How to Read and Why

Great book, a superb shot in the arm for people getting sluggish on reading, and pretty easy to put down and pick up. Been reading this on my lunch break at work, and it's super fun to read Bloom I think because his obsessive enjoyment of literature is pretty infectious. I also got this primarily to help me comprehend and appreciate poetry more and Bloom gives some great tips and great directions to go to for poetry (John Muir, take a hike ......heh). Also gave me some great new recommendations, never been more stoked to read Blood Meridian, and never knew about Invisible Man and Song of Solomon, which both sound fantastic. Pretty much every piece of literature he talks about in here I want to read. Anyway, fun book!

I came across an interview with Harold Bloom, made at the time he published "How to Read and Why" - I liked what he had to say and thought his book might prove to be the catalyst I needed to make a more serious study of literature. The book promises to help the student commence this journey. I half expected to abandon it as I'm won't to do with 'serious books' especially when on 'dry subjects' - however, this proved to be false on both counts. I think the greatest lesson is that good literature teaches you how to read good literature and the why is to gain a better understanding of ourselves. It gives us an opportunity to view life through a different lens and just maybe pop some world view bubbles. Hopefully, this does prove to be as helpful as it seems.

A lot of why I liked this book is because it gave me a few books to add to my queue. This is my first exposure to Bloom and my impression is that he's sort of a charming character. He's erudite and opinionated without being condescending or abrasive. I found his passion for books and literature contagious and criticism insightful. After reading this, I've started Pynchon's The Crying of Lot 49 and I'll probably read Blood Meridian after that. How to Read and Why gave me a new, or renewed, appreciation for memorizing poetry and by 2030 I'll probably have successfully committed Tom o'Bedlam to memory. Bloom also strengthened my resolve to read more Shakespeare and introduced me to Turgenev, a Russian I really look forward to reading.

I was pretty skeptical at first, but after reading it, I'd consider the book a success. It's helpful at understanding why literature is so important and is a great introduction and primer on how to read some of the world's best works.