From The Anxiety to The Anatomy of Influence: A Conversation with Harold Bloom

[dublo7]

Who is the French theorist they were talking about at ~1:03?

[journeyisseperate]

Harold's mind is so wonderful that it is almost superfluous. I am so thankful that I managed to find his work and words, primarily through the internet (which he would probably be astonished by) whereby I have purchased and read most of his books. To put it mildly, he has changed the way that I perceive literature like few else. Thankfully his spirit and majesty has been recorded for all to witness, whether or not they should agree with his views. Thank you Harold, for your unwavering sublimity.

[vassal11]

Harold bloom may be the most well read literary critic who ever lives. I feel fortunate to be alive in his time.

[dublo7]

"Old age is a shipwreck".

Beautiful!

[Marat9043]

pizdabolic

[daodon11]

Yeah on further listening, I think the interview is full of hilarious moments due to their cross-purposes. I think Harold Bloom is having fun with the interviewer, Paul Holdengraber.

[daodon11]

i think the interviewer is cute. Harold Bloom is a difficult person for many to interview as he says somewhere that he learned from Dr. Johnson that conversation must be treated as a battle. Most people are too polite and cautious to fight back. Bloom too seems somewhat cautious; he aims more on skirmishes, then retreats, and if he sees that he won't win he tries another tact. His armory is too heavy; we must excuse any interviewer of impish Bloom if the conversation's battle seems to go awry.

[clockworkscott]

i didn't think the interviewer was that terrible. i'm not quite sure why they picked him to do the job of interviewing bloom, but he could've been worse. i think it would undoubtedly have been better to get a greater thinker to interview him, given that bloom doesn't do these types of public appearances much anymore.

[theicyridge]

@clockworkscott Yes I think the speaker is actually quite good. He had a plan for the evening that Bloom deviates from, which is always difficult. But he's very agreeable and kind.

[AAwildeone]

What don't we want to listen to our venerable HB just go on about. I want the religious crit; I want the early lit crit; I want the later opinions since Mosaic; WE need it all. If there's a student in Dr.Blooms class, you are doing a service to society by passing it on!

[asifthroughsleep]

ugh. the interviewer. he's so...extroverted. it's overbearing. and obnoxious.

[bascombe2]

The most horrifying first-date conversation ever recorded.

[kikomiko1]

Someone end this miserable old fuck's suffering already.

[CantEatBabies]

I could honestly listen to Bloom talk all day.

[bbravo2]

There's nothing the interviewer could've done. Bloom doesn't let him finish a single question or thought. And there's no telling what word he'll latch onto before delivering an outburst. The interviewer extracts some fascinating anecdotes like the psychoanalytic stuff and his relationship with C.S. Lewis.

[ZachClooney]

Love the bit at the end where Harold Bloom talks of Kafka.

[ZachClooney]

Love the bit here where Harold Bloom talks of Burton, the "fear of over-reading" and the dangers of drowning out life 45:30

[ZachClooney]

What an absolute delight to find this Harold Bloom conversation here on YouTube. Thank you so much the PEN American Center for uploading it. You have made my day, my year! Harold Bloom is an incredible inspiration.

[billycarr]

@ 1:16:30 - have u ever seen anyone react to an applause break like this

[Forehead2Brick]

A little advice to Paul: never act smug when you're interviewing a man orders of magnitude more intelligent than yourself.

[ZachClooney]

@Forehead2Brick I second your advice to the rude interviewer of Harold Bloom. This conversation is a small miracle, spoilt by a big error by the organisers to have that nobody interviewing Dr Johnson's heir.

[bullettoothburrows]

That Interviewer is terrible, yet oddly enough he sounds like a bond villian.

[mathforphysics]

Bloom doesn't trust the interviewer (at least in the beginning), but he really should.

[BleakGreyHorizon]

I love the way that Bloom keeps giggling at the interviewer's inanities -- and the audience laughs along with him.

[roidrage420]

Also: Bloom's burn on The New York Times re: syntax, etc. The fact that they don't use the Oxford comma. Are they worried they're wasting ink on their online articles?

[roidrage420]

I feel like the interviewer is too concerned with reminding the audience he's wearing horn-rimmed glasses and can use them like an intellectual

[horrelvoet]

The interviewer misses jewishness-he is to heavy like german.

[sotweeddude]

Oh that was just amazing!!!!!!!!!!!! Bloom is one of my heroes.

[Aiden057]

Thank you for this and all the other offerings on this great channel.

[louloudaki1981]

When you interview people like Bloom, you'd better get prepared in advance.

[polymath7]

@ 16:43 Oh mercy, this is just riotous.

[polymath7]

I'm quite surprised Bloom didn't recognize the famous Whitman recording. The reading is indeed terrible, but I imagine the halting, seemingly didactic tone is simply Whitman's attempt to ensure that his voice can be clearly heard on the wax cylinder.

[Thirthankar]

Thanks a ton for sharing this! :)

[ccalson]

Thank you.

[Artlitfan]

God Harold's really deteriorating. Watching his hands shake while taking a sip of water is very sad. At least his mind's still sharp.

[nephos100]

@Artlitfan That may be a side effect of medication. After heart surgery some prescribed medications can do this.

[Artlitfan]

@nephos100 Actually I've learned it's a lifelong affliction of Harold's.

[nephos100]

@Artlitfan OK. I never knew that.

[YoungNubb]

Why the fuck do you people hate the interviewer?

[onionhuff]

Bloom's having a time with this idiot.

[stoogefest16]

Harold sounds a lot friendlier than he sounds in writing, and his new york accent really surprised me too. He sounds just slightly like christopher walken.



[polymath7]

@stoogefest16 *guffaw* Christopher Walken indeed! I can't believe I never noticed before. Fucking hilarious.

"And now, young man, I give the watch to you." XD

[lmfaoxdlol]

Interviewer is a faggot

[smits98]

far to few people have viewed this :(

[meddmawamm]

Love his reaction to "America", the pinnacle of Levi's commercials. It's abominable.

[Erlind255]

The interviewer is amusing with his retarded questions, no one but himself.

[IGHON]

I am just as happy reading Mr. Bloom as watching him recite some of the pieces that he describes as "immortal wounds." The last recitation of Yeats by Bloom was simply a sublime moment!

[thafons]

Love Bloom, hate the interviewer.

[ZachClooney]

@thafons I agree with you. Harold Bloom is wonderful here, despite his failing health. But Bloom deserved a patient and respectful interviewer. This interviewer irritates me with his contstant interruptions and rude behaviour.

[Strattonus]

Thanks for uploading. Haven't seen Bloom on camera in a while. Older but his mind hasn't dulled a bit.

[polymath7]

@Strattonus I think just perhaps his phenomenal memory is starting to go a bit.

@ 15:30 The correct quote from Johnson is "No man but a blockhead ever writ, except for money."