"I am not one who was born in the custody of wisdom. I am one who is fond of olden times and intense in quest of the sacred knowing of the ancients." Gustave Courbet

30 September 2012

Grace.


In 2008, Jesse Pearson interviewed Harold Bloom ...

PEARSON:  Can you explain to me your concept of the solitary reader? That’s who you say you address your books to. 

BLOOM: It’s not a concept. It’s just a fact. There are solitary readers all over the world. I don’t have any special insight into this. I do not know why it is that certain young people, from the beginning, are loners—perfectly sane—who want to go and be alone with a very good book. Again, it’s the saving remnant. It’s a sort of strange grace and of course I’m profoundly thankful for it. So you don’t have to ask me what I mean by the solitary reader. I mean you—on the basis of what you’ve told me. All you need to know about the solitary reader is Pearson.

Read the rest here.

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