Hunchbacked little man: Childhood in Berlin around 1900

Author: Walter Benjamin (Germany)
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-03-01
Features: This is a collection of essays where Benjamin examines people and events from his childhood in Berlin through a fragmented lens. Before his death, the author hid the manuscript in the National Library of Paris, and it was rediscovered forty years later, bringing back the scenes of urban life in Berlin as experienced by the author around 1900: the inner balconies of Berlin homes, the Victory Monument, Tiergarten Park, telephones, zoos, stereoscopic views, hide-and-seek, children's books, Christmas angels, ghosts, and more. Through his intellectual filtering and exploration, each subject is presented in a way that is incredibly dense with information and deeply evocative. The author's highly charming personal style and unique perspective on things are fully brought to life here. Western critics have hailed it as "one of the most beautiful essays of our time."