Harold Bloom, as I imagine most everyone reading this review knows, made his mark with a work of almost unbelievable insight and genius, The Visionary Company. In it, Bloom effectively disemboweled and laid to rest the dried up "New Criticism" and "Neo-Classicism" that was in the ascendant at the time. He did no less than knock T.S. Eliot off his critical pedestal: a dragon-slayer indeed! The Visionary Company took its title from a line in a Yeats' poem referring to several poets (some, like Lionel Johnson, of exquisite merit) who shunned material success and followed their own visionary and masterful style of poetry and ended up dying young, drunk and destitute. (L. Johnson, for example was such a classical languages genius that he was offered a position at Oxford when he was barely over 20! Instead, he decided to pen his masterful poetry while drinking himself to death. He died after falling off a barstool at around the age of 30).- The full line from the Yeats' poem is "I would be one with the visionary company."-But the reader will take note that neither Yeats nor Bloom consumed himself with his genius in such a way. This, in Bloom's case, is somewhat unfortunate (I'm not going to delve into Yeats here.). After The Visionary Company, his prolific works can be graphed onto a parabolic downward swoop ending with this book...In the middle of said swoop, you can find works such as The Western Canon which, while idiosyncratic and a touch pompous and presumptuous(understatement?), still makes one catch one's breath at times at the profundity of the insights contained therein....But OK, first of all, Omens of Millenium is not truly Bloom's book at all, but a kitschy rip-off of The Gnostic Religion by Hans Jonas (Note how many times Jonas is mentioned in Bloom's book.). The problem is that Jonas was a painstaking scholar and wrote as such, and most readers will find him inaccessible to some extent, just as some readers found The Visionary Company. SOOO, Bloom solves everything by writing this nice little book relating Gnosticism to Western literature...Right?....Wrong!!...Bloom himself is guilty of what he dismisses the New Agers and such for: ill-informed boot-licking of the mass culture's obsession with all sorts of ridiculous things.-Sorry Harold, if you can't take it, don't dish it out.-My advice to readers is just to go back and read any of the great Romantic poets. They and the Gnostics are essentially the same on a spiritual level, and the writings of the poets are much more beautiful.-But please go ahead and check out Hans Jonas if you really are interested in the historical and technical aspects of this fascinating worldview.

While I disagree with Bloom on a great many topics, his opinions are always thoughtful and challenging. Such is the case with this book which, to me, represents an acme of such thought before the millennium. His ideas, of course, are far more refined and careful than your average streetside shaman but a proof of the point that all such thought on angels, resurrection, and magic is superfluous; the trophy of our imaginations.

In early 2000, after the roaring crashes of worldwide electronic mayhem, the second coming of Jesus, and our long awaited deliverance from the mire of this world we should reconsider the prophetic tone of this work. Just kidding. As we all know, January 1, 2000 was no different than any other day nor will there be any supernatural interventions into world history. World history has been, is, and always will be a history of geology and protoplasm engaged in the evolution of species. The quote from Durrell that opens Bloom's book is terrible and true--there is no supernature behind all this hubbub. Shall we then drift into our wildest imaginings: ancestral mythology, Christian sci-fi and the like? Or shall we create a new philosophy of man?

Find out Bloom's answer by reading this interesting book.

Omens of Millennium is a personal and erudite synthesis of Gnosticism, Hermetism, Sufism, and Jewish Kabbalah (and Emersonism). Prof. Bloom writes with the conviction of a "believer" and the rigor of a disinterested scholar. I first read this book three years ago and since then I have come back to it in many occasions. Omens of Millennium is a wake-up call to Knowledge. The book also introduced me to the extraordinary works of Hans Jonas, Mose Idel, and Henry Corbin.

This is a deeply disappointing collection that I am not sure I would even recommend to the serious student of the Iliad. And one can be forgiven for being disappointed, after all Harold Bloom is the editor. When I was a University student in the seventies, Bloom was revered, in particular by students of the Romantic poets. Bloom had written what was (and still is) a vital text on Shelley (Shelley's Mythmaking") and had followed that up with a magnificent survey of the Romantics in, "The Visionary Company". When my interests turned to Blake, Bloom was there with Blake's Apocalypse".

And so, when later in life I developed a keen interest in the Iliad, I was overjoyed to see that Bloom had pulled together a collection of essays to help me understand this complicated yet surprisingly readable poem.

WRONG! Of all the thousands of commentaries on the Iliad, Bloom somehow managed, with a notable exception or two, to pull together some of the most arcane, obtuse writings I can imagine. Even the specialists will be challenged by some of the subject matter here. And the presentation? Well, for the most part the prose is turgid, representing the worst of academic stylism. The exception is the lucid and beautifully written excerpt from E.R. Dodds', "The Greeks and the Irrational." But this is to be expected, as this is justly one of the most famous and important books ever written on the subject of ancient Geek culture. I found the rest of the essays to be overly technical and narrow in scope and compass. If you have read Victor Davis Hanson's "Who Killed Homer", you will find most of the sins he enumerates present in this collection.

But the MOST disappointing part of this entire collection is the introduction itself. In which we see Bloom at his worst - preachy, tendentious, over weaning. He takes the opportunity to take a few pot shots at the authors represented in the collection and to advance his own, in my view eccentric, conception of the poem. You know you are in for a rough ride when from the very outset we are treated to a comparison of the Iliad with the Hebrew Bible - a comparison in which the Iliad does not come off on top. At the end of the introduction, we read that while Homer himself is the "best of the poets", unfortunately, he lacks a "quality of trust in the transcendent memory of a covenant fulfilled, a lack of the sublime hope that moves the Hebrew poet Deborah." Geez, I'm sorry but, umm, who cares? This is a bit like complaining that apples don't have the citrus acidity of oranges.

Clearly, Bloom had an axe to grind - and grind it he did. It is as though he was determined to make the case for the Bible's superiority to the Iliad. As an introduction to a collection of essays, Bloom's is, in a word, "lacking"!

So where does that leave the interested reader. Well, it's not easy. I can think of no good general introduction that is separately published. That said, Bernard Knox wrote an introduction to Robert Fagles' translation of the Iliad that is almost transcendent. It puts to poem in context, describes the central action and delves into the poem's main cultural foundations. I would recommend that a first time reader of the Iliad equip him or herself first with this and second with Stanley's Lombardo's brilliant modern translation - oh, and stay away from this collection.

Barron's book notes for the Iliad are, believe it or not, better than Cliff's. The chapter summaries are longer and more detailed, but not too long. And, it helps one to understand the complexities of Homer.

Iliad is harder to read than Odyssey, but it is as rich as this one, and the person who attents, without contemporary prejudices, to the details of this work, to this person will be revealed one of the few, really few jewels that humanity wrote in its adventure. May you admire the star calle Homer.

I found this to be one of the worst books i have ever read in my life. It is almost impossible to follow the storyline as the main characters perspective is amazingly introverted and scenes are sometime fragmented causing confusion. This story is nothing new and has been written since the invention of words a million times over, and i really have no comprehension of why this book is considered good literature

I truly believe that Ellison's condensed prose is one of the best novels I have ever written. If a person says that they do not enjoy this book, it is because they are bad readers who completely missed all the motifs, foils, and statements that Ellison says with this book. This book takes a serious, easily cliched, topic and works it so well that I felt the need to read this book multiple times. And even after all that, I still feel that I need to read it more, just as to sink into every line. It is a must read, for those who read to the fullest!

oh baby it was good, i liked it so much that i bought it for my baby brother.

Be cautious ... this edited version is a research and study guide ... it is not the full text of the book!

Can it be said that there's no place like home in all instances? This group of post-war youth prove this enticing theory wrong. Home is where the comfort lies, not the heart.

Jake, Brett, Bill, Robert, and Mike form a group of friends traveling wherever their consience leads them. Growing restless when they keep themselves in one situation for too long, this mess of human regret lives for the moment. They travel to the week long Fiesta in Pamplona, where they find nights of drinking and days of somber realizations, uniquely tied hand in hand with bullfighting.

As is true with most Hemingway novels, a man and woman's relationship with one another is used as a mode of depicting his views on life. Lady Ashley (Brett, disguising herself with a title as she does with short hair and hats and various other men's traits) stars as the diva without a cause. She wanders the streets of Paris in search of a good night in bed, which is all the war has left her with. As was done to the rest of war-participating America, Brett was stripped of compassion, of desire for love, and was left with a hollow lust. This lust was never to be filled but was continually in search of completement. This is what drew Brett to Pamplona with Mike, her haughty, yet understandably grounded, fiance.

Perfectly depicting the result of Brett's search for completion, Robert Cohn follows Brett to the Fiesta and likewise follows her every move. He is a former lover whwhich cannot seem to tear himself from the idea that she was once his. By his continual snooty comments, and the fact that Brett could find pleasure in him and not Jack (sexually hindered by a war wound) every word that comes from his mouth is the subject of Jack's narrative scorn.

Easily understood is Jack's disattachment from the world which took away his "manliness," especially when this is that which would attract the one thing in life that he values, Brett. Jack's love for Brett is obbsessive and ultimatley dooming when he sacrifices his remaining link to disillusionment, bulllfighting, which is his last escape from the chaos trailing the war. In an effort to please Brett, he gives access to an able-bodied matador, the object of her lust. After losing the trust of a community held tight with respect by Jake, he is left with the same Brett, just a little more contented than she was five minutes ago.

In my careful opinion, Hemingway has reconstructs a world ignored by many, but remembered and endured to this day. In a time of confusion and distrust in the reality of human emotion, this group typifies the actions of self-indulgence and disparity which characterize this generation. Instead of merely a drunken party with some good fights, some bullfighting, and plenty of sex, the novel depicts with pity the lost generation and all their woes.

For all those opposing the seemingly endless stream of war literature, it's fair to say "Give it up, already!" With unforgetable stories like these, how can we complain about a generation willing to share their tales of dedication to one true thing, in a time of great confusion. Their sacrifices will live forever in us and our decisions. Respect this and you can understand any Hemingway novel that is thrown at you.

This is a wonderful edition of a great work. Hemingway's first novel, "The Sun Also Rises" is a beautiful, elegiac portrait of restless, unsatisfied expatriots wandering through Europe during the 1920s. In many respects, although the style and narrative differ, this is a companion piece to Fitzgerald's "Gatsby"--beneath the seemingly carefree exterior of Hemingway's characters, beneath the drinking and carousing and aimless wandering, the mood is melancholy and empty. What makes this particular edition so valuable--to the scholar as well as the average reader--is the shrewd, readable appendices. This includes criticism, a biographical vignette, and other useful supporting materials.

Perhaps the Seattle teacher should learn what the word "editor" means: Bloom's role in this series is an EDITOR, not a WRITER. What Bloom does in this, and many other series, is sort through chaff to find the wheat of criticism, and presents it to his readers so that they will have a rounder view of the literature at hand. As always, some of this work is above the heads of all but the finest readers, but in Bloom's collection there is very little of the self-serving nonsense that passes for criticism these days. Kudos to Bloom Brontosaurus!

Truely a classic. A must read for everyone who can even remotely claim to know literature. Read it--now--you won't regret it.

It is very difficult to review so superb a work but i will try:in short there are two basics things in the Divina Commedia that attract the reader:one is a very comprehensive descripition of medieval society,history,religion and science made by a first class scholar like Dante Alighieri,the other is a most penetrating and revealing analysis of the "ethernal" human being with all the good and the bad everyone of us experiences in his daily life.In the Commedia every aspect of life is examined and accounted for.But i think that the real magic of Dante is the almost super-natural ability to express his views in the most exquisitely crafted verses of Italian literature.Try for example to read Dante and Virgilio encounter with Ulysses or with Paolo and Francesca and you will be almost lifted by the author powers of dramatic rendering of life to another plane of existence and knoweldge.I adore Dante and hope everyone loves him too!Best Italian book ever written!

... since it leads you to believe that its subject matter is interesting.

After ordering this book and wading through its first few chapters, I had one overwhelming thought:

Thank you, Amazon.com, for your marvelous return policy.

Bloom is one of our better critics in terms of readability, but still... Unless you have a great appetite for arid erudition, just stick to reading the poetry itself. This book has more to do with some pet theory of Bloom's than with Stevens' poetry, or our climate--both of which could have been fascinating subjects for a book.

Bloom has written this book after an obviously long devotion to reading Stevens and to developing his critical methods, in one of its modes, to a fine precision. The reader of this book benefits most by a slow absorbtion of the varied terminology that Bloom had accumulated previous to this work and the additions then newly made to it. The approach to Stevens' poetry is immediate in its variance from most previous criticism and especially passive reading, or "weak misreading" as B. would call it. To follow him closely is to slough the innocence of idealizing all poetry as committed to presenting its own meaning. Unwitting believers of the like, deterred by Bloom's criticism for appearing so staunchly definitive (though an immediate antidote to a belief in the floppiness of poetry), havn't realized that beyond his belief (on particularly fine display) in the strong potential of formalizing tropes and decoding of intertextualities, is the existance in poetry of its reader's 'becoming' the text that is read, and to do it inventively, eccentrically, and considerately is essentially to further poetry itself.

Harold has become Polonius - What else is there to say?

This is a tiny book, but it will please mutual fans of Bloom and Shakespeare. I was thrilled to get it and read it in one afternoon. But in the end, I was a little disappointed. I wanted more! The book lacks a coherent development, explores no single argument, but Bloom is worth reading even when he rambles. I teach Hamlet to college freshmen and probably won't recommend this book to most of them, but I would definitely recommend it to my better students or to my colleagues. However, Bloom's much larger book, Shakespeare: the Invention of the Human, is better.

Bloom says that he wrote this book as a postlude to "Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human". It is a short book, but it is not a slight one. There is a lot here to meditate over, read again, and argue over. Bloom certainly didn't write this expecting anyone to agree with everything he writes. In fact, a teacher is poorly served by his students if they simply accept what he says as if it were scripture. If the student doesn't understand or isn't persuaded, he must question. If he disagrees, he must argue. If he agrees, he must take what the teacher gave him and take it further. Don't think that because this book quotes extensively from the play and is only 154 small pages long that you won't have a lot given you.

I enjoyed Bloom's "Invention of the Human" a great deal, but I am glad that he has given us more of his insights into Hamlet. Bloom's thoughts about how the play should be presented, what other critics have written, how his own perspectives have changed over the years, what it means to have a play within a play within a play. I also found his discussion of which verse is archaic and which is written to be understood as bad verse quite illuminating. Since my ear cannot hear the shades of Elizabethan English quite so clearly I have to admit that I didn't pick up that the slaughter of Priam was supposed to be taken as awful. I will have to work on hearing the language in all its varieties within this play and the others.

I think it is vital to remember that works like this provide their greatest value by giving us a path to further thought, study, and deeper reading. We waste them by either accepting or rejecting their arguments at face value. This is a book that everyone who loves Shakespeare and Hamlet should read and then make their own judgments. I found this a very valuable book.

This book is shallow, judgemental, poorly researched and an insult to any the intelligence of any thinking person. There are some marvelous biographies about Edgar Allan Poe (The one by pulitzer prive winning biographer, Kenneth Silverman, is the best.) To call this a STUDY guide is absurd. It's a slanted, bias, narrow minded piece of propoganda.

Harold Bloom has assembled a slim volume of literary criticism on Edgar Allan Poe. Bloom's introductory essay on Poe and his critics is interesting and informative but takes a harsh slant against Poe's literary merit. Not surprisingly, a number of the essays side with Bloom.

The great majority of the essays were written by esteemed Poe scholars, poets and novelists. D.H. Lawrence's essay contains a number of factual inaccuracies and is gratuitously offensive. Allen Tate's essay "The Angelic Imagination" is very good, as is Richard Wilbur's "House of Poe."

What surprised me most is the pausity of references to Poe's metaphysics, mysticism and hidden meaning. Harold Bloom has written at least 3 books on gnosticism and gnosis in American religion and literature. In at least one of those books, he called Poe a "representative American gnostic." Ironically, Bloom more or less pretends in this book that Poe's works have no meaning or message whatsoever and that Poe wrote only for effect. There are a number of essays which focus on Poe's metaphysics. Take a look at those collected in Eric W. Carlson's book, Critical Essays on Edgar Allan Poe.

a pretty good book. it's definently a good read for those interested in poe.

What can be better than reading the three greatest books--"The Fellowship of the Ring," "The Two Towers," and "The Return of the King"--ever written? Having a leather-bound volume with all three together is better. If you are a fan of the books or you have a loved one that is, this is the best edition to own. It has a big fold-out map in the back for reference, all the references you can think of, and a really neat red leather cover. I have had this edition for 20 years and it's still in excellent condition. Well worth the cost.

Outside of The Bible, The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien is simply the best book written in all of time. On a scale of 1 - 10 it is a 100. Nothing in any genre has ever been written better. Originally designed as a six-book, three-volume work, the wonderful people at Houghton Mifflin Company have published the books in an awesome one-volume, leather-bound collector's edition for easy reading (and many re-readings). I am only sixteen, but I am constantly reading, and let me tell you now that nobody beats Tolkien; and nothing beats The Lord of the Rings! Read this book and join the largest group of fans to ever walk the earth.

The story is just as beautiful as it was years ago when I read it for the first time. It needs no further review.

For those who are looking for an attractive, permanent edition, this is it. The fifty Alan Lee paintings are gorgeous, and the more you look at them the more you realize how carefully Lee put them together to remain faithful to the vision and the detail of the text. It's obvious he loved the books as much as the rest of us do. A keeper.

The Scarlett Letter is a wonderfully written novel, that encompasses the Puritan life in the early settlement of New England. The main characters in the book are Hester Prynne, Rev. Dimmsdale, Pearl, and the haughty physician Roger. The scandal in the novel is adultery. A sin that takes a hold of all the characters in one way or another. Love and truth are the few things the characters can trust. Isolation is also a great part of the novel and with each turning of a page Hester's strength empowers the reader to hold that tear let the heart remain strong...for ourselves and for Hester.

I am a junior in college. I had to read this book once before for a lit. class my junior year in high school. I admit it was a bit difficult to read the first time, but I understood and enjoyed it this time. I recommend looking into what was going on during the Romantic Period and gaining an understanding of what Romantic writers focused on. It will help you understand the story line. And if you get a chance, check out some other works by Hawthorne, like The Birthmark or Young Goodman Brown. That will help you understand Hawthorne's style of writing.

This rich, beautiful tale of forbidden love is possibly the best book I have ever read. It is filled with rich detail and fascinating symbolism. It left me in tears and in awe.