Take Arms against a Sea of Troubles: The Power of the Reader's Mind over a Universe of Death
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- Synopsis
- &“The great poems, plays, novels, stories teach us how to go on living. . . . Your own mistakes, accidents, failures at otherness beat you down. Rise up at dawn and read something that matters as soon as you can.&” So Harold Bloom, the most famous literary critic of his generation, exhorts readers of his last book; one that praises the sustaining power of poetry. "Passionate. . . . Perhaps Bloom&’s most personal work, this is a fitting last testament to one of America&’s leading twentieth-century literary minds."—Publishers Weekly This dazzling celebration of the power of poetry to sublimate death—completed weeks before Harold Bloom died—shows how literature renews life amid what Milton called &“a universe of death.&” Bloom reads as a way of taking arms against the sea of life&’s troubles, taking readers on a grand tour of the poetic voices that have haunted him through a lifetime of reading. &“High literature,&” he writes, &“is a saving lie against time, loss of individuality, premature death.&” In passages of breathtaking intimacy, we see him awake late at night, reciting lines from Dante, Shakespeare, Milton, Montaigne, Blake, Wordsworth, Hart Crane, Jay Wright, and many others. He feels himself &“edged by nothingness,&” uncomprehending, but still sustained by reading. Generous and clear‑eyed, this is among Harold Bloom&’s most ambitious and most moving books.
- Copyright:
- 2020
Book Details
- Book Quality:
- Publisher Quality
- Book Size:
- 672 Pages
- ISBN-13:
- 9780300255812
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- Date of Addition:
- 10/13/20
- Copyrighted By:
- Harold Bloom
- Adult content:
- No
- Language:
- English
- Has Image Descriptions:
- No
- Categories:
- Poetry, Literature and Fiction, Drama, Plays and Theater, Language Arts
- Submitted By:
- Bookshare Staff
- Usage Restrictions:
- This is a copyrighted book.