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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beowulf (Modern Critical Interpretation), May 7, 2001
The concept of the Modern Critical Interpretation series is an excellent one. The editor, Harold Bloom, a renowned scholar in his own right, has assembled the best literary criticism of a large number of important works. If you want to get a deeper insight into Beowulf as a work of literature, this book is an excellent way to do it. Some of the essays are a bit challenging--the book is for the fairly serious Beowulf fan. Seamus Heaney's translation really got me into a work which I've been meaning to get to for a long time. This collection of essays took me the rest of the way--it told me all I wanted to know about Beowulf as work of literature. Think of it as a senior-level college text book. The essays give the reader some valuable insights into the language, but you don't have to know Old English to appreciate it. But a willingness to learn about a few of the words will help. "Difficult" classics usually pay back many-fold the effort one puts into studying them. Beowulf and these essays are definitely worth that time and effort.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A short anthology of Beowulf criticism, September 11, 2004
This review is from: Beowulf (Bloom's Notes) (Library Binding)
In studying the history of Beowulf criticism, it is important to be aware on the one hand of Ker's critique of Beowulf as a poorly structured non-masterpiece, and Tolkien's influential defense of the artistic and structural merit of the poem.
This anthology of Beowulf criticism is exceedingly thin, and while it provides Ker and Tolkien a few paragraphs each to make their case, important portions of Ker and Tolkien's analyses are omitted.
Although Bloom calls Tolkien's essay a "landmark" he doesn't say in what way it was a landmark. Tolkien drove home the point that Beowulf was a masterpiece, and that has been the general consensus ever since.
That being said, the anthology features the big names in Beowulf criticism, including Kemp Malone and E. Talbot Donaldson. This thin volume is definitely worth the time spent reading it.
When I first started reading this book I was a complete Beowulf neophyte, and I didn't understand what they were discussing. I put the book down and returned to it several years of Beowulf study later.
I recommend that people read and reread Beowulf several times before reading this anthology of criticism. Or at least that they return to this anthology again after becoming familiar with the sections and structure of Beowulf.
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6 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Unknown Predecessor of Marlowe and Shakespeare, October 29, 2000
When I had to switch my college study to English, I was a bit frightened of all the reading before me. This book told me that I was in for a REAL exciting journey towards my B.A. "Beowulf" is no less than an exquisite masterpiece. It is just the right length, the images are well drawn, the language is well used, and the plot is more complex than we may have thought. The setting prior to Beowulf's entrance is well constructed. Beowulf's character is well prepared upon his entrance. Unferth is well placed. He reveals to us that despite Beowulf's piety and courage, he is not a flawless hero. He suffers from excessive pride. Beowulf's fight with Grendel offers suspense and captivation, and we are even allowed a small amount of sympathy for Grendel when he escapes only to die later. We are then told the story of Siegmund, and his fall over excessive pride foreshadows Beowulf's fall. (History repeats itself.) Grendel's mother than comes to avenge her son. (This goes way beyond a simple chapter.) She is a threat that must be dealt with, but it is difficult not to feel sorry for her. (She is after all a mother in sorrow over her son's death.) Although Unferth rebuked Beowulf earlier, he joins with Beowulf for a common cause, and later, Beowulf ADMITS that the battle was very close. (He is not invincible.) King Hrothgar then warns Beowulf of excessive pride. Later the dragon attacks, and Beowulf displays excessive pride (the very thing King Hrothgar warned him against). In this battle Beowulf does fight with courage, and Wiglaf displays touching loyalty to Beowulf in this battle where Beowulf dies. Beowulf's funeral is a fitting end for this masterpiece. So we have a hero with strength, virtues, and flaws, suspense, well organization, well drawn supporting characters, complex villains, and even an element of mystery! Who was this author?
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