Possessed By Memory

Possessed by Memory is 88-89 year old HB reading and reminiscing about the literature that has meant the most to him throughout his long life.

It is stunning in its clarity (Bloom is not known for that) and wisdom.

His reflections are interlaced with remarks about his ruined body, which must seem so strange to him, with his mind still razor sharp.

It covers much the same territory as he has covered before but nonetheless remains fresh somehow.

It is elegiac but in no way maudlin.

It is a marvel of literary appreciation (Walter Pater wrote what he called “appreciations” and Bloom is following in his steps here in the dimming eventide).