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Paperback How to Read and Why Book

ISBN: 0684859076

ISBN13: 9780684859071

How to Read and Why

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Book Overview

Information is endlessly available to us; where shall wisdom be found?" is the crucial question with which renowned literary critic Harold Bloom begins this impassioned book on the pleasures and benefits of reading well. For more than forty years, Bloom has transformed college students into lifelong readers with his unrivaled love for literature. Now, at a time when faster and easier electronic media threatens to eclipse the practice of reading, 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. His ultimate faith in the restorative power of literature resonates on every page of this infinitely rewarding and important book.

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Customer Reviews

21 customer ratings | 1 review

Rated 5 stars
Don't Be Put Off by Harold Bloom's Style

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...

6Report

Rated 5 stars
Our greatest advocate for the written word has done it again

More than a mere summary of literary classics, this book is a passionate defense of engaged, informed reading. While the multitude (especially the young) read for credit, praise, or to pad college resumes, Bloom presents a more reasonable (and insightful) alternative: we read so that we might better know ourselves. Because Bloom abhors the current fashion of "socially relevant fiction" that attempts to right past wrongs,...

3Report

Rated 5 stars
Showing by sincere example

The title of the book is misleading. Those looking for, as the title suggests it is, a primer on how to read literature deeply will be disappointed. Aside from a few pointers in the beginning, Bloom really does not explicitly address strategies for how to read and appreciate literature. In my opinion, this is unfortunate because such a book can be written and would be useful. What Bloom does instead is discuss a ...

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Rated 5 stars
enlightening as always

Years ago I read an article in The New Yorker (or maybe New York Magazine -- it's been awhile) about Harold Bloom's nocturnal pattern of staying up all night and reading. He apparently required only a few hours of sleep and spent the rest of his days and nights devouring books. On a typical night, he'd read 2-3 novels! We should be grateful that perhaps the most prolific reader of all time and an academic is able to...

2Report

The Sound of Music (1965) Mentions in Our Blog

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