There are few people who've read so widely and deeply as Harold Bloom. For all his idiosyncrasies as a critic and for whatever personal flaws he might have had, he inspired a generation of readers to read more and explore the classics of Western civilization. His books are valuable guides to the vast world of Western literature, and if they help preserve even a fraction of that heritage for the next generation of readers I think Bloom has achieved his purpose.<p>We've lost a great mind today. RIP
I wrote an essay about Bloom’s conception of “the Canon” back in 2003. Was probably my favorite essay I published publicly from that period.<p>I still go back to it from time to time, thinking especially about Bloom’s concept of “The Anxiety of Influence”. The thread I weave starts from a piece by Walker Percy, entitled “The Loss of the Creature”. That one is somewhat esoteric and underrated, but beautifully describes the conundrum of art education by “experts”, and the contrast between truly experiencing art and merely trying to “get it”.<p>Anyway, I archived my essay, “Questioning the Canon”, on my personal site here:<p><a href="https://amontalenti.com/2012/12/29/questioning-the-canon" rel="nofollow">https://amontalenti.com/2012/12/29/questioning-the-canon</a>
Here's him reading a short section from Hart Crane's The Bridge:<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRY5SelxqPU" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRY5SelxqPU</a><p>"
O Thou steeled Cognizance whose leap commits<p>The agile precincts of the lark’s return;<p>Within whose lariat sweep encinctured sing<p>In single chrysalis the many twain,—<p>Of stars Thou art the stitch and stallion glow<p>And like an organ, Thou, with sound of doom—<p>Sight, sound and flesh Thou leadest from time’s realm<p>As love strikes clear direction for the helm.
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Strange side note: A friend of mine knew Bloom, and one of Bloom's favorite books was Little, Big, by John Crowley. Bloom said he saw parallels between the 2016 election and the second coming of Barbarossa.
The article confuses me. Bloom thought both that Shakespeare invented humanity, but also that literature was primarily about the aesthetic pleasure for the reader?<p>I am not an expert in literature or criticism, but it seems like there's something missing from the article to explain that gap.<p>(I'm sorry to hear of his passing, of course, and I don't mean this as disrespectful in any way.)
I used to tutor math and physics near Bloom's office in Timothy Dwight. My main association with the man is that he would come on strong to every female English graduate student he could reach.<p>When #MeToo first came to national consciousness about men in arts and letters who completely abused their position to take advantage of women, I thought of Harold. How could these giants of arts and letters abuse so many? Because no one spoke out.<p>It does sound near the end of his life, he got some of the medicine he deserved:
<a href="https://yaledailynews.com/blog/2017/12/16/students-organize-response-to-saloveys-e-mail-on-sexual-misconduct/" rel="nofollow">https://yaledailynews.com/blog/2017/12/16/students-organize-...</a>
If I were to read one of his books as a guide the best bits of the canon to read, which book should I read?<p>The main options appear to be 'Genius', 'The Western Canon' and 'How to read and why'.<p>I'd like to read more, and a good guide to Western literature might be helpful.
We live in an era where great art has so little power that it requires defending, and that doing so is considered to be controversial. Our time is a spiritual dark age.
One of the most erudite academics of the past century. It is truly a loss for those who have a respect and admiration for the great minds of the past.<p>If you’re a Bloom fan, or are interested in history and literature generally, I recommend looking into Lewis Lapham and his magazine, <i>Lapham’s Quarterly</i>. Lapham is also an exceptionally well-read, classically-trained writer and the magazine operates in the same areas as Bloom’s work.<p><a href="https://www.laphamsquarterly.org/" rel="nofollow">https://www.laphamsquarterly.org/</a>
The Paris Review interview with him: <a href="https://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/2225/harold-bloom-the-art-of-criticism-no-1-harold-bloom" rel="nofollow">https://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/2225/harold-bloom-...</a>
Sure it's sad when anyone dies but I never agreed with Bloom's view of literature. He was unbearably snobby about his tastes and thought anything popular was shit and the coming of the end of literature. See his thoughts on Harry Potter, Stephen King, Tolkien, etc. Basically he was living in the past.<p>He was also incredibly biased towards English language books and had barely read any Eastern or African literature. Not to mention his general bias against anything written in the last 20 years, I seem to remember him saying that there were only three authors in the last 20 years who wrote a good book...