Summary
Harold Bloom argues that solitary readers should engage with great books for the sole purpose of discovering and augmenting the self. He instructs readers on how to immerse themselves in diverse literary forms, drawing connections across texts from different continents and centuries to reveal their sustaining wisdom. Bloom's approach emphasizes reading for aesthetic pleasure, increased individuality, and self-knowledge gained through sustained engagement with complex literary characters.
This book serves as an eloquent invitation to read and read well, sharing Bloom's extensive knowledge and profound joy in the works of major writers such as Shakespeare, Cervantes, Austen, Dickinson, Melville, Wilde, and O'Connor. Through illuminating guidance, Bloom illustrates the benefits of deep textual engagement, leading to a lifetime companionship with significant literary figures.
Key concepts
- Sustaining wisdom — The profound knowledge and insight found within great books that enrich a reader's life.
- Augmenting the self — The process of expanding one's own identity and understanding through reading.
- Aesthetic pleasure — The enjoyment derived from the artistic and literary qualities of a text.
- Increased individuality — The development of a stronger, more distinct sense of self through literary engagement.
- Self-knowledge — A deeper understanding of one's own character, motivations, and place in the world, facilitated by reading.
- Lifetime companionship — The enduring connection readers form with compelling literary characters.
From the book
Description: Bloom draws on his experience as critic, teacher, and prolific reader to plumb the great books for their sustaining wisdom. Shedding all polemic, Bloom addresses the solitary reader, who, he urges, should read for the purest of all reasons: to discover and augment the self. Always dazzling in his ability to draw connections between texts across continents and centuries, Bloom instructs readers in how to immerse themselves in the different literary forms. Bloom not only provides illuminating guidance on how to read a text but also illustrates what such reading can bring -- aesthetic pleasure, increased individuality and self-knowledge, and the lifetime companionship of the most engaging and complex literary characters. -- From publisher's description.
Description: Bloom, the best-known literary critic of our time, shares his extensive knowledge of and profound joy in the works of a constellation of major writers, including Shakespeare, Cervantes, Austen, Dickinson, Melville, Wilde, and O'Connor in this eloquent invitation to readers to read and read well.
Snippet: Bloom, the best-known literary critic of our time, shares his extensive knowledge of and profound joy in the works of a constellation of major writers, including Shakespeare, Cervantes, Austen, Dickinson, Melville, Wilde, and O'Connor in ...