Less a contribution to Bloom's esoteric theoretical system (The Anxiety of Influence, A Map of Misreading, etc.) than an essay in nervous self-classification—fascinating as such, but excruciating, too, in its twists and turns, its fecklessness. Unsurprisingly, Bloom once again stresses "misprision," "troping," the three elements of "strong readings of belated poems": "negation, evasion, extravagance." He jumps across despised Modernism on the back, now, of Emerson—whom Bloom sees as the foremost American Gnostic (his classification for himself, early on). In opting for pneuma (spark) over psyche (adhesive self—to HB), Emerson made everything dependent on a "reader's Sublime." Where do we find this Sublime? In Whitman, in Hart Crane (the one successful critical examination), in Donald Lindsay's Gnostic fantasy A Voyage to Arcturus (on which Bloom's novel The Flight to Lucifer is modeled), in John Ashbery and John Hollander—all of them in quest of "an illusion of identification or possession; something we can call our own or even ourselves." Yet Bloom's attentions are particularly unfocused in this book, perhaps because he is preoccupied with defending himself against antagonists: the deconstructionists, the imaginationists, the Poundians, the lightweights. If anything is distressing here, in fact, it's the scantiness of serious analysis. Gnostics, of course, may not need to analyze: "Loving poetry is a Gnostic passion not because the Abyss itself is loved, but because the lover longs to be yet another Demiurge." Still, the scattershot approach ill suits Bloom's academic formalism—leaving it less defined, rather than more. In the end, one has the nagging suspicion that Bloom is promoting an art so vague, so self-erasing, that only the university critic could have the time and temper to cosset it.
Pub Date: Dec. 1, 1981
ISBN: 019503354X
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Oxford Univ.
Review Posted Online: Oct. 10, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 1981
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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