Just about everything Marcin writes about Bloom being an elitist is pretty clear and right on. But ANY & ALL issues related to what Bloom says about specific music, pro and con, are irrelevant to the problems with his argument. Bloom's argument would be just as false, for exactly the same reasons, if he was entirely supportive of the same music that Marcin is. Marcin claims to agree with this in several parts of his post:
Adorno's or Bloom's disliking rock or jazz is not a problem for me. I can read books or discuss with people who like Schoenberg better then Stravinsky, Ornette Coleman then Miles Davis, Slayer then Anthrax. Very few of my friends share my musical, literary or philosophical tastes, I even know a guy who thinks German football (what most of you call 'soccer') league is great, however suprising it might be ;-). It's not a problem for me.
& "Marcin Gokieli" <marcingokieli@go2.pl> wrote:
Herb Levy <herb@eskimo.com> wrote:
I've seen very similar arguments from people who like jazz more than Adorno did or who like rock more than Bloom did. The arguments are no more or less flawed simply because I may share more musical tastes with the author.
I agree complety with you on this point, I hope my position is more clear now.
But once Marcin's gotten himself worked up a little bit, he goes right back to arguing against Bloom's statements of taste. "Marcin Gokieli" <marcingokieli@go2.pl> wrote:
Herb Levy <herb@eskimo.com> wrote:
If you just have a knee-jerk dismissal of Bloom based on his comments about pop music, there's no clear understanding of why you may agree on other issues.
I dimiss him because I find his comments extremly offensive. One point: don't you agree with me here? Being a person who spent a large part of his life listening and playing rock, I do feel offended. And one may wonder what can make Bloom think that it's correct to write such things.
Basing any part of one's argument with Bloom's ideas on the fact that he dissed your taste in music is as pointless as starting a fist fight because somebody doesn't like your shoes. These details may pull your chain, but they aren't an important part of what's screwed up about Bloom's book. To repeat what I wrote earlier,
It's easy for me to imagine someone agreeing with Bloom's overall argument, and differing only on details like their response to rock, TV sitcoms, or other cultural manifestations. There are people who make the same kind of arguments based on valuing a particular creative period of the past but draw their aesthetic lines at different points because of their own tastes in art. I've seen very similar arguments from people who like jazz more than Adorno did or who like rock more than Bloom did. The arguments are no more or less flawed simply because I may share more musical tastes with the author.
In other words, to answer your question ("don't you agree with me here? "). No, I don't. Bests, Herb -- Herb Levy P O Box 9369 Fort Worth, TX 76147 herb@eskimo.com