( 7 reviews )
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Posted: Nov 29 2008
Probably one of the most important & influential writings of the late 20th. A very interesting hypothesis concerning the mystery of literary creation. Like Bukowski says: . `. . . if a writer ever discovered the reason he writes, he would cease to write.' Yup. I don't really dig psychology or analysis of that sort but this book does raise some interesting questions regarding past writers & why they wrote the way they did. Of course I am immune to this kind of anxiety, just like I'm immune to American television, especially the `news.' If you dig this kind of thing, check out Chomsky's stuff, a little overboard at times, but `Manufacturing Consent' will give you plenty to mull over. Ever wonder why domestic TV news in the states is obsessed w/ crime stories `elderly woman assaulted & robbed in front of apartment last night . . .' instead of real news? The more paranoid people are, the less they're likely to commune. This makes each individual a ripe & ready consumer. Instead of going over to the neighbor's house to borrow some butter to bake a cake, returning a few hours later w/ a couple slices in return, you don't know the first names of the people living next to you & buy everything you need in tidy little individual (for the single or divorced) or family-sized (for the single-mother w/ kids) packs at the supermarket or Costco. That's America for you, `Land of Free.' Yeah right . . . rizzob.com
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( 2 of 7 found this review helpful ) Posted: Feb 6 2007
David Bloom is probably the leading proponent of literary influence theory, and his thoughts have even spilled over into other arts (specifically into music -- see Mark Evan Bonds's AFTER BEETHOVEN and Joseph Straus's REMAKING THE PAST, for example); but his four books on influence are esoteric, to say the least. References require such a vast knowledge of poetry, literature, mythology, et al that his writings are beyond the casual reader. If you want to sink your teeth into something substantial, even controversial, start here!
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( 3 of 3 found this review helpful ) Posted: Jan 18 2007
Whether or not you're a student of poetry, Harold Bloom's book, which made him famous in the seventies (at least in the academy), is a fun book to read. The argument, that the poets' craft is essentially anxiety relative and reactive to their precursors, is something I think we all believe on some level. For those of you who are tired of the idea of literary critics as historians with new clothing, of criticism that is like boring history about something otherwise not boring, this book will be interesting.
