May 5th, 2009 / 11:39 pm
 Random

Update: The Western Canon, Again

Does anyone remember that about a month ago I announced that I was putting my reading of Bloom’s The Western Canon on hold so I could read Dickens’s Bleak House before reading the chapter on Bleak House, because I didn’t want the plot spoiled by Bloom’s criticism? Well, I finished Bleak House on Monday, and yesterday I got to read my Bloom chapter.  You know what? It was all worth it–the novel was, and the chapter was, and the reading the novel before reading the chapter absolutely was. I just couldn’t be happier with the sequence of decisions and actions that has led me to this place. Next up in The Western Canon, we learn about Ibsen. Tally ho!

Tags: ,

13 Comments

  1. May 6th, 2009 / 4:04 am christian—

      I love Bleak House, as in top ten. Do you recommend reading Bloom’s chapter on it? It was Nabokov’s lecture on it that got me to read it in the first place.

      Ibsen’s good enough, but he can only be a letdown after Bleak House.

  2. May 6th, 2009 / 12:04 am christian—

      I love Bleak House, as in top ten. Do you recommend reading Bloom’s chapter on it? It was Nabokov’s lecture on it that got me to read it in the first place.

      Ibsen’s good enough, but he can only be a letdown after Bleak House.

  3. May 6th, 2009 / 4:11 am Nathan Tyree—

      Ibsen is right up there with Henry Gibson.

      So, what did you think of Bleak House? Give us the lowdown.

  4. May 6th, 2009 / 12:11 am Nathan Tyree—

      Ibsen is right up there with Henry Gibson.

      So, what did you think of Bleak House? Give us the lowdown.

  5. May 6th, 2009 / 4:56 am Michael—

      Great post! Couldn’t be happier for you!!! ; ) !!!! This is great!!!

  6. May 6th, 2009 / 12:56 am Michael—

      Great post! Couldn’t be happier for you!!! ; ) !!!! This is great!!!

  7. May 6th, 2009 / 6:55 am Kevin O'Neill—

      classic stylings.

  8. May 6th, 2009 / 2:55 am Kevin O'Neill—

      classic stylings.

  9. May 6th, 2009 / 8:02 am Drew Toal—

      Your award is in the mail.

  10. May 6th, 2009 / 10:06 am pr—

      I never got page 150- I’m impressed, now I have to pick it up again. Good job Justin. But David Copperfield is better- ask David Gates.

  11. May 6th, 2009 / 6:37 pm Nathan (Nate) Tyree—

      Copperfield didn’t work for me. I loved Great Expectations as a kid, but as an adult it is Bleak House all the way

  12. May 6th, 2009 / 2:37 pm Nathan (Nate) Tyree—

      Copperfield didn’t work for me. I loved Great Expectations as a kid, but as an adult it is Bleak House all the way

  13. May 6th, 2009 / 10:34 pm pr—

      Yeah, I’ll pick up Bleak House again, give it another go. Legal systems don’t interest me very much, but I loved the characters.

      It reminded me of watching -(NOT reading)- the 20 odd part series “The Pallisers” based on Trollopes Palliser books. Man, drinking and watching the minutia of yee olden times politics in England is one thing, but I am never, ever reading those books. Also, you know what I love about those BBC things? So many of the actors playing 16 year old girls are actually 32. It’s funny! So you can giggle through the mindnumbing political stuff.

      I too loved Great Expectations. But David Copperfield I read in my late 20s and LOVED it.