Beowulf

Bloom's Modern Critical Interpretations

by Harold Bloom

The most important poem in Old English, Beowulf is also the only surviving Anglo-Saxon epic. Though the origins of the piece remain a mystery, it has long been acclaimed for its grand tone and brilliant style. The title, ’s Beowulf, part of Chelsea House Publishers’ Modern Critical Interpretations series, presents the most important 20th-century criticism on ’s Beowulf through extracts of critical essays by well-known literary critics. This collection of criticism also features a short biography on , a chronology of the author’s life, and an introductory essay written by Harold Bloom, Sterling Professor of the Humanities, Yale University.

Genres: Literary Criticism, Nonfiction, Classics

144 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Harold Bloom was an American literary critic and the Sterling Professor of Humanities at Yale University. In 2017, Bloom was called "probably the most famous literary critic in the English-speaking world." After publishing his first book in 1959, Bloom wrote more than 50 books, including over 40 books of literary criticism, several books discussing religion, and one novel. He edited hundreds of anthologies concerning numerous literary and philosophical figures for the Chelsea House publishing firm. Bloom's books have been translated into more than 40 languages. He was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 1995.
Bloom was a defender of the traditional Western canon at a time when literature departments were focusing on what he derided as the "school of resentment" (multiculturalists, feminists, Marxists, and others). He was educated at Yale University, the University of Cambridge, and Cornell University.

Reviews

[Andrew · Rating 2 out of 5]

The essays in this collection are mostly top-notch. I have to give it a low star rating however, because it's so poorly made. It appears the editors just lifted the essays from their orignal sources without any care to align styles. In the case of a few of the essays, complete notes and bibliographies are missing. This is shoddy bookmaking, and it bothers me.

[Kathryn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some essays were better than others.