I’ve just started reading this book that I obtained some
time ago through Amazon. I go for e-books as much as possible these days –
they’re cheaper and more transportable. I can have them with me at home or in
the office. However, not all books are available as e-books. This one wasn’t at
the time I bought it. And actually, I’m rather glad. This is such a nice
volume. It’s quite small and the cover is quite soft. It’s off-white. The pages
are cream. Each page has a two centimetre border. It‘s very light to hold and
very tactile. A joy to own, in fact.
The account is similar in some ways to Proust’s account of
his childhood. Memories are associated with the senses. Benjamin gives us a
glimpse of Berlin how it really was when both he and Ernst Lehrs were young. I
really need to understand this in order to be able to write some of the earlier
scenes.
As I read more I became quite interested in Benjamin so
found out more about him. He may best be described as a philosopher. He
committed suicide in 1940 when he was persecuted by the Nazis. Some rather
flippantly say that he claimed that history could be rewritten. He actually
meant we can reinterpret history. This happens constantly with such issues as
the Holocaust as people change their perceptions when they gain new insights. I
need the raw eye-witness account from the actual time of the events in my
story, however.
No comments:
Post a Comment