Talk:Harold Bloom

I changed the paragraph concerning his judgments of recent american poets back to more or less the way I myself wrote it on September 28 - with a few names added. Crane, Frost, Pound, eliot, Williams and some of the others aren't really 'recent writers', Bloom does not like Pound or Williams, and I don't recall him singling out E.A. Robinson for any reason. - 66.190.242.110 December 7, 2003

Robinson

In "Genius," p. 714, he does indeed name Robinson, along with Pound, Williams, Crane, Frost, Eliot, Stevens, Merrill, Ammons and a few more, as one of the "superb poets" in American literature of the last century. To me it seems more reasonable to name the poets of the century rather than naming those who are "recent", as "recent" will mean something quite different to different people reading the entry at different times. -- Damion

It should be fairly obvious from the names mentioned that 'recent' in this context refers roughly to those appeared in the post-WWII period (Penn got started earlier, but Bloom only regards his later work), which is the period in which the canon appears to be completely unsettled, and the period of Bloom's professional life. The only reasons to include this section at all are that the writers Bloom favors are, for the most part, unknown or barely known to the average person (Ammons, Merrill, McCarthy, Saramago, Geoffrey Hill, etc.), and that some of his choices are unusual or controversial. By contrast, the probably canonicity Eliot, Frost, Pound, Hart Crane, Faulkner, Auden and others who were established before the war is so commonly known that there's no particular signifigance to the fact that Bloom also believes in it. - 66.190.242.110 December 12, 2003

If by "recent" you mean post-WWII, you should state so in the entry; otherwise, how is anyone to know? -- Damion

I clicked on a link to find allegations about Bloom's sexual misconduct with a student. It seems odd to have such a link without any sort of response... unsigned comment from 165.106.221.130

New comments on the bottom please, and please sign them, which you can do with four tildes (~). If there is a response from Bloom that you are aware of, please add it to the article. Gamaliel 20:47, 30 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Image?

Can we get a better image? I know he's not generally photogenic but it looks like he just witnessed a triple murder or something by that facial expression. --Tothebarricades 02:32, Jun 8, 2005 (UTC)

Contacting Bloom?

I am in London, involved with the literary legacy of a significant 'christian' Jungian psychologist [the small 'c' and the single inverted commas are deliberate - I am a rabbi, which is why I am involved] David Holt, whose unpublished Zurich thesis in the late 50's/early sixties was on Persona-Actor, with particulat reference to Falstaff and Prince Hal, focussing on the 'rejection' scene. I would like to get this to Harold Bloom. How, please? I certainly am not interested in forwarding an unsolicited manuscript but for many reasons think he would enjoy the cited material, if he is still active. Thanks Jeffrey Newman 07:34, 20 Jun 2005 (UTC)

You could try his PR office or Yale U. But it's probably impossible. He's a celebrity. --goethean ॐ 14:59, 20 Jun 2005 (UTC)