Download Possessed by Memory The Inward Light of Criticism Harold Bloom Books
Download As PDF : Possessed by Memory The Inward Light of Criticism Harold Bloom Books
In arguably his most personal and lasting book, America's most daringly original and controversial critic gives us brief, luminous readings of more than eighty texts by canonical authors-- texts he has had by heart since childhood.
Gone are the polemics. Here, instead, in a memoir of sorts--an inward journey from childhood to ninety--Bloom argues elegiacally with nobody but Bloom, interested only in the influence of the mind upon itself when it absorbs the highest and most enduring imaginative literature. He offers more than eighty meditations on poems and prose that have haunted him since childhood and which he has possessed by memory from the Psalms and Ecclesiastes to Shakespeare and Dr. Johnson; Spenser and Milton to Wordsworth and Keats; Whitman and Browning to Joyce and Proust; Tolstoy and Yeats to Delmore Schwartz and Amy Clampitt; Blake to Wallace Stevens--and so much more. And though he has written before about some of these authors, these exegeses, written in the winter of his life, are movingly informed by "the freshness of last things."
As Bloom writes movingly "One of my concerns throughout Possessed by Memory is with the beloved dead. Most of my good friends in my generation have departed. Their voices are still in my ears. I find that they are woven into what I read. I listen not only for their voices but also for the voice I heard before the world was made. My other concern is religious, in the widest sense. For me poetry and spirituality fuse as a single entity. All my long life I have sought to isolate poetic knowledge. This also involves a knowledge of God and gods. I see imaginative literature as a kind of theurgy in which the divine is summoned, maintained, and augmented."
Download Possessed by Memory The Inward Light of Criticism Harold Bloom Books
"Possessed By Memory is divided into six sections:
First, a two-page preface; then
Part I: 14 meditations on (roughly put) the Old Testament and Kabbalah (pp 1-75); next,
Part II, nine meditations on Shakespeare and “self-otherseeing†(similar but separate from his “self-overhearingâ€, see quote at bottom), (about 60 pages);
Part III includes meditations (about 30 of them) on a litany of English poets and poems starting with Ben Jonson (Shakespeare’s contemporary) and chronologically going to Charles Algernon Swineburn (pp 145-301, If you’re familiar with Bloom, the selection is expected, but not totally unsurprising);
Part IV is similarly formed, but about American poets and poetry, going from Whitman to Amy Clampitt, who lived until1994 (pp 305-468);
Lastly, Bloom adds a lengthy Coda, similar to the one he appended to Where Shall Wisdom Be Found?, in which he mostly discusses Proust’s In Search of Lost Time, but ends with a magnificent and melancholy meditation on Samuel Johnson and his Idler (pp 470-508).
All of these small sections are enlarded with fascinating autobiographical details and anecdotes—even ghost stories—which, again, for those interested in Bloom and his style of criticism are great, for those looking for something more “objectiveâ€, less so. Again, finally, for Bloom enthusiasts, this book is full of treasures and I recommend it.
If you’re a major fan of Harold Bloom, voraciously consuming everything he has written, then I think that it’s likely you’ll enjoy this book, and you can skip the rest of these three introductory paragraphs. If you are familiar with Bloom, but less familiar with the intimidatingly encyclopedic body of knowledge he always seems to have at hand and to which he refers constantly, then this may be one of his tougher books in recent years. Here’s an example of what I mean, and keep in mind this is a very straightforward, almost simplistic example:
"Returning to Proust is like again experiencing Dante, Cervantes, Montaigne, Shakespeare, Tolstoy, Joyce. The Proustian difference is that his principle characters—Charles, Morel, Albertine, Swann, the Dutchesse de Guermantes, Saint-Loup, Francoise, Odette, Gilberte, Bloch, Marcel’s mother, most of all the unnamed narrator finally revealed as Marcel—change more radically for me than even the great Shakespearean figures." (470)
In Possessed By Memory Bloom will refer to most of the authors mentioned in the first sentence in the pair above in the same way he refers to Proust in the second sentence, that is, as if his readers are intimately familiar with the authors, their works, their works’ characters, and so on. Some people love this, others hate it. It is what it is.
Thus, confronting Bloom is a defining intellectual experience, because it is humbling to the point of humiliation. If you don’t know how much you know about literature, religion and philosophy, Bloom will reveal it to you, and quickly. If you don’t know how you’ll react to being confronted by your own (comparative) ignorance, you’ll find out soon enough. At that point, you either keep reading him, or you don’t. But self-knowledge is central to Bloom’s thought, and, in his opinion, is central to all great literature.
Bloom’s knowledge, his breadth and depth of allusion, is gargantuan—thus, so too is his memory. But with a memory so big and strong, who’s really in charge? Who is possessed? Who is possessing? This book, as mentioned by some reviewers above, as well as Bloom himself in it, is a kind of revery of pseudo-meandering meditations. He has been consciously, publicly discussing his impending death for years now, and this book is his most sustained confrontation with mortality and the inevitability of annihilation yet. Many of his own reflections on death in this book are incredibly poignant and poetry in their own right.
Hopefully this is helpful.
Note: Bloom very considerately attempts to articulate specifically what he means by “self-otherseeingâ€, which is closely related to his important idea of “self-overhearingâ€, the process by which people’s consciousnesses (and thus selves) grow, and the illustration of which, Bloom argues, was first accomplished by William Shakespeare, hence, his “invention of the humanâ€.
“By self-otherseeing, whether in Shakespeare or in life, I mean the double consciousness of observing our own actions and sufferings as though they belonged to others and not ourselves, while being aware we possess them. The consequence is a strangeness that makes us shake our heads and rub our eyes in perplexity.†(81)"
Product details
|
Tags : Possessed by Memory The Inward Light of Criticism (9780525520887) Harold Bloom Books,Harold Bloom,Possessed by Memory The Inward Light of Criticism,Knopf,0525520880,Bloom, Harold - Books and reading,Canon (Literature),Canon (Literature).,Literature - History and criticism,Literature;History and criticism.,BIOGRAPHY AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Literary Figures,BIOGRAPHY AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Personal Memoirs,Biography Autobiography/Literary Figures,Biography/Autobiography,GENERAL,General Adult,Inspirational/Devotional,LITERARY CRITICISM / Poetry,Literary Criticism/Poetry,Non-Fiction,United States,biography;autobiography;essays;biographies;literary criticism;biographies and memoirs;anthology;autobiographies;poetry books;biographies of famous people;gifts for book lovers;book club;poetry;memoirs;memoir;library;book lovers gifts;literary gifts;nerd gifts;gifts for readers;memoir books;autobiography books;book lovers;book lover gifts;book lover;book gifts;gifts for readers book lovers;literature;literary biographies;literature book;classic;poems;letters;writing;short stories;england,biography; autobiography; essays; literary criticism; biographies; anthology; biographies and memoirs; poetry books; autobiographies; biographies of famous people; book club; poetry; memoirs; memoir; literature; library; autobiography books; gifts for book lovers; book lovers gifts; nerd gifts; literary gifts; memoir books; book lover; gifts for readers; book lover gifts; gifts for readers book lovers; literary biographies; literature book; book lovers; book gifts; letters; poems; classic; england; philosophy; writing
Possessed by Memory The Inward Light of Criticism Harold Bloom Books Reviews :
Possessed by Memory The Inward Light of Criticism Harold Bloom Books Reviews
- I am both a common reader and enthusiast of Harold Bloom. A scientist by profession, Bloom has given me a deeper appreciation of Shakespeare without myself being a member of the literati. Even so, I’ve been awaiting Possessed by Memory for some six months since I learned the near nonagenarian was publishing a new work of criticism.
The book is actually part literary criticism part memoir. Bloom is seized by the idea that there is a message in the world’s literary traditions that contains those truths in existence before creation. He has a somewhat elaborate Gnostic mythological system to justify this but it’s by no means certain that he believes in any of this as more than a metaphor. Briefly, Bloom describes evil as coexistent with creation and human beings as being demigods with a divine spark that enables us to transcend mere materiality.
As he approaches his ninetieth year, he worries that this pre-creative divine spark is vanishing both in himself and the culture as a whole. He had seen literary light after light succumb to the forces of entropy. And now he himself is largely confined to his walker and inner rooms because of the fragility of old age.
While not exactly an uplifting narrative I do not want to dissuade potential readers with such a bleak perspective. Bloom actually concludes the book with a meditation on Proust that provides assurance that his influence will endure beyond his passing.
The only fault I found in reading this book is unfortunately a personal one. Bloom assumes familiarity with his four subjects the Hebrew Bible, Shakespeare, the English Romantics and American poetry. I simply haven’t read or studied the modern American poetic tradition so reading some two hundred pages of meditation on the works and lives of these poets was largely an exercise in frustration. Bloom does quote extensively but I couldn’t really appreciate this part of the text without a proper backgrounding.
However, this common reader has not lost his enthusiasm for Bloom. His oeuvre has been a tremendous service in making high literature accessible outside the literati. I would recommend this book to fellow Bloom enthusiasts and those with enough literary background to appreciate all of the text. For those wanting such a work, the typical Bloom frisson is found throughout. Here is to many more years and many more works of criticism from Professor Bloom. - Possessed By Memory is divided into six sections
First, a two-page preface; then
Part I 14 meditations on (roughly put) the Old Testament and Kabbalah (pp 1-75); next,
Part II, nine meditations on Shakespeare and “self-otherseeing†(similar but separate from his “self-overhearingâ€, see quote at bottom), (about 60 pages);
Part III includes meditations (about 30 of them) on a litany of English poets and poems starting with Ben Jonson (Shakespeare’s contemporary) and chronologically going to Charles Algernon Swineburn (pp 145-301, If you’re familiar with Bloom, the selection is expected, but not totally unsurprising);
Part IV is similarly formed, but about American poets and poetry, going from Whitman to Amy Clampitt, who lived until1994 (pp 305-468);
Lastly, Bloom adds a lengthy Coda, similar to the one he appended to Where Shall Wisdom Be Found?, in which he mostly discusses Proust’s In Search of Lost Time, but ends with a magnificent and melancholy meditation on Samuel Johnson and his Idler (pp 470-508).
All of these small sections are enlarded with fascinating autobiographical details and anecdotes—even ghost stories—which, again, for those interested in Bloom and his style of criticism are great, for those looking for something more “objectiveâ€, less so. Again, finally, for Bloom enthusiasts, this book is full of treasures and I recommend it.
If you’re a major fan of Harold Bloom, voraciously consuming everything he has written, then I think that it’s likely you’ll enjoy this book, and you can skip the rest of these three introductory paragraphs. If you are familiar with Bloom, but less familiar with the intimidatingly encyclopedic body of knowledge he always seems to have at hand and to which he refers constantly, then this may be one of his tougher books in recent years. Here’s an example of what I mean, and keep in mind this is a very straightforward, almost simplistic example
"Returning to Proust is like again experiencing Dante, Cervantes, Montaigne, Shakespeare, Tolstoy, Joyce. The Proustian difference is that his principle characters—Charles, Morel, Albertine, Swann, the Dutchesse de Guermantes, Saint-Loup, Francoise, Odette, Gilberte, Bloch, Marcel’s mother, most of all the unnamed narrator finally revealed as Marcel—change more radically for me than even the great Shakespearean figures." (470)
In Possessed By Memory Bloom will refer to most of the authors mentioned in the first sentence in the pair above in the same way he refers to Proust in the second sentence, that is, as if his readers are intimately familiar with the authors, their works, their works’ characters, and so on. Some people love this, others hate it. It is what it is.
Thus, confronting Bloom is a defining intellectual experience, because it is humbling to the point of humiliation. If you don’t know how much you know about literature, religion and philosophy, Bloom will reveal it to you, and quickly. If you don’t know how you’ll react to being confronted by your own (comparative) ignorance, you’ll find out soon enough. At that point, you either keep reading him, or you don’t. But self-knowledge is central to Bloom’s thought, and, in his opinion, is central to all great literature.
Bloom’s knowledge, his breadth and depth of allusion, is gargantuan—thus, so too is his memory. But with a memory so big and strong, who’s really in charge? Who is possessed? Who is possessing? This book, as mentioned by some reviewers above, as well as Bloom himself in it, is a kind of revery of pseudo-meandering meditations. He has been consciously, publicly discussing his impending death for years now, and this book is his most sustained confrontation with mortality and the inevitability of annihilation yet. Many of his own reflections on death in this book are incredibly poignant and poetry in their own right.
Hopefully this is helpful.
Note Bloom very considerately attempts to articulate specifically what he means by “self-otherseeingâ€, which is closely related to his important idea of “self-overhearingâ€, the process by which people’s consciousnesses (and thus selves) grow, and the illustration of which, Bloom argues, was first accomplished by William Shakespeare, hence, his “invention of the humanâ€.
“By self-otherseeing, whether in Shakespeare or in life, I mean the double consciousness of observing our own actions and sufferings as though they belonged to others and not ourselves, while being aware we possess them. The consequence is a strangeness that makes us shake our heads and rub our eyes in perplexity.†(81)
