Western Buddhist Review
Western Buddhist Review

Harold Bloom: the Embattled Canon and the Experiential Critic

By Vishvapani on Sat, 19 Oct, 2019 - 20:26

Harold Bloom: the Embattled Canon and the Experiential Critic

By Vishvapani on Sat, 19 Oct, 2019 - 20:26

This is a guest post by Vishvapani, re-published here from an early issue of The Western Buddhist Review


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The Western Canon
By Harold Bloom
Macmillan, London 1994, pp. 567


1. Introduction: contemporary criticism’s questions and answers
What should be our central question in approaching literature? The celebrated American literary critic Harold Bloom proposes one: What is literature for? This question may sound obvious, but it is not one with...

Buddhist Centre Features
Buddhist Centre Features

Bidding Farewell to Harold Bloom

By Vishvapani on Sat, 19 Oct, 2019 - 19:09

Bidding Farewell to Harold Bloom

By Vishvapani on Sat, 19 Oct, 2019 - 19:09

Here is a new appreciation of the critic and writer Harold Bloom, who died on October 14th 2019.

Vishvapani is a writer, broadcaster and Buddhist mindfulness teacher. His writing can be found at Wise Attention.

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The sadness I feel at learning of the death, aged 89, of the great literary critic Harold Bloom, is softened only by my incredulity that he was living at all; that is, living in a modern world to which he seemed so alien....

Buddhist Centre Features
Buddhist Centre Features

Culture's Peak: An Interview with Harold Bloom by Vishvapani

By Vishvapani on Wed, 16 Oct, 2019 - 23:23

Culture's Peak: An Interview with Harold Bloom by Vishvapani

By Vishvapani on Wed, 16 Oct, 2019 - 23:23

This interview with the literary critic Harold Bloom was first published in Dharma Life, 5, Summer 1997. Harold Bloom died on October 14th 2019.

Vishvapani is a writer, broadcaster and Buddhist mindfulness teacher. His writing can be found at Wise Attention.

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When I first encountered Harold Bloom’s work, I discovered a remarkable mixture. Bloom is Professor of Humanities at Yale University, and is widely considered America’s leading literary critic. His many books combine an enormous breadth of reading...