Bloom Books

Harold Bloom, 2005, Chelsea House

There are just some things that a writer can only achieve through the long span of a novel. Take "Love in the Time of Cholera" as an example. It is difficult to imagine how Gabriel Garcia Marquez could have made his readers empathize with Florentino Ariza's longsuffering patience and abiding love for Fermina Daza through the fifty years of pain, courtship, and seemingly endless anxiety, by telling that tale in a short story. The same can be said of Thomas Mann's "Magic Mountain". Mann tells us that Hans Castorp wanted to spend a few short weeks in the mountain sanitarium but ended up staying for seven years. The surreal and absorbing account of his stay cannot have been achieved even in a book just half its length. Reverting to "Love in the Time of Cholera", the novel's length also permitted GGM to weave his magical realism; the interposing of episodes of sheer reality with episodes of incredible fantasy, and to have done so seamlessly.

There are, on the other hand, some things that are best kept short. The short story is the form that best conveys intensity and force if the author wants a quick knock-out. A good short story stuns its reader when he reaches the end, often leaving him unaware that the story had ended. Kafka's "Metamorphosis" is an excellent example. In This book, "Short Story Writers and Short Stories", Bloom's approach was to focus on selected short stories and weave them into an analysis some specific aspects of the author under study. This book is thus a study of the deep psychology of the writers than a commentary or evaluation of their short stories. Bloom tended to treat novellas such as Joyce's "The Dubliners", and Kafka's "The Castle", as short stories. Some of the writers occupied no more than a page and a half. This book is not the one for those who are looking for an analysis of the short story, or a comprehensive account of the short stories of the writers. The strength of this book lies in its deeply perceptive account of just an aspect or two of the writers; accounts that might otherwise be lost in a more detailed study of any of the individual writers. One might say this was Bloom's "short story" of writers.

This book review was very helpful as a substitute for reading the book Sophocles. I was required to read the book but very pushed for time so this worked great for me! would really reccomend it!

This book came along at just the right time in my life. I had been questioning some premises concerning emotional responses, and the book offered valuable insights on how to achieve a change in perspective when we change our story about what is happening.

Bob Bloom offers a step-by-step simple formula for growing emotionally. In the moment we are guided to truly be present to what is unfolding, utilizing time-proven techniques. He draws on teachings by Byron Katie and Colin Tipping, as well as offering his own experiences.

As he leads the readers through the steps for transformation, he finally approaches the arena of tuning into the innate values and intelligences of the heart.

If you've done extensive work with the Byron Katie techniques, this book may at first seem too simple....and yet it may prove to offer insight on some ways the process allows us to transform our suffering and emotional responses. I especially recommend it to those new on this path, or those stuck in attempting to move through painful emotions.

This book may be dated, being that its time span ends in 1998, after Tony Gwynn's second World Series appearance, and that he would pass the 3,000-hit mark in 1999 and play his last major-league game in 1991. However, for a book aimed at a juvenile audience it is very well-written with a great attention to detail. This story about a modern-day athlete who, in addition to being one of baseball's greatest hitters (eight National League batting titles, tied for the record with Honus Wagner), has been an outstanding citizen and role model, is one that children, not only those who are sports fans, should read.

Very helpful. I found several interesting titles I'd like to pursue. I appreciate that mysteries, spy stories, poetry, as well as literary classics are included.

I did not understand much about the disease until I read this book. This was an excellent source.

Short book of about 150 pages, with essays by various authors on diverse topics connected with "The Aeneid". Made for interesting reading and reinforced my recall of events in the poem, although all the excerpts cited were from modern translations that I found abysmal. The language was too prosaic. Ordinary. Nor suitable to the epic at all. In retropect, I loved John Conington's verse, the rhyme scheme carried you along, and yet let in all the pathos, poignancy, and Vergil's obvious abhorence of war. Which none of the essayists here addressed, an oversight I cannot understand, since this seems to be a major theme of the epic. Dryden's translation was also wonderful, and perhaps a bit clearer, although that may be attributed to the fact that I had already read this book and Conington's translation.

This is a reavenloft adventure module set in Sithicus the Dragonlance death knight Lord Soth's domain. In this adventure Soth has deteriorated a lot so everything is less powerful than it used to be making this only appropriate for low level characters as written but it still seems to have interesting components and a well done out demonstration of party progress that can build suspense for the climax of the adventure, which again provides the DM with an opportunity for the party to exit ravenloft.

This book chronicles the civil war in Ecuador and the black soldiers who fought. It is a work of fiction but sheds light into a history that few know about outside of Ecuador. The universality of the black experience is remarkable. Bass is an wonderful writer and I also enjoyed Curfew and Pastrana's Last River.

I really liked this book. The author gave alot of details. Another reason I liked this book was because it was a cliff-hanger. This book was filled with emotions. I was upset the way Iris treated her babysitter. I would reccommend this book to girls nine to fourteen. This book is a must read.