Illuminations
Essays and Reflections
HarperCollins · Print & ebook · January 15, 2019
A selection of works from one of the most original cultural critics of the twentieth century—as selected by Hannah Arendt and including a classic essay of her own about Walter Benjamin’s life and philosophy.¶ “There has been no more original, no more serious critic and reader in our time.”—George Steiner ¶ An icon of criticism, Walter Benjamin was renowned for his insights on art, literature, and philosophy.
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- Who it’s for
- For when you want literary criticism that rewards slow attention without demanding a PhD.
- Genres
- German Literary Criticism, Art Criticism & Ideas, Aesthetics
- Published
- HarperCollins, January 15, 2019
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A selection of works from one of the most original cultural critics of the twentieth century—as selected by Hannah Arendt and including a classic essay of her own about Walter Benjamin’s life and philosophy.¶ “There has been no more original, no more serious critic and reader in our time.”—George Steiner ¶ An icon of criticism, Walter Benjamin was renowned for his insights on art, literature, and philosophy.
Continue reading
This volume includes his views on Kafka, with whom he felt a close personal affinity; his studies on Baudelaire and Proust; and his essays on Leskov and on Brecht’s epic theater. Illuminations includes two of Benjamin’s best-known, deeply enlightening essays, “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction” and “Theses on the Philosophy of History,” as well as Hannah Arendt’s own essay about her subject’s life as a German-born Jew during a dark era.
Critical Light
For when you want literary criticism that rewards slow attention without demanding a PhD.
Come here for
- Essays with philosophical bite
- A serious, portable collection
Expect
- Reflections and essays
- Layered but accessible prose
Where it sits
| Aesthetics | 26% |
|---|---|
| German Literary Criticism | 25% |
| Art Criticism & Ideas | 22% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- Lives in History
- Writers' Lives
- Political Lives
- Lives of the Rich & Famous
Show all 8 publisher categories
- Social Scientists' Lives
- Food World Lives
- Activist Lives
- Jewish Lives
- Authors
- Walter Benjamin
- Publisher
- HarperCollins
- Published
- January 15, 2019
- Format
- Print & ebook
- Reading lane
- Lives in History