Harold Bloom has quite a cynical, negative opinion concerning modern America.  Unfortunately, he let’s all the readers of his article, “Dumbing Down American Readers”, in the Boston Globe know his thoughts.  Bloom seems very frustrated with modern readers and writers alike.  He grabs onto specific writers Stephen King and J.K. Rowling as his victims and lays into their supposed incompetence.  Bloom goes on to criticize these writers while slipping in other jabs at younger readers alike.  Bloom who is 73 years old is proclaiming himself to obviously be “old school” and is completely frustrated with his opinion that readers are dumb and becoming dumber by a majority of current literature.  Bloom then proceeds to “name-drop” all of his buddy’s names, which totals approximately 4 writers, in order to inform us which writers still have the level of charisma he is looking for in literature.  We all have a crotchety old family member somewhere in our lineage and whether they have a valid point or not in their opinion, it never seems to be expressed positively.  Here Bloom perpetuates that stereotype.

In a Moby Lives article, “The Bloom Is Off The Mark”, Steve Almond goes on to let us know what he thinks of Harold Bloom.  In Almond’s article he accomplishes two things:  he tells us why Bloom faltered in his message, and what the correct message should have been.  Almond explains to us that in Bloom’s criticism and blubbering about Steven King’s and Rowling’s inability to write uplifting literature for Americans, Bloom himself became hypocritical.  Almond also tells us that he himself agrees with Blooms original message of Americans becoming “dumbed down”, but goes more into depth about what exactly that entails.  He tells us that the message to be relayed is that literature is not guiding Americans towards informing themselves on problems in the economy, education, and consumerism specifically.  Almond is concerned that Americans are not being uplifted to confront these problems, but rather hidden from them in the name of profit.  Ultimately, Steve Almond would rather see Bloom state a much more positive twist on uplifting literature and it’s future, rather than tearing it down with a “no hope” attitude.

I firmly agree with Steve Almond’s thought of stating the realities of modern day America in literature.  I feel that Americans are not being subjected to the realities of what is happening in the world and are not being encouraged to educate themselves with classic thinking and modern facts.  Unfortunately, Harold Bloom, who seems to be a respected scholar, did not get this thought across well in his article.  I echo Almond when I say that Bloom became so caught up in his frustration with specific authors that he missed the mark with his initial grand topic.  I still am not sure why Bloom let himself get carried away with the criticism of Rowling and the name dropping of his acquaintances.  I do know that both Bloom and Almond have a great point in that Americans are loosing sight of great past literature, such as Shakespeare, whom they both noted.  I would love to see more people intellectually educated through literature past and present, but as Almond stated, I also fear the economy’s control on guided ignorance.

 

Bloom, Harold. “Dumbing Down American Readers.” Boston.com. http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2003/09/24/dumbing_down_american_readers/

Almond, Steve. “The Bloom Is Off The Mark.” Mobylives. http://www.mobylives.com/Almond_Bloom.html