I'm starting an English degree in a month's time at UCL. They sent me a reading list a while ago and I'm trying to get through a few of the books before I get there. Decided to start on Paradise Lost and so far a lot of it is going over my head. I understand what's happening in the story and reading it alongside an audio recording is certainly helping, but it's so dense that I'm struggling a tad! I'd say the only book that rivals it in terms of difficulty is Rushdie's Midnight's Children...
I'm worried that because I don't understand all the references I should be looking up each and every one...but I reckon if I did I'd still be reading it in a year's time!
Any advice in terms of reading such sense literature...should I just carry on when I reach parts that I don't fully understand or is that not advisable?