The Correspondence of Walter Benjamin and Gershom Scholem, 1932-1940
by Walter Benjamin, Gershom Scholem
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Description
The legendary correspondence between the critic Walter Benjamin and the historian Gershom Scholem bears indispensable witness to the inner lives of two remarkable and enigmatic personalities. Benjamin, acknowledged today as on of the leading literary and social critics of his day, was known during his lifetime by only a small circle of friends and intellectual confreres. Scholem recognized the genius of his friend and mentor during their student days in Berlin, and the two began to show more correspond after Scholem's emigration to Palestine. Their impassioned exchange draws the reader into the very heart of their complex relationship during the anguished years from 1932 until Benjamin's death in 1940. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
This is one of the saddest things I've ever read. All they wanted to do was talk about cool books and theory and their favorite artists and poetry and earnestly help each other through life. And then some moron idiot fascist who doesn't understand anything about anything comes along and takes it all away for nothing.
This also made me think a lot about how much written communication has changed with the internet and text messages. They wrote each other long, beautiful, deeply thoughtful letters weekly. A collection of my correspondences would consist mostly of misspelled, incomplete sentences, links, emojis and one word replies. Sad!
Only reason it's not 5 stars is cause so many of their letters rely on a deep familiarity with the show more writers and works they are referencing and discussing, so about a quarter of the book was just incomprehensible to me. show less
This also made me think a lot about how much written communication has changed with the internet and text messages. They wrote each other long, beautiful, deeply thoughtful letters weekly. A collection of my correspondences would consist mostly of misspelled, incomplete sentences, links, emojis and one word replies. Sad!
Only reason it's not 5 stars is cause so many of their letters rely on a deep familiarity with the show more writers and works they are referencing and discussing, so about a quarter of the book was just incomprehensible to me. show less
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Tablet Magazine's List of 101 Great Jewish Books
103 works; 9 members
Author Information
518+ Works 16,248 Members
Walter Benjamin (1892-1940) was a German-Jewish Marxist literary critic, essayist, translator and philosopher associated with the Frankfurt School of critical theory.
98+ Works 5,388 Members
Gershom Scholem's contribution to the understanding of Jewish mysticism is so dramatic that it warrants a separate introduction. As a young student of mathematics, he became a Zionist and his interest shifted to Jewish history. Scholem moved from Germany to become the librarian of the new University and National Library in Jerusalem in 1923 and show more served as a professor at Hebrew University from 1935 to 1965. Before him, Jewish historians during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries scorned the ignored mystical dimension of Judaism as a relic of premodern superstition and ignorance. Scholem's erudition and deep insight gave Cabala a scholarly audience. His writings are often difficult to read, but they are indispensable for any thorough knowledge of the subject of Jewish mysticism. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Common Knowledge
- People/Characters
- Walter Benjamin; Gershom Scholem
Classifications
- Genres
- Fiction and Literature, Literature Studies and Criticism
- DDC/MDS
- 838.91209 — Literature & rhetoric German & related literatures German miscellaneous writings 1900- 1900-1990 1900-1945 Individual authors not limited to one specific form : description; critical appraisal; biography; collected works
- LCC
- PT2603 .E455 .Z54813 — Language and Literature German, Dutch and Scandinavian literatures German literature Individual authors or works 1860/70-1960
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 103
- Popularity
- 312,898
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (4.17)
- Languages
- English, German
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 4
