How To Read and Why

By: Harold Bloom

Narrated by: John McDonough

Length: 11 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

"Information is endlessly available to us; where shall wisdom be found?" is the crucial question with which renowned literary critic Harold Bloom begins this impassioned book on the pleasures and benefits of reading well. For more than forty years, Bloom has transformed college students into lifelong readers with his unrivaled love for literature. Now, at a time when faster and easier electronic media threatens to eclipse the practice of reading, Bloom draws on his experience as critic, teacher, and prolific reader to plumb the great books for their sustaining wisdom.

Shedding all polemic, Bloom addresses the solitary reader, who, he urges, should read for the purest of all reasons: to discover and augment the self. His ultimate faith in the restorative power of literature resonates on every page of this infinitely rewarding and important book.

"Bloom is one of the last … of his kind … one of the greatest educators of our time … Wonderful … Bloom writes with passion of those writers whom he loves, and whose work for him affirms life."—John Banville, Irish Times

©2000 Harold Bloom (P)2001 Recorded Books

Not a Boring Lecture

I took a detour and listened to a couple of the books he mentions and that enriched my learning so deeply.

Nerd alert

This is great but not for the faint of heart. Harold Bloom is truly an American treasure and this book deserves reading. I doubt the casual reader/listener will enjoy it but as a teacher I loved it.

Wonderful Guidance and Excellent Narration

When the introduction of the book was over and Mr McDonough’s voice began it’s narration, a warm shiver went up my spine. His tone and enunciation is wonderful and, even though I listen at 1.25 speed while reading along, he took a fairly leisurely pace with the book. This is not a bad thing, though, as Harold Bloom, with as much literature he’s read and produced in his lifetime, has an intelligent language that requires a few paragraph or pages to get used to. Sometimes his vocabulary flies over my head.

Bloom’s work is amazing, as usual, and the books and authors he concentrated on were explained with such wonder that they’ve immediately jumped to the top of my list of books, plays, and poetry to hear/read next.

A honest

Would you consider the audio edition of How To Read and Why to be better than the print version?

Yes. John McDonough is one of my favorite readers. His reading is,rather scholarly (I don't know if he'd like that description though). I prefer his reading when listening to non fiction, much more than most modern readers who tend to adopt a rather funny "Everybody Loves Raymond" type tone when reading non fiction.

What did you like best about this story?

I liked the introduction a lot, because I've always felt that fiction writing is in danger of becoming political tracts whose goal is to teach more than tell a story. If characters in stories are allowed to be themselves, politics will manifest itself naturally.

Have you listened to any of John McDonough’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

He had more spunk here than he does in reading Isaiah (from The Bible).

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It made me laugh sometimes, especially when Mr Bloom calls two characters from one of Flannery O Conner's stories "Abominable persons." He was talking about a grandfather and a little girl.

Any additional comments?

I am glad to be introduced to a reader that doesn't get in the way of the story. I have a hard time listening to great actors when they read, because they give sort of characterizations that are often quite good (a British person, Truck Driver, Mafia lord...etc),but they are too definite for the length of an average novel.

Like a review of my graduate English degree

If you could sum up How To Read and Why in three words, what would they be?

Brilliant, engaging, influential

What other book might you compare How To Read and Why to and why?

"A Jane Austen Education": Both books deal with how literature can and should change your life.

What does John McDonough bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

He sounds just like I'd imagine Harold Bloom to sound--professorial and profound. The pauses are in all the right places.

What’s an idea from the book that you will remember?

Why we should memorize poetry, and his interpretations of certain works are truly memorable.

Any additional comments?

Bloom chooses a few works from each period English and American literature and shows why they are the most important, how they should be read and interpreted, and how they should be savored and remembered.

A journey into the mind of Harold Bloom

I admit I have read this book more than once, both in physical and audible form. It provides the reader with deep insight into the "How" and Why" of reading through the application of examples and dissection of the writing form. The book provides the reader with the welcome experience of Harold Bloom's thinking as to value of reading poetry, short story and novel. Highly, highly recommended.

Fertile resource for my blooming literary studies!

This is the second Harold Bloom book I've read, with the first being "The Western Canon".

Although the title may imply a 1-2-3 "how to read (anything)", the focus is actually on the specific dozens of books presented. Even though he proposes how to approach the books and presents reasons for why they should be read, these aren't discussions of the physical act of reading any or all books (e.g. scan the covers, read the blurbs, identify literary devices, take notes, etc.). Frankly, I was relieved, hearing several friends discuss the potentially tedious methods of 'close reading'. Whereas here, Bloom goes to the guts of the topic: read to learn and enrich yourself, mentally, spiritually and broaden your understanding of life and the world around us - even when we don't experience everything directly. He does, in fact answer the how/why questions individually for most of the books. Some of those methods made me smile: (paraphrasing) "read this book out loud to your friends and loved ones"; "read this book at least twice - once for the overall story and then go back and re-read it to find/understand the contexts"; or, for some of the poetry books "memorize and internalize the poem so that you become the poet".

In what I've come to learn seems to be typical fashion, the author can wax bombastic, make grandiose assertions, is hopelessly infatuated with Shakespeare (Hamlet, Iago and Falstaff - the latter of whom was curiously absent from this book) and often digress from the stated topic. In this book, I didn't mind at all. A great part of his discussion topics are societal, and one can reserve the right to disagree while at least considering the statements and the thought process they're built on. The author himself avers that one shouldn't read with the intent to agree or disagree, like or not like, but just to process the words and message as they're received.

I actually recommend this book as a first to anyone who hasn't read Harold Bloom before. It is completely missing the bitter invectives he snarled throughout "The Western Canon", against people who had really gotten under his skin in challenging "The Canon" - even given such a thing is never completely set in stone. And the overwhelming majority of authors and books discussed in "How To Read..." are included in his version of said Canon. After this book, find and enjoy the many online videos of his lectures and interviews, to see the man in action. Again, you'll agree or disagree with him, but will always be enlightened.

Being published (deliberately?) in the year 2000, there are several allusions to culture as it stood at the crossover to the Third Millennium. Even though "9/11" was still a year away, and 'smartphones' just a little further out, many of those comments still reflect - maybe even more so how we're awash in things digital, consuming more of our time and energies on superficial levels. This book, the ones it reviews and almost any good book (per each person's own judgement) are a salve for digital overconsumption of things that move on the screen.

This is a book I'll re-read at least in part several times, especially as I consume the authors and titles mentioned inside it. Or just at random times when I feel the need to park physical reality and feed the brain.

A shout-out to the narrator, John McDonough, whose softly gravelly voice, though not identical, evokes Mr. Bloom's own voice and diction. He also delivers superbly during all the quotes and asides, subtly using 'accents' without being buffoonish.

All of which to say: buy this book, read it, feed your head and your heart.