Take Arms Against a Sea of Troubles : The Power of the Reader's Mind Over a Universe of Death

"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 "An extraordinary testimony to a long life spent in the company of poetry and an affecting last declaration of [Bloom's] passionate and deeply unfashionable faith in the capacity of the imagination to make the world feel habitable"—Seamus Perry, Literary Review "Reading, this stirring collection testifies, 'helps in staying alive.'"— Kirkus Reviews , starred review 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. “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

“An extraordinary testimony to a long life spent in the company of poetry and an affecting last declaration of [Bloom's] passionate and deeply unfashionable faith in the capacity of the imagination to make the world feel habitable”—Seamus Perry, Literary Review

"Reading, this stirring collection testifies, ‘helps in staying alive.’“—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

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. "The great poems, plays, novels, stories teach us how to goon living. . . . Your own mistakes, accidents, failures atotherness beat you down. Rise up at dawn and read something thatmatters as soon as you can." (p. 13) The last bookwritten by the most famous literary critic of his generation, onthe sustaining power of poetry This dazzling celebrationof the power of poetry to sublimate death-completed weeks beforeHarold Bloom died-shows how literature renews life amid what Miltoncalled "a universe of death." Bloom reads as a way of taking armsagainst the sea of life's troubles, taking readers on a grand tourof the poetic voices that have haunted him through a lifetime ofreading. "High literature," he writes, "is a saving lie againsttime, loss of individuality, premature death." In passages ofbreathtaking intimacy, we see him awake late at night, recitinglines from Dante, Shakespeare, Milton, Montaigne, Blake,Wordsworth, Hart Crane, Jay Wright, and many others. He feelshimself "edged by nothingness," uncomprehending, but stillsustained by reading. Generous and clear†'eyed, this is amongHarold Bloom's most ambitious and most moving books "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." (p. 13) The last book written by the most famous literary critic of his generation, on the sustaining power of poetry 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 "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 lifes 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 Blooms most ambitious and most moving books" -- prové de l'editor