The Magical Years: A Boyhood Remembrance

by Walter W. Benjamin

Presentation signed by the author on the front free endpaper.

383 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

Reviews

[Naomi Helen Yaeger]

My husband read this book on my recommendation. (I have poor eyesight, so I need an audiobook.) My husband enjoyed it.

My husband shared his thoughts on a book he recently read. It revolves around the childhood experiences of a man who grew up in Pipestone, southwest Minnesota during the 1930s. The book impressed my husband with its remarkable level of detail and comprehensiveness, holding his interest throughout. It encompasses a wide range of topics, including sports, farm work, high school dating, his father's life, small-town politics, churches, and business.

Reflecting on his own childhood, spanning from 1952 to 1972, my husband noticed several similarities between his own upbringing on a farm in southeast North Dakota and that of the book's protagonist. However, the most significant distinction my hubby found was the role of television. While Walter Benjamin, the book's subject, grew up with radio as the primary form of entertainment, there was no mention of television in his story. Walter's father was a doctor who during Walters's teen years made him work on farms to learn the value of hard work. Additionally, Walter Benjamin enlisted in the Navy during a period when it was part of the Air Force, which, in turn, was under the jurisdiction of the Army. Although he had aspired to join at the age of 17, his father had other plans for him.
The author cherished his childhood, which was during the Great Depression. My husband largely attributed that to having loving parents and the absence of any experiences of child abuse. Growing up in a small town, the author, like many others, longed to venture beyond its boundaries and explore the wider world.
If would enjoy a story of a magical childhood this is a story you would enjoy.

[Richard Rossi · Rating 5 out of 5]

You probably would not like this book unless you grew up during the 1930s and 40s in a small Midwestern town surrounded by farms where the flat landscape is interrupted only by a few trees at each farmstead.

You see, this is a memoir of the author's life through high school living in such a small town. He was born in 1926 and I was born in 1939. His small town was less than 60 miles from mine.

So I enjoyed the book very much because to me it was so nostalgic.

So read it only if you are curious about that time and place. He does an excellent job of capturing the daily life and attitudes that he and I both grew up with.