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Book Reviews

Poor, poor Benjamin

Illuminations: Essays and ReflectionsIlluminations: Essays and Reflections by Walter Benjamin

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Benjamin (pronounced BEN-ya-mean) is one of those writers you just can’t help loving in a sort of “oh poor Walter” way. His longing for an “aura” even as it seems to be dissolving before his very eyes is so likable and so tragic that you just want to give the guy a hug.



Certainly his life’s tragedy leans over the edge of the reader’s shoulder and one really can’t separate the ideas in these essays from the idea of Walter Benjamin: a guy who’s been dealt none of the right cards, can’t figure himself to be an employee, who just wants to be left alone to read great books, write great essays, and to lead the life of an homme de lettres, and of course, the final tragedy of his bad luck, when he’s off by a single day. I can relate to his frustrations, as well as to the seeming impossibility of leading the life he wanted.



Poor, poor Benjamin.


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My Non-Fiction Bookshelf

Literary Theory: A Very Short IntroductionLiterary Theory: A Very Short Introduction by Jonathan D. Culler

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a fantastic li’l Lit Theory book. It is short, but rather than superficially skimming the surface of as many theoretical schools as possible, Culler takes a more interesting (and page appropriate) approach by encountering those different schools through an exploration of lit theory’s practical concerns. You get chapters like “What is Theory?” and “Language, Meaning, and Interpretation,” and as a result of his method, you actually do end up coming across some of the main lines of thinking that these theoretical schools identify with, only you do it with an organic understanding of critical theory’s overall nature and purpose.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who reads and/or has even a slight interest in literary or cultural studies. Jonathan Culler does more in 120 pages than most others do in 500.



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Men and Cartoons: Stories by Jonathan Lethem

A few of these stories were pretty good (not great imho), a few lacked even a modicum of depth, and a few depended on a very forgiving reader, straddling the area between okay and lame.

This is my first experience with Jonathan Lethem, and with so many better Jonathans to read, I don’t think I’ll be revisiting this one.



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