书中那种幼稚到排山倒海的力量和那种幼稚的激情分散在古怪蹊跷的日常生活中，描述一个莽撞的青年的形象，重现最初最纯粹的感动。

A companion volume to Illuminations , the first collection of Walter Benjamin's writings, Reflections presents a further sampling of his wide-ranging work. Here Benjamin evolves a theory of language as the medium of all creation, discusses theater and surrealism, reminisces about Berlin in the 1920s, recalls conversations with Bertolt Brecht, and provides travelogues of various cities, including Moscow under Stalin. He moves seamlessly from literary criticism to autobiography to philosophical-theological speculations, cementing his reputation as one of the greatest and most versatile writers of the twentieth century. Also included is a new preface by Leon Wieseltier that explores Benjamin's continued relevance for our times.

Walter Benjamin was one of the most original cultural critics of the twentieth century. Illuminations 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. Also included are his penetrating study "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction," an enlightening discussion of translation as a literary mode, and Benjamin's theses on the philosophy of history. Hannah Arendt selected the essays for this volume and introduces them with a classic essay about Benjamin's life in dark times. Also included is a new preface by Leon Wieseltier that explores Benjamin's continued relevance for our times.

本书是瓦尔特·本雅明德“拱廊研究计划”的几篇完成稿，德国著名思想家、文艺理论家本雅明受阿拉贡小说的启发，决定通过对大城市异化景观——巴黎拱廊的研究，来展现19世界“资本文化盛事”的风景。在这几篇完成稿中，他用自己独特的叙述风格对波德莱尔的诗歌进行了诠释，同时又敏锐地发现了拱廊在空间上给人类社会生活带来地新变化。通过本书，你可以了解到19世纪资本主义发展进程中，人与自身异化所做的斗争。

《德国悲剧的起源》是本雅明最重要的代表作，这部论德国巴洛克悲剧的杰作，在本雅明谋求教职时却不无悲剧性地失败了。这部后来取得巨大声誉的作品有意显示巴洛克悲剧与作者自己的时代的惊人相似。同时，本雅明最重要的“寓言”思想正是在此得到的阐发。