doubles as an historical and poetical record of a knew loss of innocence. In total, no less than fourteen months of daily twelve hour shifts were required for Franken the perfectionist to reach his symbiosis with Milton the perfectionist, in bringing to the human ear the perfection of God and the subsequent loss thereof. Featuring Alisha J. Prince performing double duty as Sin, the incestuous offspring of Satan, and Eve, the most innocent of mortals, caught unawares in the intersection between heaven and hell. Note: This is an MP4 video file, so buyers will have the option of enjoying the work as an audio piece and, should their eyes flit from time to time to the screen, they can not only see Franken read out the arguments for each of the twelve books also see illustrative works by artists such as William Blake, Gustave Doré and John Martin who have captured the incomparable visual beauty of Milton's imaginings, as Franken has done with its auricular.