The Art of Reading Poetry by Harold Bloom
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Let's start with the obvious cliché: You can either love or hate Bloom.
I've loved him since my college years for his take on Shakespeare, I was impressed with his contribution on poetry criticism with the anxiety of influence (and intertextuality all at once made tremendous sense), and I kinda hated him for his strong views against popular literature, fantasy, and specifically, well, I'll say it, Stephen King.
As elitist, opinionated and grumpy as he can be, we have to admit that he has collected an astonishing amount of knowledge over the years, and anything he might have to say on poetics, it's at least worth hearing. Bloom loves language, literature and poetry with a strong, deep, religious respect, and he treats it as something unique, holy and therapeutic for the reader.
The essay of this book was the introduction to The Best Poems of the English Language. After defining poetry as "figurative language, concentrated so that its form is both expressive and evocative", Bloom goes on to provide us with examples from his favourite poets (as well as from his not-that-favourite Poe) on the four types of figurative language and on what is "inevitable" phrasing. There is also a fantastic conclusion with a few thoughts about the importance of reading poetry, which he describes it as "authentic training in the [healthy] augmentation of consciousness". Brilliant motherfucker.
Of course, you may love or hate Bloom. Well, fuck that-
If you don't mind, I think I'll do both with this one.

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The Unbelievable Hamlet Discovery by David Crystal
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Hardly hysterical, hypothetically hilarious, hyperbolically humorous - harmless, however.

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The View from the Cheap Seats: Selected Nonfiction by Neil Gaiman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wow, I had no idea Neil Gaiman had written that many introductions and speeches.
Nor did I know that he thought his stories have genders (and apparently that I am sort of sexist, having read only his little-boy's book, Neverwhere, and his male novel, American Gods; I'm not counting Sandman, some volumes are male, others female).

I thought Gaiman had been celebrated a little too much in his lifetime compared to his work volume, but this non-fiction collection, besides being a name-dropping parade itself, is the proof why.

This man loves books, libraries, storytellers and their stories and speaks no ill of anyone. Period.
He has such a love for the genre that moved him originally to write stories, that he's made me fill three airsickness bags, back and front, with notes and references of books, authors, comics and artists I want to follow and find out more about. He made me chuckle one too many times and he moved me to tears just by talking with such fondness about people I haven't heard before.

This non-fiction collection will make you all wooshy woobly warm and fuzzy inside for the things Neil Gaiman loves. I don't know if I'll be an avid fantasy/science fiction reader after this, but sure I'll give it an honest try. And I'll look up his movie suggestions and music recommendations. And I'll try to move myself closer to whatever is the mountain that I'd like to see its top. And I'll try to make good art.

Neil Gaiman has met giants and has walked among them, and, well, you can say, after all is said done, he is rightfully one of them.

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