Title: Milton in Purgatory
Author: Edward Vass
Publication Date: August 1, 2019
Publisher: Fairlight Books
Format: NetGalley eARC
Milton Pitt leads an uneventful life in the city of Oxford, with a dull job and a secret longing for adventure. One morning, on his way to work, he is hit by a speeding car. For a moment he hovers above his body in the shape of a butterfly, until he re-awakens in his bedroom, as if the morning so far never happened. Is he dead? Was it just a dream? Everything in his room looks exactly the same as when he first woke up. Everything, that is, except for the bloody footprints leading to the fireplace…
I love Dante’s Divine Comedy (which isn’t really a comedy, regardless of what the title says) and actual comedy, so a modern re-imagining of it from the point of view of a British teen? Yes, please.
After all, we all know the British are the best at cynicism, sarcasm, and dry humor. They’ve had time to perfect them, obviously.
Milton in Purgatory is a short but fast-paced journey through the afterlife, with subverted expectations, dry humor, and a painfully average (and therefore highly relatable) protagonist.
I’m not sure exactly how much I can say about this book, because it really is about the journey. The greatest pleasure in reading this (aside from the humor, which yeah, forever sign me up for British humor please) was discovering this version of the afterlife, bit by bit. There were surprises around every turn.
❧ The protagonist is Milton, a perfectly ordinary, unexceptional teenager who’s not ready to die. Which makes his journey so much more relatable.
He’s not exactly a hero. In fact, Milton doesn’t have a whole lot going for him in life yet. He’s a pretty standard teen. Small apartment, not ready to settle down, job he hates, falling into the same pattern day in and day out. Which, of course, means his reactions as he discovers things are pretty spot on to how most people would react, which was nice. Dante he was not, but that made the journey with him all the more pleasant, in my opinion.
The fact that Milton is so everyman means that his reactions are delightfully apropos and exactly what you would expect, and his character was so approachable because of it.
He’s just a an ordinary teen in extraordinary circumstances, which made him so accessible. I kept thinking, yup, that’s probably how I would react, too.
❧ The humor made this a quick, fun read. Even when it felt like not much was happening, there were a lot of things that made me laugh.
Because if you have to journey through the afterlife, why not make it a funny trip? Everyone appreciates a bit of humor.
The humor in this is a dry, sarcastic, British sort of humor, occasionally crossing over to the dark side.
Because let’s be honest: the dark side is where it’s at. I’m a huge fan of the British style of humor, but I know it can be a bit of an acquired taste. If that’s your sort of thing, though, this book is rife with it.
❧ Narration is a delightful little creature/character and has such a fun personality.
Now, I can’t say too much about this because it borders potential spoiler territory, even though the reader meets him fairly early. But this character is delightful in that he’s funny and mysterious and maybe a little confusing in the way he talks to people that only he can see.
‘Why would we kill you?’ he snips. ‘…What do you mean, we could? How?… No, you can’t beat him to death with a rock… I know we have plenty, that’s not the point. It’s rude.’
❧ The whole point of this is subverting expectations, so be prepared to be surprised about the afterlife.
Forget everything you thought you knew about what comes after death, because nothing can prepare you for the journey Milton’s about to take. To be fair, Milton was woefully unprepared, too, so at least you’re in good company. I can’t really say anything about this, because the point of the story is in the journey, but I definitely looked forward to all the little surprises and twists that the book had in store.
‘God no, we can’t go round turning people into animals—it’s just not ethical. Anyway, what would be the point? They wouldn’t know the punishment—they’d just trot around doing animal stuff.’
❧ This story is a short, quick read, but there’s a lot bundled into a small package, and I just loved the way it wrapped up and ended.
At only 119 pages, this is a pretty short book (novella, really, if we’re getting technical). And these are sooooo hit or miss with me, because I sometimes feel that there’s things missing, sacrificed for the shorter word count. That was not so much a problem here.
Despite being so short, there’s a full story, with characters that I felt like I had the chance to know sufficiently well enough to like, and a conclusion that felt like a nice way to wrap things up and didn’t leave me wanting.
It’s a really hard line to walk, but when I finished, I didn’t think there was really anything particularly lacking. The book did exactly what it set out to do, and the romp through the afterlife was just fun and enjoyable without leaving me desperate for more. I mean, would I be up for more at some point? Of course. Milton is delightful, and this version of the afterlife is interesting. But it didn’t feel like anything was lacking.
His eyes blaze. ‘I am a Narration,’ he sneers, ‘one of the oldest and holiest races in existence,’—spittle flies from his lips—’I am not small. You are an oversized and poorly balanced ape.’
❧ There are times when the story gets so ridiculous that it was just hard to follow without rolling my eyes.
This entirely just comes down to personal preference. I don’t do complete absurdity well. I’ve tried. I lack that part of my brain, I guess. Chaos, sure. I excel at that. Absurdity? Nope. I can do the fantastical, the weird, the crazy, the unexpected … but in the end, I need things to still fit together in an orderly fashion and make sense.
This book definitely embodies surrealism, and does it well for the most part, but surrealism is so hit or miss for me personally that I don’t always “get it”.
I definitely struggled with some aspects of this book. It was a very small part overall, but it still stood out for me.
Great review, Sammie! This sounds like a really interesting read (plus I’m a sucker for dry British humor lol) I remember becoming absolutely obsessed with Dante’s Divine Comedy at one point in my early 20s haha I don’t know what it was 🤷🏻♀️ This is the first modern re-telling of the Comedy that I’ve heard of (?) and a YA one too, so I’m definitely keen to check it out.
It’s so funny because British movies are usually a miss for me, but I will forever go out of my way to watch British comedians or read British humor books.
I love The Divine Comedy, and one day I will read Paradiso. I have sat down to read the entire thing probably about 20 times, and I never get past Purgatorio. All I can say is Paradiso better be worth it by the time I get there. xD
I don’t think I’ve seen many, either. Thankfully, this one’s contemporary, so super accessible (Dante’s is a bit of a slog, which should be expected). It’s also a lot shorter so a mini retelling. It was definitely fun! I hope you like it.
This sounds fun! I don’t think I’ve heard of a Divine Comedy retelling before, so I’ll have to check it out.
It was a super fun read, when you’re in the mood for a good laugh!
Love this review! This is a book I wouldn’t have picked up on my own, but now I’m intrigued. I’m glad you introduced me to it and brought me beyond the cover.
Thanks! I hope you enjoy it. I sure had fun with it. 😀