Harold Bloom reads and free associates on Wallace Stevens' verse. (May 16, 1983)

[@ralphdifiore7504]

Thank you for putting these lectures on the internet. Professor Bloom was the great teacher of our age. A genius without peer. These lectures are invaluable and a great testimony to the greatness of Professor Bloom.

[@lukehardin9]

I know that you've received many of these comments, but I would be remiss if I didn't offer my sincerest words of thanks for uploading this marvelous series of lectures. Initially came upon them recently after they were uploaded, and I've basically been brooding on the material ever since. I would go as far as to call it life-changing.

[@normanmtv]

These recordings are truly amazing. I attended these classes. they are uncanny!

[@damirstrmel9930]

Are these "uncanny" because you listen to them now and see in your mind's eye a younger version of yourself in the classroom with Bloom. These classes had, maybe 20-30 students max, so the probability that anyone from that class would would run across this is minute. Do you remember the subject matter of your paper? Do you have any anecdotes of personal interactions with Dr. Bloom? I was in awe of the breadth and depth of his knowledge and how he synthesized meaning and interpretation out of that pool.

[@unfoedonnie7]

Thank you immensely for uploading these lectures . It is such a pleasure to hear this man and his mind working.

[@damirstrmel9930]

Thanks for tuning in.

[@ultraparadoxical7610]

The best professor so inspiring and extremely literary

[@marknewton6984]

Bloom's book on the Romantics was life changing!😮

[@dougswhite]

What a gift to be able to hear him in this setting! Thank you!

[@c.s.hayden3022]

My free association for part six, the climax with the burning house, is that it reminds me of that “aurora borealis” line from Principal Skinner when his house is on fire and he’s trying to hide it.

[@damirstrmel9930]

LOL

[@BobDylan1201]

Thank you for all of your Bloom uploads!

[@marknewton6984]

Bloom is brilliant!

[@rellman85]

Do you have a copy of his syllabus, perchance? Thanks for uploading, too!

[@damirstrmel9930]

@@rellman85 Sorry, these tapes are the only record that remains. I have moved about 20 times since 1983. Everything else has been lost in the shuffle.

[@Underthevolcanobooks]

Oh man thank you what a wild treasure

[@damirstrmel9930]

Your very welcome. Hope you enjoy all 10 of the recorded classes.

[@noheroespublishing1907]

What a wonderful teacher 😅.

[@liammcooper]

gracias

[@damirstrmel9930]

de nada

[@jamesprudhomme6372]

Can you post the textbooks and editions you used for this class?

[@damirstrmel9930]

James, I'm sorry, those texts have been lost during one of the 20+ moves I've made since 1983. I recall that all the texts were in paperback at the time. The Torah was a recently revised translation. The Nag Hamadi Library is where the gnostic gospels were sourced. I think the Freud texts, or at least one of them was a translation by Bruno Bettleheim. That's about all I can remember. The Whitman, Emerson, and Stevens you can use any publicaiton as they are in English. Also, I believe he mentions some of the editions in his comments at the beginning of some the classes before he gets into the literary discussion. I also, just last night, came across a 5 minutes section on a cassette tape of my second meeting with Dr. Bloom to go over the progress on my paper on Sublimation in the writings of Nietsche and Freud. The topic was one he had suggested I tackle, and which I had been struggling with for a couple of months. As I'm explaining some of the difficulties that I'm having, Bloom blurts out, "well, sublimation probably doesn't really exist. One can see it as a metaphor for metaphor. It's a very difficult thing to write about. I'm not sure I could even make sense of it." If Bloom would have been at a loss on the topic, what chances do mere mortals have. I think I opted for the Pass/Fail grading option and he gave me a P for the effort. LOL.

[@charlesedwardandrewlincoln8181]

Damir Strmel Could you share that recording of a discussion with Bloom?

[@charlesedwardandrewlincoln8181]

What was the question he references in the beginning but doesn’t seem to mention?

[@damirstrmel9930]

Charles, the question was probably something he posed to the class at the end of the previous session the week before. Unfortunately, that session was either not recorded or lost. On a sunnier note, I have published the conversation of my second meeting with Bloom, discussing the topic of my term paper. The contrast between the professor and the student could not be more sharply delineated. He had done the time and had developed insights and frameworks for comparing texts and idea where I was struggling to define the basic concepts. I spent seven more years in New York after this class. I hung out with artists, students, and intellectuals. I participated in book clubs and was a regular, for a while, at the Lacan Group's weekly discussions hosted by Stuart Schneiderman. Throughout my 10-year experience in New York I believe Harold Bloom was the most intelligent individual, without an attitude, that I had the good fortune to cross paths. Here is the link to the video: Video link kzbin.info/www/bejne/m6HTm3SLdtxor9k

[@damirstrmel9930]

As a guess I would say it has something to do with Whitman or an earlier work of Stevens, as that was the likely topic of the previous class.

[@charlesedwardandrewlincoln8181]

@@damirstrmel9930 Just watched the video! Thank you for sharing! Do you have a copy fo the paper you wrote? It'd be interesting to read. It does not seem that anyone has published -- after my cursory Google search -- on what you are discussing in the video. I couldn't find anything comparing and contrasting the theory of sublimation on Nietzsche, Plato, and Freud. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sublimation_(psychology)

[@liamodalaigh3201]

hemingway beat up an older man who was drunk

[@damirstrmel9930]

"Out here on the perimeter there are no stars! Out here, we is stoned....immaculate."

[@marknewton6984]

But Stevens was twice his size...😮

[@badhairdye]

I stopped at seven minutes. Falling back on academic cliches, tuneless jargon, not successfully sublime. Truly rambling, and not like a rose. OTOH, Stevens' poem is wonderful, and to read it is an improvement over listening to a lecture about it.

[@peterjonas4971]

Ridiculously over-rated literary critic (impressive only to those who didn't major in English) and reported predator on his women students.

[@thequarrelsomepiper6100]

sigh, you're a nimrod

[@marknewton6984]

I was an English major.