Product Description

Follows the life and work of Walter Benjamin, tracing his influence on modern aesthetics and cultural history, as well as his particular focus on the tension between Marxism and Zionism, and between word and image in modern art.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #892675 in Books
• Published on: 2000-10-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 176 pages

Customer Reviews

Fresh and Approachable
I disagree. I like the concept of Icon's 'Introducing' series a lot - in which the ideas of key thinkers are summarized in comic-strip form. The execution can be rather variable, but this one is quite effective. The 'superficial anecdotes' are helpful to readers who dislike academic austerity. They help to make the more abstract ideas memorable and engaging. It ptobably doesn't deserve five stars, but I'd like to push the average up a bit.

superficial biography
This is not a good book. It deals mainly with superficial anecdotes from Benjamins life and gives very little insight into his thinking (which is what we really care about, right?). The Illustrations are bad: they do not contribute to the meaning of the text but merely illustrate it. The space allotted to the illustrations is out of proportion and since the illustrations do not contribute to the reading, you feel cheated.