Reviews

Calle de dirección única by Tillman Rexroth, Walter Benjamin

casparb's review against another edition

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Benjamin is a kind of black sheep in the 20thc and an icon the more I think of him the more I'm overwhelmed what a person he's warm and accessible and genuinely piercing. One Way Street as Verso has it here is a curious hodgepodge of Benjamin in both the height of his theoretical practice - the iconic Theologico-Political Fragment , On Language ... , and Surrealism nestle among each other - as well as more autobiographical works such as Hashish in Marseilles and the phasing sharpness of the title essay.

He's just exquisite I can't do him justice here. I'll leave with two:
The satirist is the figure in whom the cannibal was received into civilisation (p.327)

Life only seemed worth living where the threshold between waking and sleeping was worn away in everyone as by the steps of multitudinous images flowing back and forth, language only seemed itself where sound and image, image and sound interpenetrated with automatic precision and such felicity that no chink was left for the penny-in-the-slot called "meaning" (p.263)

catherinecuypers's review against another edition

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3.0

*3.5 stars — only actually read “One-way street” for class though

nvsansone's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective fast-paced

4.0

utopiareads's review against another edition

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dark reflective slow-paced

1.0

exlibrisnoctis's review against another edition

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3.0

*3.5 stars — only actually read “One-way street” for class though

jackclasen's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective slow-paced

4.0

mostnegnancy's review against another edition

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medium-paced

3.0

I didn't understand a lot of what was happening in this book but i didn't hate it.

martini's review against another edition

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challenging dark funny reflective slow-paced

4.0

piccoline's review against another edition

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5.0

Really wonderful and influential collection of short meditations. (Later this sort of intense meditative philosophical miniature became known as "Denkbild". See also Adorno's magnificent [b:Minima Moralia: Reflections from a Damaged Life|201388|Minima Moralia Reflections from a Damaged Life|Theodor W. Adorno|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388215583s/201388.jpg|313155].)

Some of them are a little inscrutable so much time has passed, but others feel frighteningly of the moment. (And, it is also true that a couple I felt to be inscrutable, when I re-read them? they snapped into place beautifully. So, there is that as well.)

Beautiful little edition, too, from Belknap Press.
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