The Old Man and The Sea
by Ernest Hemingway
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Paperback (05 May, 1995)
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Editorial Review

Here, for a change, is a fish tale that actually does honor to theauthor. In fact The Old Man and the Sea revived Ernest Hemingway's career, which was foundering under the weight of such postwar stinkers as Across the River and into the Trees. It also led directly to his receipt of the Nobel Prize in 1954 (an award Hemingway gladly accepted, despite his earlier observation that "no son of a bitch that ever won the Nobel Prize ever wrote anything worth reading afterwards"). A half century later, it's still easy to see why. This tale of an aged Cuban fisherman going head-to-head (or hand-to-fin) with a magnificent marlin encapsulates Hemingway's favorite motifs of physical and moral challenge. Yet Santiago is too old and infirm to partake of the gun-toting machismo that disfigured much of the author's later work: "The brown blotches of the benevolent skin cancer the sun brings from its reflection on the tropic sea were on his cheeks. The blotches ran well down the sides of his face and his hands had the deep-creased scars from handling heavy fish on the cords." Hemingway's style, too, reverts to those superb snapshots of perception that won him his initial fame:

Just before it was dark, as they passed a great island of Sargasso weed that heaved and swung in the light sea as though the ocean were making love with something under a yellow blanket, his small line was taken by a dolphin. He saw it first when it jumped in the air, true gold in the last of the sun and bending and flapping wildly in the air.

If a younger Hemingway had written this novella, Santiago most likely would have towed the enormous fish back to port and posed for a triumphal photograph--just as the author delighted in doing, circa 1935. Instead his prize gets devoured by a school of sharks. Returning with little more than a skeleton, he takes to his bed and, in the very last line, cements his identification with his creator: "The old man was dreaming about the lions." Perhaps there's some allegory of art and experience floating around in there somewhere--but The Old Man and the Sea was, in any case, the last great catch of Hemingway's career. --James Marcus ... Read more

Reviews (605)

The Old Man and The Sea
The Old Man and the Sea was a good book and it took place in a tropical island, which was Cuba. It had a good story line and interesting storyline but easy to follow if you paid close attention to what was going on with the old man. The book was about an old man and his problems in life. The sharks stood for the problem, the old man stood for the people, and the marlin stood for the goal in life but it was also about the old man catching a marlin on a little wooden boat with a hand line in the middle of the Caribbean Sea. I think it could have not had a better ending.

I recommend that you read this book if you are interested in adventure and fishing. I give this book a 5 star rating

I don't know, I thought it was boring!
Well, I have never read a book by Hemingway before, although I have heard quite a lot about him, so I wasn't sure what to expect. What I ended up with was a pretty obvious and boring story about, (big surprise) and old man and the sea.

A fisherman named Santiago (though his name is mentioned only about 3 times) has had 84 days of bad luck. He hasn't caught anything and the boy who helps him has had to leave because he needed a more profitable job. So Santiago decides to fish out deeper than he usually does. He hooks a really big fish, which begins pulling him out to sea.

It keeps pulling him for 2 days before they finally battle it out, and Santiago kills the fish. He manages to lash it to his little boat and begins rowing for shore. However, before he gets very far, sharks start coming to feed on the carcass of the fish. Santiago fights them off for a while, but eventually nothing is left of the fish but a skeleton. He makes it back to land in the middle of the night and crawls home to bed, bruised, battered and defeated. The next day the boy takes care of him and the rest of the town marvels at the gigantic skeleton. At the end, nothing really changed.

So the story (and this is a 117 page book) has very little to it. I didn't like the writing at all. It was too spare, it reminded me of the fish's skeleton AFTER the sharks ate it! Instead of describing stuff, he'd just state it blankly and without any emotion or eloquence. Instead of describing how or why the boy loved the man, he just says " The boy loved the old man." How interesting is that? This was a short and easy read, but it totally bored me. It was a struggle to finish it.

I think he was trying to prove a point about how desperate and determined the old man was, and how even though he succeeded, it all came to nothing. Three days later, after his big adventure, nothing had changed at all. However, this book didn't reach me at all. Too bad, I had hoped I would enjoy it.

Not too shabby
I'm not the biggest Hemingway fan in the world, but I like this book. I first read it in high school, just like millions of kids still do every year. The Old Man and the Sea is an American classic, and for some pretty good reasons. It signified the author's return to greatness, it shows an old man who is full of both resolve and wry humor, and lastly it is a moving story told in very simple, straightforward language.

I can appreciate what this novella is about. You take a guy down on his luck and send him on a journey of unearthly demands. How does he react? Santiago could have given up and quit any time he wanted - before or after his catch - so it is interesting to see what drives a man onward. Hemingway thought that Santiago's qualities were what was important in a man; he makes a good case for them here. Compassion, perserverance and a sense of order to life all come into play. Santiago respects the fish, and that is what makes this story most memorable.

I don't know whether this was symbolic of Hemingway's own struggle with the literary critics of his time, nor do I think that this is his best . But I think the Old Man and the Sea should be read...in all ages. Perhaps it is fitting that a book like this is told in such simple language. Like the ocean itself, great things lurk just below the surface for those who wish to look. ... Read more

Isbn: 0684801221
Subjects:  1. Classics    2. Cuba    3. Fiction    4. Fishers    5. Literary    6. Literature - Classics / Criticism    7. Male friendship    8. Older men    9. Sea & Ocean    10. Fiction / Literary   

Sun Also Rises
by Ernest Hemingway
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Paperback (01 March, 1995)
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The Sun Also Rises first appeared in 1926, and yet it's as fresh and clean and fine as it ever was, maybe finer. Hemingway's famously plain declarative sentences linger in the mind like poetry: "Brett was damned good-looking. She wore a slipover jersey sweater and a tweed skirt, and her hair was brushed back like a boy's. She started all that." His cast of thirtysomething dissolute expatriates--Brett and her drunken fiancé, Mike Campbell, the unhappy Princeton Jewish boxer Robert Cohn, the sardonic novelist Bill Gorton--are as familiar as the "cool crowd" we all once knew. No wonder this quintessential lost-generation novel has inspired several generations of imitators, in style as well as lifestyle.

Jake Barnes, Hemingway's narrator with a mysterious war wound that has left him sexually incapable, is the heart and soul of the book. Brett, the beautiful, doomed English woman he adores, provides the glamour of natural chic and sexual unattainability. Alcohol and post-World War I anomie fuel the plot: weary of drinking and dancing in Paris cafés, the expatriate gang decamps for the Spanish town of Pamplona for the "wonderful nightmare" of a week-long fiesta. Brett, with fiancé and ex-lover Cohn in tow, breaks hearts all around until she falls, briefly, for the handsome teenage bullfighter Pedro Romero. "My God! he's a lovely boy," she tells Jake. "And how I would love to see him get into those clothes. He must use a shoe-horn."Whereupon the party disbands.

But what's most shocking about the book is its lean, adjective-free style. The Sun Also Rises is Hemingway's masterpiece--one of them, anyway--and no matter how many times you've read it or how you feel about the manners and morals of the characters, you won't be able to resist its spell. This is a classic that really does live up to its reputation. --David Laskin ... Read more

Reviews (386)

Not To Be Missed! - Experience It For Yourself!
The Sun Also Rises takes place after the cease of the First World War, where numerous survivors, combatants and non-combatants alike, battle their own demons each day to search for a meaning to their lives that has been shattered by the global conflict. The novel, being borne out of Hemingway's own personal experience, focuses on a group of expatriate individuals living in luxury and elegance in the city of Paris, where the first half of the novel takes place. Paris was a popular place for literary figures during the time, and as mentioned, several of the key characters in this novel are writers that are yet to be granted with global fame. The characters in this novel searches for their lost ideals, living in alcoholism and grandeur that the city of Paris has to offer, and while the Hemingway portrays his characters to do so, he uses the bullfight as a symbol of that moral struggle. The ability to confront your fears, to stand in the way of danger and NOT BREAK, is in direct contrast with the way he paints the lifestyles of his characters. Hemingway uses the perspective of Jake Barnes, the main protagonist, to present the action as it takes place first in the city of Paris, then in some quiet countryside where the novel takes a more "tranquil" turn, then in the city of Pamplona where the fiesta takes place, and lastly in Barcelona, where the novel ends.

Jake, who supports himself as a journalist, is madly in love with a promiscuous woman, Lady Brett Ashley, who is in turn engaged to Michael Campbell, one of Jake's companions during the fiesta. Unfortunately, Jake had been injured during the war that left him sexually incapacitated, which served as his scar that shall forever separate him from the woman he loves. Then there is Robert Cohn, who is also in love with Lady Ashley but somehow portrays himself as a guy who sort of "just won't get the message" that he is actually unwanted and that creates tension among the individuals even before the fiesta ever started. (Note: I don't know but somehow I get the feeling that Robert Cohn is actually a physical manifestation of Jake, who is in turn himself is still unable to get over himself and his feeling. But on the other hand, Jake reacts very much differently to Cohn and that somehow Lady Ashley still leans on Jake on some issues regarding her sorrows which she is not able to confess to any other person). And lastly, of the expatriate group, there is Bill Gorton who, a writer just like Cohn, is also Jake's best-friend and much preferred companion than anyone else. And there is also Pedro Romero, the young matador who appears much later in the book, who shall soon participate in a love affair with Lady Ashley and is also a person of great respectability, who faces his fears and struggles "without falsity", which plays an important aspect in his career in the bullfight as well as in the lives of the expatriate personalities, such as Jake and Lady Ashley.

Just like the way he wrote his more accomplished novels like A Farewell To Arms or For Whom The Bell Tolls, Hemingway's gift of writing has already been established right from the start. The Sun Also Rises being his first published novel, Hemingway wrote in laconic, yet crisp prose and his dialogue never ceases to generate tension and anxiety between his characters, making this short-length novel a fully pledged work of art.

One of the most significant aspects of this novel is maybe the part which is mostly overlooked, which is the part where Jake and Bill goes fishing before they proceed to Pamplona, where the Fiesta de San Fermin is to take place. That part, where Jake goes fishing, somewhat signifies the contentment that Jake has long been yearning for, which shall serve as the catalyst that soon make Jake a different person altogether after the fiesta. With the feeling he experienced during that brief period of time in the midst of a fast-paced novel, he shall soon grow to accept that "he shall never possess the woman he loves" and that universal acceptance is the way where he shall finally be able to attain peace and contentment. By the end of the novel, Lady Ashley learns that too, when she "made him [Pedro] go" and decided not to ruin the young man's life. She said she shall go back to Michael Campbell, to whom she says her "sort of thing", and Jake learns to deal with it. And although he once again tried to lean on alcoholism, Lady Ashley prevented him from doing so and soon in the final scene, they were able to overcome their struggles and live a more normal life.

Even though the book focuses merely on the expatriate community in Paris, its moral convictions could adapt to the lives of numerous people, even "normal" people like us. By way of accepting the truth and trying to move on, we are able to break free of the past and in turn be able to adapt to the present world. The Sun Also Rises tells us that everything has a beginning and so is an end, but the earth shall stay forever across generations and that we are but "actors on stages" in this great pattern, and that life is but an unalterable destiny that we should learn to live with. This is a deceptively simple, yet terrific book. Pick up a copy of this classic book! Another novel I need to recommend -- completely unrelated to Hemingway, but very much on my mind since I purchased a "used" copy off Amazon is "The Losers' Club: Complete Restored Edition" by Richard Perez, an odd, funny, highly entertaining little novel I can't stop thinking about -- about another "lost generation," this time set in the East Village, pre-9/11 New York City.

Different
Reading one of Hemmingway's first acclaimed novels, I felt the Sun Also Rises truly transported me to a different time and place.The simple narration was colourful and great, and the descriptions of the American and English friends frolicking through the cafes and restaurants left me stunk of wine, and merriment.Reading this book made my drunk just by all the booze they were consuming.

Nevertheless, I didn't feel this novel take off until they arrived in Spain.Brett is a character that is for sure, but everyone else seems relegated to supporting parts.I kind of was hoping the story would tell a litte bit more about them.

I did enjoy the book but only in places, and I also feel that the book seems a bit dated.But it's a good read no doubt. Yes I liked it.

Incredibly Overrated
I will never understand Ernest Hemingway's appeal.His labored attempts at understating everything, his affected grittiness, his belief in himself as adventurer and someone who truly experiences life all make me want to throw up.This book is the perfect example of how terrible he is. I'll give you some examples from within the book so you can think about it a little more.

Number one is Brett.The "heroine" of the book, she is a heartless 34-year old nymphomaniac who is self-absorbed and callous, not to mention elitist and stupid.The "hero" of the book, manly man Jake, "loves" her.What a great love story.Jake is too "injured" to make love to her, so she sleeps with a number of other people during the book. Number two is Cohn.This character, created out of the author's anti-semitic imagination, is a simpering bookish fool who, the narrator lets us know, is too cowardly to enjoy things like bullfights.Only a manly man would enjoy the spectacle of a matador being gored by a tortured animal, of course.

Cohn is apparently equally contemptable because he wants to hang out with gentiles (How DARE he?!), but Jake is magnanimous enough to let him.Brett is magnanimous enough to sleep with him, but looks down on him for being a Jew.(Lovely people, aren't they?).Hemingway wants us to revile Cohn because he took the affair with Brett too seriously and actually got jealous when she slept with someone else.We're supposed to laugh at Cohn's emotionality and inability to be a wasp.

I can't tell you how pointless this book is.What's the moral?Is there one?I don't think there is.If a book isn't engrossing, or exciting, or beautifully written (therefore art for art's sake) it has to have a message.This book fails on all counts. ... Read more

Isbn: 0684800713
Subjects:  1. Alfonso XIII, 1886-1931    2. Ashley, Brett (Fictitious char    3. Ashley, Brett (Fictitious character)    4. Classics    5. Expatriation    6. Fiction    7. History    8. Literary    9. Literature - Classics / Criticism    10. Literature: Classics    11. Spain    12. Fiction / Literary   

For Whom the Bell Tolls
by Ernest Hemingway
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Paperback (01 July, 1995)
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For Whom the Bell Tolls begins and ends in a pine-scentedforest, somewhere in Spain. The year is 1937 and the Spanish Civil War is in full swing. Robert Jordan, a demolitions expert attached to the International Brigades, lies "flat on the brown, pine-needled floor of the forest, his chin on his folded arms, and high overhead the wind blew in the tops of the pine trees." The sylvan setting, however, is at sharp odds with the reason Jordan is there: he has come to blow up a bridge on behalf of the antifascist guerrilla forces. He hopes he'll be able to rely on their local leader, Pablo, to help carry out the mission, but upon meeting him,Jordan has his doubts: "I don't like that sadness, he thought. That sadness is bad. That's the sadness they get before they quit or before they betray. That is the sadness that comes before the sell-out." For Pablo, it seems, has had enough of the war. He has amassed for himself a small herd of horses and wants only to stay quietly in the hills and attract as little attention as possible. Jordan's arrival--and his mission--have seriously alarmed him.

"I am tired of being hunted. Here we are all right. Now if you blow a bridge here, we will be hunted. If they know we are here and hunt for us with planes, they will find us. If they send Moors to hunt us out, they will find us and we must go. I am tired of all this. You hear?" He turned to Robert Jordan. "What right have you, a foreigner, to come to me and tell me what I must do?"

In one short chapter Hemingway lays out the blueprint for what is to come: Jordan's sense of duty versus Pablo's dangerous self-interest and weariness with the war. Complicating matters even more are two members of the guerrilla leader's small band: his "woman" Pilar, and Maria, a young woman whom Pablo rescued from a Republican prison train. Unlike her man, Pilar is still fiercely devoted to the cause and as Pablo's loyalty wanes, she becomes the moral center of the group. Soon Jordan finds himself caught between the two, even as his own resolve is tested by his growing feelings for Maria.

For Whom the Bell Tolls combines two of the author's recurring obsessions: war and personal honor. The pivotal battle scene involving El Sordo's last stand is a showcase for Hemingway's narrative powers, but the quieter, ongoing conflict within Robert Jordan as he struggles to fulfill his mission perhaps at the cost of his own life is a testament to his creator's psychological acuity.By turns brutal and compassionate, it is arguably Hemingway's most mature work and one of the best war novels of the 20th century. --Alix Wilber ... Read more

Reviews (203)

The Bell Tolls
For Whom the Bell Tolls, by Ernest Hemingway is an excellent story of trials, courage, love and sacrifice. In this book, Hemingway tells the story of a young American professor of Spanish while he works as a dynamiter in the Spanish Civil War. His mission: to cover the attack of the Army of the Republic on a pass in the mountains by blowing up a bridge to prevent reinforcements from arriving at the front. Through the course of his mission, he will experience a roller coster ride of emotion, from the heights of love to the depth of sorrow. In this book, Hemingway gives us excellently developed and rounded characters. Their histories are bared to us, as they tell of the horror that is civil war. For Whom the Bell Tolls is an excellent book for any high schooler wishing for an amazing book, or for any adult who wishes to have an extremely well written book to read.

Eh
I have to admit that the only reason I read this book was because I had heard good things about Ernest Hemmingway and was looking to discover some of his work.Much to my chagrin, however, For Whom The Bell Tolls came up somewhat short of a satisfying read.One of the biggest problems with this novel is that it is a five hundered word novel that could easily be written in a modest one-hundered and fifty: only a couple of days go by throughout the duration of the novel.Another flaw I found in Hemmingway's For Whom The Bell Tolls is the trivialness behind the main character's job and even personality.For five hundred pages the reader is forced to read about a simple man who has the simple job of traveling from America to Spain to blow up a specific bridge when given the order.In the mean time, the main character, Robert Jordan, lollygags around in the woods with a few other Spanish rebels whose sanity/motivation becomes a bit doubtful.In the end, Robert Jordan ends up dying under a dead horse opposing enemy fire.Although I was hoping to recognize some of the insight behind this "timeless" classic or its author, I was disappointed as I found For Whom The Bell Tolls to be nothing less than an average novel written in an average style.I reccomend reading The Sun Also Rises if you're looking for a fulfilling introduction to Hemmingway's work.

A few days with partisans in the Spanish Civil War
According to the book's jacket, 'For Whom the Bell Tolls' is Hemingway's finest novel.I disagree.While the book does a fine job of describing the life of a partisan, its 490 pages only cover a few days' time.So, don't expect a lot of fast-moving action.This novel is basically a character study of the different persons in American volunteer Robert Jordan's hosting partisan band.Therefore, if you enjoy character studies then you will indeed enjoy this book.

The plot is that Jordan is sent to blow up a bridge in the Spanish hinterland.He is to contact a local partisan band and secure their assistance in helping him destroy the bridge.Once he arrives at the band's secret refuge internal power struggles immediately begin as Jordan's mission will endanger the survival of all the band's members.In addition, there is the inevitable romantic subplot between Jordan and the mysterious Maria.

Utilizing the flashback as a vehicle, Hemingway defines each actor's traumatic personal history, his/her decisions, and his character.Jordan the idealistic young American university professor becomes the daring, charismatic, and ideologically indifferent demolitions expert.Pablo the angry peasant becomes the murderous, avaricious guerilla leader.Pilar the ugly yet happy wife of a diminutive bullfighter is widowed and becomes the overbearing, honorable wife of Pablo.Maria the fragile, innocent virgin becomes the emotionally-scarred, vulnerable lover of Jordan.Anselmo the venerable old peasant becomes the determined, brave guerilla fighter.And so it goes with many of the other book's characters.

The book is a good character study and portrait of life as a Spanish partisan, but I found it to be much too slow moving for my taste.This is decent novel, but it's not really a war novel.In my opinion, Farewell to Arms is a much better war novel and is Hemingways's best book. ... Read more

Isbn: 0684803356
Subjects:  1. 1936-1939, Civil War    2. Civil War, 1936-1939    3. Classics    4. Fiction    5. History    6. Literary    7. Literature - Classics / Criticism    8. Spain    9. War & Military    10. War stories    11. Fiction / General   

Farewell To Arms
by Ernest Hemingway
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Paperback (01 June, 1995)
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Editorial Review

As a youth of 18, Ernest Hemingway was eager to fight in the Great War. Poor vision kept him out of the army, so he joined the ambulance corps instead and was sent to France. Then he transferred to Italy where he became the first American wounded in that country during World War I. Hemingway came out of the European battlefields with a medal for valor and a wealth of experience that he would, 10 years later, spin into literary gold with A Farewell to Arms. This is the story of Lieutenant Henry, an American, and Catherine Barkley, a British nurse. The two meet in Italy, and almost immediately Hemingway sets up the central tension of the novel: the tenuous nature of love in a time of war. During their first encounter, Catherine tells Henry about her fiancé of eight years who had been killed the year before in the Somme. Explaining why she hadn't married him, she says she was afraid marriage would be bad for him, then admits:

I wanted to do something for him. You see, I didn't care about the other thing and he could have had it all. He could have had anything he wanted if I would have known. I would have married him or anything. I know all about it now. But then he wanted to go to war and I didn't know.

The two begin an affair, with Henry quite convinced that he "did not love Catherine Barkley nor had any idea of loving her. This was a game, like bridge, in which you said things instead of playing cards." Soon enough, however, the game turns serious for both of them and ultimately Henry ends up deserting to be with Catherine.

Hemingway was not known for either unbridled optimism or happy endings, and A Farewell to Arms, like his other novels (For Whom the Bell Tolls, The Sun Also Rises, and To Have and Have Not), offers neither. What it does provide is an unblinking portrayal of men and women behaving with grace under pressure, both physical and psychological, and somehow finding the courage to go on in the face of certain loss. --Alix Wilber ... Read more

Reviews (338)

Beautiful book.
Did anyone else notice that the idiot named "gnossie" didn't read the book?What a moron.

Fantastic Novel
This is a fantastic novel that is very easy to get into. Hemmingway's short, descriptive sentences offer a style uncanny to any other's and they clash very effectively with his seemingly endless sections of solid naration between characters.

The story itself is absolutely astonishing but is almost forgotten amongst the overwhelming love story between Catherine and le Tenente. I found myself, having finished the novel, looking back on what had happened to the tenente and realizing it had all passed while I was only worried about Catherine. An absolute masterpiece by Hemmingway.

My only problem was that the novel was written so close to the end of WWI that Hemmingway simply assumes the reader is familiar with the geography and the history of the war. I found myself having to refer to a map periodically and looking up other WWI events on the internet as the happened in the book.

None the less, this is a can't miss novel!!

A Farewell to Arms ...
After reading Ernest Hemingway's short stories viz "The Snows of Kilimanjaro"and"The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber"(which were just tooooooooo good), I was a bit disappointed to read "A Farewell to arms". I have no intention of sounding contrarion, however for some reason, I found it mediocre from start to finish(The only reason I completely read it was because it was a Hemingway).

Story seemed very plain & straight forward. The love between Henry & Catherine seemed very boring. The war was poorly captured. Some part of story seemed just too unreal. For example ... the chapter in which Henry & other folks retreat from war front and head back, they kill their own captain without any remorse(how is that possible?). Later on one of their own guy gets killed by their own people(Italians). Again no remorse is captured.

I just find it totally unreal. Any human being in the above situations would have felt/exhibited intense remorse(hmmm ... or was it my expectation based on the war movies I have seen ...)

All in all, I was not that impressed with "A Farewell to Arms". It could very well be due to my high expectations. Or could be that we live in a different world now and thus it is difficult to identify with the story.

None-the-less ... I would say, read it just because it is a Hemingway and for no other reason.

-Sachin ... Read more

Isbn: 0684801469
Subjects:  1. Classics    2. Literary    3. Literature - Classics / Criticism    4. Fiction / General   

Ulysses (Vintage International)
by JAMES JOYCE
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (16 June, 1990)
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Editorial Review

Ulysses has been labeled dirty, blasphemous, and unreadable. In a famous 1933 court decision, Judge John M. Woolsey declared it an emetic book--although he found it sufficiently unobscene to allow its importation into the United States--and Virginia Woolf was moved to decry James Joyce's "cloacal obsession." None of these adjectives, however, do the slightest justice to the novel. To this day it remains the modernist masterpiece, in which the author takes both Celtic lyricism and vulgarity to splendid extremes. It is funny, sorrowful, and even (in a close-focus sort of way) suspenseful. And despite the exegetical industry that has sprung up in the last 75 years, Ulysses is also a compulsively readable book. Even the verbal vaudeville of the final chapters can be navigated with relative ease, as long as you're willing to be buffeted, tickled, challenged, and (occasionally) vexed by Joyce's sheer command of the English language.

Among other things, a novel is simply a long story, and the first question about any story is: What happens?. In the case of Ulysses, the answer might be Everything. William Blake, one of literature's sublime myopics, saw the universe in a grain of sand. Joyce saw it in Dublin, Ireland, on June 16, 1904, a day distinguished by its utter normality. Two characters, Stephen Dedalus and Leopold Bloom, go about their separate business, crossing paths with a gallery of indelible Dubliners. We watch them teach, eat, stroll the streets, argue, and (in Bloom's case) masturbate. And thanks to the book's stream-of-consciousness technique--which suggests no mere stream but an impossibly deep, swift-running river--we're privy to their thoughts, emotions, and memories. The result? Almost every variety of human experience is crammed into the accordian folds of a single day, which makes Ulysses not just an experimental work but the very last word in realism.

Both characters add their glorious intonations to the music of Joyce's prose. Dedalus's accent--that of a freelance aesthetician, who dabbles here and there in what we might call Early Yeats Lite--will be familiar to readers of Portrait of an Artist As a Young Man. But Bloom's wistful sensualism (and naive curiosity) is something else entirely. Seen through his eyes, a rundown corner of a Dublin graveyard is a figure for hope and hopelessness, mortality and dogged survival: "Mr Bloom walked unheeded along his grove by saddened angels, crosses, broken pillars, family vaults, stone hopes praying with upcast eyes, old Ireland's hearts and hands. More sensible to spend the money on some charity for the living. Pray for the repose of the soul of. Does anybody really?" --James Marcus ... Read more

Reviews (349)

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly of Modernism
"Ulysses" is a deeply flawed work of genius that richly deserves both the bouquets and the brickbats that critics have hurled at it over the years. It is by turns a desperate struggle to free writing from the literary straightjacket of convention, and an unctuous exercise in literary hubris. It is one of the most definitive products of the modernist movement then in vogue and shares the inconsistency, contradiction and schizophrenia that plagues that movement, constituting a rejection of bourgeois conformity on the one hand while on the other yielding accessibility only to a literary elite.

"Ulysses" is many things: a literary experiment in variety and anti-style (different chapters are written in entirely different voices and forms); a rejection of Victorian conformity; a protest against method, structure and classicism; an attempt to transcend conscious boundaries; and not least, a gross and orgiastic display of literary exhibitionism.

There were few contemporary works that dared to take the modernist movement to such extremes. Faulkner wrote similar stream-of-consciousness works but ultimately anchored his writings to a foundation of literary convention that allowed ordinary readers to understand him. Joyce, while ostensibly writing ABOUT ordinary people, never wrote FOR them. He was the ultimate literary snob who, by this time, had grown so infatuated with obfuscation that he would follow up "Ulysses" with the utterly impenetrable "Finnegan's Wake".

There is something hypocritical about such an outlook: to extol the typical Irishman in writing that no typical Irishman could ever hope to understand; to reject not just established convention, but any appreciable sense of system at all; to push 'writing' entirely beyond the bounds of 'communication'.

What saves "Ulysses" is that, with this work at least, Joyce does not yet go entirely over to the dark side. He goes right to the edge, but only playfully puts one foot over. Despite its calculated obscurity, its see-how-brilliant-I-am experimentation, its auteur elitism, he doesn't quite abandon content for form. This would be the last work in which he holds on to reality, and his decision to anchor his work in at least SOME recognizable conventions allows us to see where he is trying to go.

This is a book that is far more important than it is either enjoyable or even readable. Its status as a "masterpiece" is problematic and misleading: since this honorific is earned if the work is judged by its incomparable technique and sheer audacity--but is undeserved if judged by its respect for the common man. This is a book written for literary highbrows--at times, one almost suspects that it was written solely for Joyce himself--and no one should feel obliged to wade through a morass of such literary contrivance. Those who do, however, can expect to glean many moments of brilliant revelation out of long stretches of teeth grinding frustration.

Gibberish
Dear readers, let me propose to you a simple test. Below are three quotes from Ulysses by James Joyce, and a fourth written by a computer program with no human editing, merely random words strung together without sense. You tell me which is which:

1. Slowly I dream of flying. I observe turnpikes and streets studded with bushes. Coldly my soaring widens my awareness. To guide myself I determinedly start to kill my pleasure during the time that hours and miliseconds pass away. Aid me in this and soaring is formidable, do not and singing is unhinged.

2. Sinbad the Sailor and Tinbad the Tailor and Jinbad the Jailer and Whinbad the Whaler and Ninbad the Nailer and Finbad the Failer and Binbad the Bailer and Pinbad the Pailer and Minbad the Mailer and Hinbad the Hailer and Rinbad the Railer and Dinbad the Kailer and Vinbad the Quailer and Linbad the Yailer and Xinbad the Phthailer.

3. Pat is a waiter who waits while you wait. Hee hee hee hee. He waits while you wait. Hee hee. A waiter is he. Hee hee hee hee. He waits while you wait. While you wait if you wait he will wait while you wait. Hee hee hee hee. Hoh. Wait while you wait.

4. yes I think he made them a bit firmer sucking them like that so long be made me thirsty t1tties he calls them I had to laugh yes this one anyhow stiff the n1pple gets for the least thing Ill get him to keep that up and Ill take those eggs beaten up with marsala fatten them out for him what are all those veins and things curious the way its made 2 the same in case of twins theyre supposed to represent beauty placed up there like those statues in the museum one of them pretending to hide it with her hand are they so beautiful of course compared with what a man looks like with his two bags full and his other thing hanging down out of him or sticking up at you like a hatrack no wonder they hide it with a cabbageleaf

*

(It should be noted that this is the third time I have posted a review containing a quote from the book: the automatic filter which blocks out obscenity will not allow me to post my prior review here. That should tell the discerning reader something about this book.)

What Makes a Novel Good?
I think that my title provides an interesting question, and one that allows for no easy answer. Certainly, different greats have answered differently at different times throughout history. I suspect that your appreciation of Ulysses will depend on your particular answer.

Certainly, the aesthetic of Ulysses follows a different path from most of the works that had preceeded it. Authors, historically, have written with a few various goals in mind. Some have written to educate its audience; some to persuade; most to entertain. Ulysses seems not to be particularly interested in any of these three. Instead, Ulysses and some of its contemporaries helped to usher in the new approach to literary writing and reading that still holds sway in academia: that reading is a large intellectual exercize--like a big puzzle--filled with obscure language and references and symbolism; that the goal of the reader is primarily to decipher, not enjoy; that an author's merit lies not in his clarity, but in precisely the reverse. Note how wildly different this is from some of the other greats of fiction, not too long past, such as Dickens, Hardy or Tolstoy, who, whatever their other motives may have been, wanted to craft compelling characters and plot and clean, straight-forward language.

For myself, I hate reading James Joyce and find in it no fun save for a morbid fascination with the perversion of our literary standards. For parents with children in schools reading this, please have some sympathy for your child when he/she complains of the cruddy books they're being forced to read in school. Please have some understanding when they declare that they hate literature, when they ditch their books in favor of movies and then lie/cheat their way through tests. The books that they are being forced to read, and the "literary strategies" that they must learn in class, are largely the fruit of Joyce and his artistic imitators and sympathizers, who held that reading should not be a pleasurable pastime, but a plodding, tedious and difficult chore. Ulysses had a role in the development of the modern view that reading for pleasure is somehow "common" and "unintellectual" and that any popular novel (i.e. well-written and with an exciting plot) must be unworthy of intellectual attention, and devoid of true merit.

Consider that JK Rowling and her Harry Potter are much more in the traditions of the older set than James Joyce and it is no wonder that, "all of a sudden," children are interested in reading something again. That's the kind of magic that Joyce has helped to stamp out for going on a century.

This is not simply a screed against Joyce, but specifically against Ulysses. While reading Ulysses, I also read Stuart Gilbert's exegesis of the same. That any novel should require an entire other work to *understand* the thing is a travesty; a novel should be its own explanation. That is why it is written. Ulysses is not only nigh-incomprehensible, but dishwater dull as it runs through the mediocre and tawdry existences of people I would not care to know. Its more pornographic/scatalogical sections, the anticipation of which at least gave me some hope, are completely uninteresting as well. Its parallels to the Greek story are done fairly faithfully... but to what end, exactly? I think just to show it could be done, which to my mind does not justify seven hundred plus pages and all of those hours spent. And the "inventive new literary techniques" had not been done by the former masters of the art because, as we've noted, they were largely interested in entertaining their audiences. One example to mention might be the "word overture" beginning the Siren's section. In it, Joyce mirrors the overture of a musical by running together out-of-context fragments and snatches of words from the chapter to come. He does this without preamble or explanation or apparent understanding of how music and literature are different, and if any of Joyce's defenders can care to explain in what way such a word overture is good or interesting or enlightening, please, write a review: I would be fascinated to hear.

Of course, it is literary suicide to criticize Joyce or Ulysses, dubbed by Random House (I believe), as "the greatest novel of the 20th century" and so I advise that you praise it unreservedly, like your "educated" peers. But you may think twice before actually reading the beast, because you won't learn much and you won't have any fun. ... Read more

Isbn: 0679722769
Subjects:  1. Alienation (Social psychology)    2. City and town life    3. Classics    4. Dublin (Ireland)    5. Fiction    6. Literature - Classics / Criticism    7. Literature: Classics    8. Male friendship    9. Fiction / Classics   

A Portrait of the Artist As a Young Man (Penguin Classics)
by James Joyce
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Reviews (205)

Should be called "Downfall of a Young Man"
I read the book because it was listed as a great classic in English Literature.If this is a great classic, I am on the wrong planet.The main character, the artist as a young man, is insipid and disparaging to life itself.James Joyce emasculates the title of author and great classic.After reading the b ook, I threw it away. I do not recommend this book.

the edition to get
If you're gonna buy a copy of "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man," you can't go wrong with the Wordsworth Classic edition.Its advantages are several:

1.It's extremely cheap.
2.It features a very long and immensely insightful (32-page) introduction by Jaqueline Belanger, which includes a biography, publishing background, sections on language structure, irony, etc.There are also many suggestions for further syntopic or critical reading.
3.The thing is complete and unabridged.
4.There are extensive footnotes at the end, which are keyed throughout in the text, explaining all the Latin and the extinct realia of Joyce's world.

In short, get it.

As for the work itself, it's a very good prepper for "Ulysses:"I started that novel without having done this one.Later I came back to this:much was made clearer.Don't make my mistake.

glad I read it; wouldn't do so again
I can't honestly say I enjoyed this work. While it was impeccably written and deeply philosophical, the style chosen to write it in was distracting and caused far too many pauses in reading. It did give me some inspirational insights to methods in which I can add elements of philosophy to my own writing, but overall led me to understand methods of writing that serve to distract and confuse readers. His overall purpose (of showing the evils of Irish Catholicism, and the necessity of embracing a Nietzschian way of life) seem lost on the reader that doesn't care to struggle through the overemphasized rhetoric. I'm glad I read it, but wouldn't do so again. ... Read more

Isbn: 0142437344
Sales Rank: 4278
Subjects:  1. Biography/Autobiography    2. Classics    3. Fiction    4. Fiction - General    5. General    6. Joyce, James, 1882-1941   

Dubliners (Dover Thrift Editions)
by James Joyce
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Paperback (01 May, 1991)
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Reviews (90)

A rich book,
This is the second James Joyce book I have read and it goes to reinforce the feeling I had after reading the first that that writer is a great storyteller. In fact, I consider James Joyce's Dubliners as one of the best collection of short stories ever put together. The settings are amazing and the rich and lively characters all combine with the incredible plots to add credence to the stories. Not only are they true to life in fitting with the atmosphere that one finds in Dublin, the stories are also hilarious, subtle, and inspirational and gripping. The pace of the stories is fast and the voices are rich. THE USURPER AND OTHER STORIES, FINNEGANS WAKE are other highly recommended books to read that in some ways compliment this title.

My brief summary
This novel contains many little stories each with its own great moral. The setting is in Dublin and the themes found in this book differ in some stories but a constant motif is death and melancholy.

"Araby"
The narrator recalls about a priest who died and his childhood games with his friends. He specifically remembers when his friend and him use to hide in the shadows trying to avoid the boys uncle and sister of his friend Mangan.

The narrator is infatuated with Mangans sister and can't stop thinking about her. He doesn't think he'll have enough courage to tell her what he feels. Araby is a Dublin Bazaar. He promises her that he will get something from there and he gets anticipation to go there which distracts him from school and other things. The uncle comes late with his train fare and he leaves and gets there around 10 PM when shops were closing and he stood at the Bazaar very angry as the lights went out.

This story shows how anyone would act when in love. He was willing to anything for her until he realized why he was doing it in the first place.

There are many more interesting stories like "Araby." The stories have somethings in common such as death, melancholy and religion.

Hope
I had to read this for school, and after reading all of the stories i was amazed. James Joyce combined themes of adolescence and hope to create a story that protrayed the interesting theme of paralyisis. Throughout the stories he portrays the themes of hope and how the people of Dublin react to its presence or lack thereof. Stories like "Evelyn" are so vividly written, with emotion that you can actually see the characters and their stories, "Evelyn" is one of my favorite stories that really shows how paralysis affects the lives of the characters. The last story, "The Dead", is the only story in Dubliners that really shows that hope is an option and what makes Dubliners so realistic is that there is no happy ending, just choice and what the consequences are. James Joyce represent Dublin with these stories of life, and how the people of Ireland lived in the past and were not aware of the future. They lived their lives thinking of the dead, forgetting that they were alive, and "Dubliners" is an amazing novel, that gives hope. I would recommend it to anyone. ... Read more

Isbn: 0486268705
Sales Rank: 7099
Subjects:  1. City and town life    2. Classics    3. Dublin (Ireland)    4. Europe - Ireland    5. Fiction    6. Literature - Classics / Criticism    7. Literature: Classics    8. Social life and customs    9. History / Ireland   

Macbeth
by William Shakespeare
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Paperback (01 July, 2003)
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Reviews (8)

A Masterpiece "To the last syllable of recorded time."
"Macbeth" comes out as one of William Shakespeare's darkest and murkiest plays, most likely as a result of being written during one of Shakespeare's darkest times in his own life.This play strays away from the more common Shakespearean formula that contains a hero and his demise resulting from a specific tragic flaw.In "MacBeth", the title character is not a hero, but rather a villian.MacBeth murders the king of Scotland to bring truth to a prophecy given to him by three witches (the famous "toil and trouble" sisters).After assuming the throne, MacBeth returns to the witches and requests to hear the circumstances of his own death.The witches tell MacBeth he cannot be killed by any "man of woman born."Under a false assumption of near immortality, MacBeth relaxes his gaurd and perhaps displays his own tragic flaw of over confidence.
Focusing on the power corrupt and merciless villain MacBeth and his dastardly and influential wife Lady MacBeth, this play works as a twisted look into a mind poisioned with greed and hate.Though pessimistic and disturbing, this play must not be dismissed.It contains some of the most poetic language and beautiful lines ever to be written.It is no mystery that MacBeth stands as one of the most quoted works in literature.It is however a mystery that Shakespeare could create something so magnificient in a period when he saw life as "...a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."

Macbeth
What to say about Macbeth? Words cannot describe the ultimate spine-tingling, soul-shaking nature of it until you've read it. Then you know that there is only one way to describe this terrifying yet amazing play: by reading it. Shakespeare captures a whole new age and style with this harsh tragedy about the powers of evil.

Riding home from battle, Macbeth is told by three mysterious witches that his future holds great things-he will be king. When Lady Macbeth hears the news, she prays for the spirits of evil to infect her heart so she will have the courage to kill King Duncan and assure the prophecy's carrying out. After the awful deed's been done, Macbeth goes mad, although he is also granted the title `King.' Evil and madness soon holds sway over both Macbeth and his lady's will, and the kingdom falls apart. Will there be a way to triumph over this man who cannot be slain by a man born of woman? Who will not be slain until a forest moves up a hill? This seeming immortal demon?

So... "When shall we three met again? In thunder, lightning, or in rain? When the hurly-burly's done, when the battle's lost and won. That will be ere the set of sun. Where the place? Upon the heath. There to meet with Macbeth..."

My favourite of the tragedies.
I have always loved the story of Macbeth.Yes, it is bleak, but there is still hope expressed throughout.The comic breaks within the play are memorable.Who can forget the drunken porter?What about the three witches stirring their cauldron?Shakespeare's little gems throughout his tragedies are the soliloquies, and Macbeth has a number of memorable ones.The play explores the nature of ambition and the complexities of moral responsibility.It is a story of a nobleman driven to murder at the bequest of his power-hungry wife.Then we follow these two as each of them slips deeper and deeper into madness.Shakespeare sets the scenes so well in this play - the cold, draughty castle, the lonely moors.Because this play is so short, the action moves along quite quickly.And this also has the effect of showing Macbeth's descent into madness very quickly too, which makes it seem so much more horrible.Wonderful! ... Read more

Isbn: 0743477103
Sales Rank: 5393
Subjects:  1. Classics    2. English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh    3. Fiction    4. Plays / Drama    5. Shakespeare    6. Drama / General   

Hamlet (Folger Shakespeare Library)
by William Shakespeare
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Reviews (14)

!!!FLASH-FLOW!!!
what fire-spells lie in hamlet's mind!here is not some two-dimensional action figure whose only purpose is to enflame the audience with wonder with his sword-slash and his martial agility.here is not some cheap revenge drama where the hero eventually magno-triumphs in glory and thus satiates the spec-tators rage-lust for justice.asymmetrical!here is a man spider-entangled with enigma, here is man truly bewildered by life's perplexo.here is a man who fails to overcome his own interior twists and banish the fog that grips him in paraly-scourge.this drama causes us to ponder life's rattle of chaotica more acutely, it compels us into the prison of inquiry, baffles us and leaves perhaps wiser than before.for what intrigues we humans most is mystery, the unknown, the irresolvable and thus this scholar of wittenberg, armed with a formidible array of proofs, evidences, theories and conjectures, nevertheless, despite all his bookish wisdom, finds himself helplessly at the mercy of rage-orcs when he is challenged to confront the world's unjustice, become a man of action and right his uncle's wrongs!are we all not hamlet?do we all not shrink in the face of tyranno-blight?do we all not at some time or another complacently let injustice govern us, rule us, oppress us?do we all not occasionally become enwebbed by reality's night-shadows and cannot for the life of us rouse the tank-courage needed to banish the vipers?this is a man of emotion!this is a man who thinks!this is a man who contemplates the conundrums harrowing our sleep in constanto!he cannot help but arouse our sympathy and draw us into his sphere, cheering for him, rooting for him, praying for his eventual conquest of lechers for we all at one time or another have experienced similar ideas floating in our cosmos.and yet when he fails life's omnipresent hazard strikes us in greater prepondera thus causing us think more deeply on our existence.

kyle foley, author of Lorelei Pursued, Wrestles with God

The BEST play in the world!!!!
I am a student at Mercy High School in Middletown, CT."Hamlet" is one of my favorite plays.I have read it more times than I can recount.I think this is one of those plays that you have to read a lot to get the full meaning.Also,there are so many different interpretations of "Hamlet" that you cannot rely on one source to understand the play.I think everybody has to make her own interpretation of "Hamlet."I would recommend this play to everyone because it is one of teh best plays in the world.You can read it over and over again and not get tired of it.And after you've read "Hamlet," go out and find yourself a copy of "Letters From an Actor," by William Redfield.

I would rate this play a 10/10.

Fantastic story, and excellent for new reader of Hamlet
The book has an interesting layout, with definitions of words on the left, with the text of the story on the right.The book layout is the best layout I've seen of any Shakespeare book, and the size is right (you can take it with you!).

The story is legend - even speaking literally - apparently the story of Hamlet hearkens back to even older legends that predate Shakespeare's Hamlet.

Shakespeare is so quotable, and Hamlet is no different - you often find yourself saying "Oh, that's where that comes from!" and its like finding an old friend in a new story."To be or not to be, that is the question" is one; so is "Neither a borrower nor a lender be" and so is "To thine own self be true".The book even comes with an appendix listing commonly quoted portions of the story and their source.

However, my favorite quote (but not well-known) from the play comes from Hamlet himself, and sums the character up well:

"O, from this time forth,
My thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth!"

Get this book, and have a good read!Then get more Shakespeare from the same series: you won't be sorry. ... Read more

Isbn: 074347712X
Sales Rank: 3457
Subjects:  1. 1564-1616    2. Classics    3. Drama    4. English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh    5. Fiction    6. Hamlet    7. Hamlet (Legendary character)    8. Kings and rulers    9. Literature: Classics    10. Murder victims' families    11. Plays / Drama    12. Shakespeare    13. Shakespeare, William,    14. Succession    15. Drama / General   

Genius: A Mosaic of One Hundred Exemplary Creative Minds
by Harold Bloom
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Paperback (01 October, 2003)
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Reviews (32)

Biased and unfair
I picked this book up recently due to the fact that it contained "100 Exemplary Creative Minds", hoping to be turned on to other writers. While I have been, I've also been troubled by Bloom's unabashed bias. He is incredibly arrogant, and while Shakespeare was an immense genius, he was no deity, as Bloom (maybe subconciously?) positions him as.

The worst section in this book was on Dostoevsky. Dostoevsky is quite literally a towering literary figure, and in my opinion, the most prophetic and insightful writer of the last two hundred years. However, Bloom cannot seem to find much positive about this master of the mind. He says Dostoevsky is "at his worst when writing about spiritual issues." Excuse me?

There is little value in this book. If you are expecting honest-to-goodness literary criticism, don't expect to find it here. What you will get instead are thinly veiled polemics against Bloom's idealogical enemies.


My advice: skip this one

Subjective VIOLENCE
I bought this book because 'GENIUS' was on the cover. But that is not what the book is for. It's filled with shadowed political and religious motivation. Be careful.

An indispensable work of serious literary criticism.
For those of us who love literature, this book is a godsend. Harold Bloom is a serious critic, who defends the idea of true genius and the canonical, against the contemporary tide of political correctness and confusion, that he feels has infected the campus. Bloom iis a lover of literature, and his commitment to literary genius, and the classical foundations of the Western tradition is fantastic.

In the book, he chooses one hundred geniuses, who are all dead (he has a rule against living geniuses), and groups them together into ten sections, with two lustres of ten each. He draws on his own Jewish, Gnostic and Kabbalistic roots, to frame the book. The first lustre of masters, is filled by the greatest of all time, with the head of course being Shakespeare. He makes a compelling case for Shakespeare being not only the greatest writer ever (hardly controversial), but the inventor of human nature, as we know it.

He gives us a critical analysis of all the greatest masters, including Milton, Dante, Chaucer, Plato, St. Paul, Keats, Wordsworth, Eliot, Faulkner, and many others one might not have heard of. His religious outlook can be a bit troublesome, for those of us who are genuine Christians, but he is less concerned with converting us to a Gnostic worldview, then he is with celebrating human genius, and worshipping Shakespeare.

Another beef with this otherwise great book is his glaring omissions. He admits to leaving some geniuses off the list, and argues that his list is in many ways arbritrary. All the geniuses he lists (that I've heard of) are worthy of that title, but where's Arnold? Carlyle? Newman? Poe? Walter Scott? Fielding? You get the idea.

Mr. Bloom is equal parts master critic, old curmudgeon, youthful idealist, and cultural iconoclast, who cuts through the muck of popular fiction, bad criticism, PC foolishness, and much like Dr. Johnson, rises above the outlook of his age. A great read of all who love to read. ... Read more

Isbn: 0446691291
Sales Rank: 206305
Subjects:  1. Cognitive Psychology    2. Creative Ability    3. General    4. Literary Criticism    5. Literature (General)    6. Psychology    7. Regional, Ethnic, Genre, Specific Subject    8. Literary Criticism & Collections / History & Criticism   

How to Read and Why
by Harold Bloom
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (25 September, 2001)
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Editorial Review

Harold Bloom's urgency in How to Read and Why may have much to do with his age. He brackets his combative, inspiring manual with the news that he is nearing 70 and hasn't time for the mediocre. (One doubts that he ever did.) Nor will he countenance such fashionable notions as the death of the author or abide "the vagaries of our current counter-Puritanism" let alone "ideological cheerleading." Successively exploring the short story, poetry, the novel, and drama, Bloom illuminates both the how and why of his title and points us in all the right directions: toward the Romantics because they "startle us out of our sleep-of-death into a more capacious sense of life"; toward Austen, James, Proust; toward Thomas Mann, Toni Morrison, and Cormac McCarthy; toward Cervantes and Shakespeare (but of course!), Ibsen and Oscar Wilde.

How should we read? Slowly, with love, openness, and with our inner ear cocked. Then we should reread, reread, reread, and do so aloud as often as possible. "As a boy of eight," he tells us, "I would walk about chanting Housman's and William Blake's lyrics to myself, and I still do, less frequently yet with undiminished fervor." And why should we engage in this apparently solitary activity? To increase our wit and imagination, our sense of intimacy--in short, our entire consciousness--and also to heal our pain. "Until you become yourself," Bloom avers, "what benefit can you be to others." So much for reading as an escape from the self!

Still, many of this volume's pleasures may indeed be selfish. The author is at his best when he is thinking aloud and anew, and his material offers him--and therefore us--endless opportunities for discovery. Bloom cherishes poetry because it is "a prophetic mode" and fiction for its wisdom. Intriguingly, he fears more for the fate of the latter: "Novels require more readers than poems do, a statement so odd that it puzzles me, even as I agree with it." We must, he adjures, crusade against its possible extinction and read novels "in the coming years of the third millennium, as they were read in the eighteenth and nineteenth century: for aesthetic pleasure and for spiritual insight."

Bloom is never heavy, since his vision quest contains a healthy love of irony--Jedediah Purdy, take note: "Strip irony away from reading, and it loses at once all discipline and all surprise." And this supreme critic makes us want to equal his reading prowess because he writes as well as he reads; his epigrams are equal to his opinions. He is also a master allusionist and quoter. His section on Hedda Gabler is preceded by three extraordinary statements, two from Ibsen, who insists, "There must be a troll in what I write." Who would not want to proceed? Of course, Bloom can also accomplish his goal by sheer obstinacy. As far as he is concerned, Don Quixote may have been the first novel but it remains to this day the best one. Is he perhaps tweaking us into reading this gigantic masterwork by such bald overstatement? Bloom knows full well that a prophet should stop at nothing to get his belief and love across, and throughout How to Read and Why he is as unstinting as the visionary company he adores. --Kerry Fried ... Read more

Reviews (55)

"It is not necessary for you to complete the work "
In the epilogue of this book Harold Bloom talks about Rabbi Tarphon's statement in ' Pirke Avot '(The Ethics of the Fathers) " It is not necessary for you to complete the work, but neither are you free to desist from undertaking it". Harold Bloom has not desisted in reading and rereading the great works of Western Literature, and in so doing advocating to his readers that they too live in the 'enhanced consciousness' which great Literature gives. Here too Bloom reads and rereads some of the great works of the Tradition and provides whole new networks of insights and connections, inspirations and ideas for us to think about and make our own rereadings with. None of us Bloom laments will be able to read all the great and good books which have been written- and none of us will be able to reread as we could the great works already read by us, works which in some sense demand endless rereading- but each of us can be free to undertake the work and so far as possible know the joy and the difficulty , the pleasure and the insight , the sense of enhanced life, the love of meeting others and better knowing ourselves, which reading Literature gives.
Thank you Harold Bloom for enhancing our world with your exalted love of literature. May you go on reading and rereading for many years to come.

Why read???Why look at a painting?
Because these things exist and continue existing in our minds, what other justification do you want?They lift up our imaginations and the imaginations of the artists.Bloom presumes anyone still cares about imagination.

There was a newspaper article published here just recently that said adults don't read as much as we think.Of course they don't, they don't have time, they don't want to, they don't see the need to.They're too busy making money, going out and drinking, getting divorced, playing golf, etc etc etc.Keep this in mind, and this book becomes more a lament on where inquisitive minds have gone.

Rewarding, but not essential Bloom
Other reveiwers have pointed out the inaccuracy of the title, and I state my agreement with their judgement. However, the book stands well upon the merits it does offer as a casual toned discussion of Bloom's encounters with the works he examines. Because Bloom is widely read, subtle, and grand, his personal insights can function as markers of the depth and profundity literary works can attain, but he puts forth no theory or system designed to make his audience better readers. What we have is a book of encouragement, not instruction. Furthermore, readers of Bloom will find the book repetitive of his later, popular works. Bloom continues his invective against current critical trends (justifiably, I think) and continues his idiosyncratic exaltation of Shakespeare within the context of the Anxiety of Influence. I recommend reading The Western Canon first since this book reads almost like lost chapters of that earlier and very worthwhile book, although some of the material is repeated. ... Read more

Isbn: 0684859076
Subjects:  1. Appreciation    2. Books & Reading    3. Literary Criticism    4. Literature    5. Literature - Classics / Criticism    6. Literature, Modern    7. Reading    8. Reference    9. Semiotics & Theory    10. Study and teaching    11. Literary Criticism & Collections / General   

New York Review Of Books
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Editorial Review

If all book reviews aspire to the condition of magazines, the New York Review would represent the best realization of this aspiration to date. It retains the character of a book review, published 20 times a year. But since its inception over 30 years ago, the reviews have been long, dense (recent years have brought the practice of footnotes), and learned. Significant fiction is pondered, along with bits of poetry, slices of science, and gobs of political science, history, economics, biography, art, and music. The reader of the New York Review easily feels relieved of the cultural burden of having to read a book once having completed the sufficient burden of having read a thorough review of it. Although the impeccably left-leaning editors would be loathe to agree, only major figures or discourses in the European intellectual tradition need apply to their pages for consideration. Hence, for example, although occasional "pieces" on certain worthy movies now appear, popular culture is not a serious concern. Lately, the Review has given over more of its pages (from 60 to 80 each issue) to journalistic reports--the latest political currents in China or Russia, the state of affairs in Kurdistan or at Camp X-Ray in Guantanamo Bay. Its core identity remains, however, that of a magazine unequaled for addressing intellectual "issues"--Darwin under attack again, pedophilia continuing in the Church, whither globalization--through reviewing them as these issues appear in book form. --Terry Caesar ... Read more

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Among the very best...
NYRB and the Atlantic Monthly are among my favorite subscriptions; In terms of sheer intellectual depth and range, it is very tough to beat the NYRB.While I do not read the NYRB cover to cover, I end up spending at least 5 hrs on each issue.

The main strength of this magazine is the fact that a typical article is written by an expert with deep knowledge of the subject (some times opinionated; but always intelligent and engaging).While the article typically draws on more than a single book, I like the fact that the article is typically written as a commentary around a theme and is more than a summary of the books under review.

Highly Readable
THE NEW YORK REVIEW OF BOOKS is published 20 times a year, biweekly except in January, July, August and September. It is a respected publication which is devoted mostly to reviews of current books and an occasional movie. It also contains articles of social or political interest. The Letters section is usually brief with little waste.

Contributors to a recent edition included Mark Danner, Sister Helen Prejean and Daniel Mendelsohn. Reviews covered such diverse items as a collection of short stories by Graham Greene and two books about the actress Anna May Wong in addition to ALEXANDER, a film directed by Oliver Stone.

THE NEW YORK REVIEW OF BOOKS consistently offers provocative writing in a highly readable style. It definitely deserves its reputation for excellence.

Read NYRB and be the best-informed it is possible to be
NYRB features long, in-depth articles about recent books and events.The "reviews" frequently take the book under discussion as a starting point for a wide-ranging essay which then becomes a work in its own right.Indeed, I've seen articles in NYRB referred to in academic papers.Don't fear that NYRB will bore you, however.I've often found a NYRB article to be a great introduction to an area of thought or literature previously unknown to me.

The only negative is a rather tedious Michael-Mooreish political stance.I have no objection to seeing Bush bashed, but wish that NYRB could do so in a more creative and less repetitive manner. Maybe once in a while we could hear from someone who actually likes the man?

Nevertheless I find NYRB an indispensable periodical.I find it a great complement to The Economist, which features a more pro-business and pro-free trade economic stance and wider, but less deep, coverage of the world. ... Read more

Asin: B00007G2SO
Subjects:  1. Literature    2. General    3. Periodicals    4. Literary   

Publishers Weekly
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Great if you're in the business but
For those in publishing, this is a terrific resource for keeping track of who's doing what.The book reviews often lead me to books I wouldn't have found any other way and their articles are pretty interesting if you want to publish or be published.However, that said, the price is nuts for an individual and I would strongly suggest reading it at your library.If they don't carry it, you can request that they do.

Five stars for those in the book trade, one for most others
Publishers Weekly is a staple of the publishing business.Editors, publishers, agents, writers, reviewers, and booksellers pony up the exorbitant subscription fees so they can be the first to know about upcoming releases, changes in personnel, and hot deals.Each week the magazine features an author, sometimes famous, sometimes up-and-coming.They run features on audio books, religious releases, children's books, and many others throughout the course of the year.The weekly forecast section runs short reviews of books (in all genres) that will be released over the next three months, giving readers a glimpse of the future. The PW bestseller lists are reliable indicators of what is selling in bookstores all over the United States.

Publishers Weekly is probably the only magazine that sells its cover to advertisers, giving you an idea of the type of trade journal it is.I do not recommend it for anyone who is not associated with publishing.But for those who are, this is a professional expense you won't regret spending. ... Read more

Asin: B00006LDI7
Sales Rank: 452
Subjects:  1. Business & Investing    2. Industrial    3. Books. Library Science. Bibliography    4. Business   

Bookmarks
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For the international bibliomaniac!
After reading quite a few reviews about this magazine I had to write something in the hope that the powers that be will hear me! I am an avid reader who was about to subscribe to this after reading the reviews only to discover that it won't ship outside of the US. Being in Australia has never made me so disappointed! Please, Please, PLEASE start shipping to other countries like Oz soon!

Great Magazine
I love to read and this magazine goes into detail about all different kinds of books.Mostly fiction, some that can be used for reading groups, and most just for the enjoyment of reading.

If you are ever in a slump as to what to read, and need some suggestions, this is the magazine for you.

No ads, great reviews, no hype
I have been getting this magazine for two years now and always find at least one book that I simply "must" have.I only wish it came out every month instead of every two as sometimes when I go into a "independent" bookstore such as Boulder BookStore or Tattered Cover, I can find newer books that haven't been reviewed in the magazine.I would also like more reviews for young readers - not necessarily babies/etc, but for teens.This magazine is tons better than the one Barnes and Nobles wants you to subscribe to with their membership. ... Read more

Asin: B0000AJLX9
Sales Rank: 55
Subjects:  1. Literature    2. General    3. Books. Library Science. Bibliography    4. Literary   

Sold each week both separately and as part of the Sunday New York Times, the Book Review divides the published world into two parts for easy consumption: nonfiction, and fiction and poetry. There is no attempt to be comprehensive. Although scholarly books are regularly reviewed, the sort of thing chosen is likely to be no more arcane than a cultural history of Halloween or a new biography of Jesse James, along with, say, the memoirs of David Rockefeller. The reader of the Book Review can also expect to find the latest novel by Joyce Carol Oates or Pat Conroy as well as the efforts of one or two first novelists and the new book of poems by Billy Collins. What distinguishes the reviews from those of your hometown Sunday newspaper are principally three things: there are more of them (each issue runs some 20 pages), they are likely to be more searching and more critical (often the reviewers are at least as well-known as the authors reviewed), and each review has behind it the authority of the New York Times itself, whose cultural as well as political clout is simply unmatched in American life. For a book to sell, it doesn’t necessarily have to be considered in the Book Review. For a book to be taken seriously,it probably does--and readers who take themselves seriously invariably read the Book Review. --Terry Caesar ... Read more

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Asin: B00006KPXQ
Subjects:  1. Newspapers    2. General    3. Books. Library Science. Bibliography    4. Literary    5. LITERATURE   

Pages : The Magazine For People Who Love Books
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Great Magazine but Order it Directly
Great Magazine!!!!Do not order it through Amazon--major headache!
Go online with the magazine directly.They remedied the problem immediately...Something Amazon Magazine Dept. couldn't figure out after 7 months...really, 7 months.No problems with the book ordering but will NEVER order a magazine this way again!

Devotes to popular reading culture only
PAGES: The Magazine for People Who Love Books, like BOOKMARKS, is a comprehensive resource for bibliophiles. The distinguishing factor between the two periodicals is that they target at a substantially different pool of readers. PAGES is in a way for relaxed and casual in the palate of reading materials. It devotes more to popular fiction and less to literary fiction. I can make the immediate distinction through the authors and the genres of fiction Pages highlights: Michael Connelly, Danielle Steel, Nora Roberts, Nicholas Sparks, James Patterson, Janet Evanovich, Tami Hoag, Marian Keyes, and even Dr Phil.

PAGES also has a new book guide for those who keep up-to-date of new releases and the now-in-paperback selections. Book recommendations are separated into genres like romance, sci-fi, mystery, inspirational, and kids. Each issue leave readers a plethora of choices for their next book selection, yet again, the books presented here overlap very minutely with those in BOOKMARKS. The books are mostly the pocket-sized, grab-and-go-at-the-airport, comfort reading rather than some mind-boggling trade paperback literature by Nobel-prize winning authors.

One last observation is that PAGES contains page after page of paid book advertisements, from individual authors and publishers (which does not cater to my liking). PAGES is generally geared more toward popular fiction. While bookstores usually shelve popular fiction and literature under the same category, I'm happy the readers' magazines PAGES and BOOKMARKS make such a subtle but significant distinction.

2004 (30) © MY

Interesting Advertisements...
The main reason I buy this magazine is to get ideas on books I'd like to read but I get more information from the advertisements than from the articles. This magazine falls way, way short of its potential. Articles are usually boring and for a magazine about WRITING to have such poor writers is a shame! ... Read more

Asin: B0000AFQQU
Sales Rank: 253
Subjects:  1. Literary History And Collections    2. Literary