As a reader I am always trying to separate the wheat from the chaff—there is so much to read and so little time, thus one must discern what is “best” to read. That is why I decided to read “The Western Canon: The Books and School Of the Ages” by Harold Bloom. Professor Bloom has been teaching literary criticism at Yale for most of my life. Bloom is a respected and renowned intellectual in some circles. But in other circles—what Bloom would call the “school of resentment”— Bloom is disdained and dismissed as an anachronism. After reading this book and watching many of his lectures and interviews online, I would classify him as a brilliant literary scholar who, by dint of his lifetime of reading and thinking, is saturated in classic literature. But, in understanding that literature in an ultimate sense, Bloom lacks wisdom because he is unmoored from a consistent and meaningful and most importantly, true, worldview. It is this lack of wisdom that robs Bloom’s writing of true meaning and an ability to transcend time.Ask anyone you meet if they have read Dante or Shakespeare or Cervantes or Whitman and they will probably tell you they have read these authors. But I suspect that many, if not most, have thought about reading classic literature and never have. I also suspect that many who purchased Bloom’s “National Bestseller” would say they read it from cover to cover, but I would doubt the veracity of that claim. Why? Reading is about making choices. One must decide what they desire to read. As Bloom points out again and again, the art of reading in our technology-driven society has been lost by all but a few. Only those who are willing to work through difficult material will actually read great and timeless literature.Unfortunately, reading Bloom is like walking though a thicket in search of wild berries. One might happen upon a tasty morsel from time-to-time but the pain of obtaining that morsel is great indeed. One of the reasons for this is due to Bloom’s erudition. One cannot deny that Bloom knows his subject in ways only an ardent and lifelong scholar could. On some level, however, I believe that all of Bloom’s learning has driven him to see connections where there are none. What seems patently obvious to Bloom often appears opaque to this reader. I do not doubt that my lack of extensive literary knowledge is partly to blame but Bloom seems to glory in the arcane recesses of his own literary mind.The primary reason that Bloom’s book is unsatisfying is because Bloom seems to have no worldview that is consonant with truth. Bloom seems to dismiss God and Scripture as make believe and elevates the wisdom of Shakespeare as the greatest good. Said another way, Bloom has seemingly elevated himself to the center of the universe, and that leaves many of his literary conclusions to fall flat. Shakespeare, his idol, has stood the test of time because many of the bard’s keen observations are based on the universal truth of human nature. Much of what Bloom has written may be praised by the academic elites, but it appears to this reviewer that Bloom is wise in his own eyes and that will not stand the test of time.On a positive note, Bloom identified for me literature that I really need to read and reread. He also praised literature that I will now avoid. Bloom’s elegiac praise of Shakespeare made me fondly remember performances I attended in college and made me desire to attend such plays in the future. Bloom would also be happy to know that his book has caused me to pull off my shelf “The Norton Anthology of English Literature.” I agree with Bloom that poetry should be read aloud, whether just to myself or to a perhaps an unwilling resident in my home! Also, Blooms essays “An Elegy for the Canon” and his “Elegiac Conclusion “ along with his appendixes of classic literature are worth the price of the book. Happy reading.