How to Read and Why
by Harold Bloom
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Book Reviews of How to Read and Why
Book Review: For the individual in us
Summary: 5 Stars
In this poignant and beautiful book, Harold Bloom tries to drive home the lesson that we must read to become individuals. And since the "individual" is a Western invention (and since Harold Bloom is unabashedly in love with Western literature) this book is meant to be a kind of beginner's guide to the truly great books in the Western tradition. This, of course, is a very individualistic guide. Missing from it, for example is one of my favorite English authors, George Orwell whose "Homage to Catalonia" if not "Animal Farm" surely deserved at least a few lines; missing too are the great poets Pushkin, Lermontov, and Byron. Virginia Woolf's name is mentioned a few times; her books, however are not. I could extend this list ad nauseum. But that, of course, is not the point. This is Harold Bloom's list, not mine; and it contains his breath-taking commentaries that follow one another in a kind of unbroken chain that seems to sing or tremble; not mine. The fast-moving commentaries are almost too much. I could not read this book in one sitting. Reading about another's perception's of Nabokov and Hemingway and Cervantes and Shakespeare and Milton and Faulkner and Ellison and Morrison (to name only a few of the authors mentioned in these 283 pages) in one sitting is, for me, impossible. I had to come up for air rather frequently. I had to think about what I had read; I had to let the words I had heard sink in-for, as Bloom points out, we must listen when we read. But in the end, I found the book well worth the effort.
For this book teaches the patient and attentive reader something few books on literature will: that we should read not out of any ideology, not to better the world but to better ourselves. Or, as Rabbi Tarphon whose Pirke Abot saying Bloom quotes in his conclusion tells us tells us, "It is not necessary for you to complete the work, but neither are you free to desist from it."
Being an individual-thinking for yourself--is hard work. But while we draw breath it is our ethical responsibility to do just that.
Book Review: Wish I Hadn't Bought the Hardcover
Summary: 3 Stars
This is the last time I buy one of Bloom's new books in hardcover. The slim volume is attractively packaged but it wasn't worth the price. In interviews Bloom has claimed that he intended the book to introduce great literature to a general audience. That's a laudable intention, but one Bloom is ill-suited to fulfill. The tone of the book, like the selections in it, is an awkward mixture of the dumbed-down and the pedantic. Bloom is trying to express his feelings for literature and his ideas about it simply and straightforwardly. The problem is, he doesn't actually have any insight into life to impart, so his "simple" statements are no better than platitudes. One can't fault a literary critic for not being a fountain of wisdom; it's surely enough to ask that they have insights into literature, and Bloom often does. But even his readings of literature here are marred by platitudes.Bloom, at least in his later years, succeeds best as a Wildean critic, making grand, fantastic, tongue-in-cheek overstatements, as in "Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human." Here, where he tries to be more intimate, he loses his glamour. It's pretty disappointing to encounters truisms like we read for self-knowledge and self-improvement after being obscurely excited by all that talk about the "cosmological abyss" of Hamlet's selfhood.
My advice is that instead of reading this book, the ambitious beginning reader of literature should go to the library and read, one by one, the introductory essays Bloom wrote on every important writer and work under the sun for the Modern Critical Series, where you'll find many of the same arguments with a somewhat fuller development. That's what I did as a teenager, and although I found him impenetrable at first, as I continued reading the essays while also reading more and more literature, gradually Bloom began to make sense, and to be a great companion in my exploration of literature--infuriating but addictive.
Book Review: Don't Be Put Off by Harold Bloom's Style
Summary: 5 Stars
I can't help but compare Harold Bloom with the late Clifton Fadiman-another prolific reader and reviewer of great literature. I have used Clifton Fadiman's "The Lifetime Reading Plan" as a reference book for years and thoroughly enjoy his insight and crisp writing style. In my humble opinion, Mr. Fadiman was at least as well read and erudite as Mr. Bloom. The difference between the two is that Mr. Fadiman `s writing is all about the literature (not about Mr. Fadiman) while Mr. Bloom keeps getting in his own way-he can't seem get over himself.My husband gave up reading "How to Read and Why" in disgust after the first five pages. That's really a shame because, despite his self-absorption, Mr. Bloom has a lot to say, and his pompous pedantry does calm down quite a bit after the prologue. I was fascinated with Mr. Bloom's thought process and his love for his subject matter is absolutely contagious. I was even enthralled by the chapter on poetry. I had never given any thought as to why (for me) poetry is so difficult to absorb and therefore, to appreciate. His advice to read, reread and memorize came to me as a revelation (despite my grade-school exercises memorizing poems).
The chapter on short stories was enlightening-I never understood the difference between a short story and a novel, aside from the length. I'm still not sure I have a perfect grasp of the difference, but I know it's more than just the length of the work... It'll be fun to start reading short stories looking for short story attributes. Mr. Bloom's analysis of Hamlet was also enlightening (a gross understatement). It reminded me of a college lecture-an enjoyable college lecture-and made me hungry for more.
My advice is, don't be put off by Mr. Bloom's style. He has much to offer. You may not agree with everything he has to say (or how he says it), but he'll sure make you think and probably learn something about yourself, and that's one of the best reasons to read!
Book Review: Harold Bloom: A great mind for our time.
Summary: 5 Stars
I was actually inspired to write this review after reading some of the other reviews that heavily critique this book. Harold Bloom is brilliant, there's no two ways about it. I even believe that some of the people who spoke harshly of this book would be forced to agree, on this point. I saw an interview with him on CSpan, and became fascinated with him and his work. He began reading the classics at age 7, and by the age of 15 had read almost every volume in the New York Public Library. Even if this does not impress you, (which it should), it is undeniable that Bloom is one of those figures in society whose opinions should be listened to, simply because they have intellectual worth. You don't need to agree with everything that Bloom has to say about the works that he discusses in "How to Read and Why," but it is necessary to listen to them. One review gives this book a mere 2 stars because it is meant for only English majors and professors. So what? Does this mean that the human mind can't be challenged from time to time? What we need is engaging, difficult reading to expand our minds. "How to Read and Why" quenches this thirst for a challenge. I don't even feel that it is even as challenging as some may think. It is in depth and detailed, but is not wordy or difficult writing. Bloom offers unique interpretations of many of society's favorite classics. "How to Read and Why" is a joy to read, and I felt truly privelaged that Bloom would share his views on literature with society. If you love literature, read this. If you simply love knowledge, as I do, then read this. If it's too difficult, then put it down and try again later in life, but don't rush on to Amazon to condemn Harold Bloom and his writing. Authors write at different levels. Know thyself.Book Review: Close, but not quite right.
Summary: 4 Stars
... we all know children in today's grade schools are moving farther away from books and a whole lot closer to My Space for their reading pleasures. Bloom wrote this book to address this and one other concern, that being that universities aren't any healthier for us than My Space when it comes to reading, and reading the right way. Bloom says to read deeply, often, and for yourself without studying the how's and why's using this or that theory of criticism that we're taught in university. I can't agree more after having done a masters degree in English literature. I hated reading after graduating and it took me years to get back into reading for my own true pleasure. For that reason, I like this book. That being said, I think Bloom misses the mark somewhat on what we should read. I've read a lot of the books on his list (Western Canon my bum) and I have to say, many of them are about as interesting, engaging, and exciting as reading as those same My Space pages I mentioned earlier. There is a lot of good literature out there that isn't Shakespeare, Milton, Melville, Emerson, etc. All the good writers aren't dead, Mr Bloom. He's right about the problem but fixing it isn't going to happen by prescribing my fourteen year old a healthy dose of Ibsen, Milton and Emily Dickinson, though everyone could use a taste of Calvino once in a while.
I read somewhere that Bloom said something 'mean' about Stephen King's writing. I don't read King, but at least if my kid is reading that, she's not on the computer all day long. I wonder what Bloom thinks of JK Rowling.