In a fit of righteous spite, I 'borrowed' the only copy of Closing of the American Mind from ISI's library on my way out the door, and over the past year I've read almost all of it, though out of order.
I used some sections of it (those specifically pertaining to the university and its roles and functions) in my freshmen classes this semester, and I think it was effective... the students, now approaching the end of their first semester, have uncovered a trouble paradox. The university, they unanimously agree, is there to prepare them for their careers--and yet the university teaches nothing that is directly useful to a majority those careers, and very little that is indirectly useful. What, then, are they doing there? (I've asked that question repeatedly this semester... sometimes rhetorically, sometimes in frustration.) They can find no answer except the cynical one, the degree they earn is simply a prerequisite for their career of toil and drudgery. Since I'm teaching a comp class and not a class on Bloom we don't have time to read more than a few selections, but at least they are asking questions.
I've read Steyn's piece on Bloom a couple of times and, in conjunction with Bloom's chapter on music, I have a really tough time with it. I like rock music... I like playing it, as I can, I like listening to it, I like watching it live. I enjoy listening to it while I drive or run, and I like putting it on in the background while I'm doing other things. Does this place my soul in jeopardy? As I read Bloom, he thinks that it does. And there are many legitimate points there... as it pertains to the sexual nature of rhythm and violent/stupid/pointless lyrics. But Steyn goes so far (maybe echoing Bloom) as to lump the music in with the musicians, when that separation is key. Just ask Bert when Eddie Vedder was tearing G.W. Bush masks in two on stage in '04. What would Bloom say about an internet and itunes that lets anyone grab any song they like? There's no need to invest in the artist, to discover who he/she is, their sexual history, how they act on stage, their politics. There's only one music personality, I think, who has nearly perfectly melded his off-stage persona (or character, even) to the experience of producing his music, and that is Bono, but I've gotten pretty far afield. Suffice it to say, Bloom's music chapter is really tough, and I still don't know how to think about it.
