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The Angel Of History
For a brief moment in 1940 the lives of a young Spanish militant and a reclusive academic of German and Jewish heritage are thrown together. Along with thousands of others across Europe, both men have fled their homeland in the face of fascist persecution. Yet, until the day their paths converge on a remote mountain pass between France and Spain, their experience of war has been vastly different. Based on true events of Benjamin's life, and ranging from Paris' Left Bank to the prison camps of southern France, The Angel of History explores how the history we think we know is not a series of events but rather a constellation of countless individual lives. And although every story is unique, each is founded on the same human desire - to be remembered.
352 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2001
2 people are currently reading
125 people want to read
About the author
Bruno Arpaia
128 books22 followersBruno Arpaia è uno scrittore, traduttore e giornalista italiano.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
June 10, 2010
In this novel, episodes involving Walter Benjamin are interwoven with the fictional story of some Spanish refugees. For those who already know what happened in Portbou this is a bit of a chronicle foretold. Nonetheless, the Benjamin storyline is the most riveting part. This may be due in part to my personal interest in finding out more about Benjamin as Arpaia's novel evidently has a solid historical basis with references to events and important figures of the time.
However, the other half of the story, dealing with the Spanish republicans is also a believable tale about refugees. This storyline ties in well with other reading on the subject as the characters get involved in key civil war battles. There is little doubt that Arpaia, a journalist and former history teacher from Naples, has done his homework.
"The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" (German: Das Kunstwerk im Zeitalter seiner technischen Reproduzierbarkeit; originally published in Zeitschrift für Sozialforschung) is a 1935 essay by German cultural critic Walter Benjamin, which has been influential in the fields of cultural studies and media theory. It was produced, Benjamin wrote, in the effort to describe a theory of art that would be "useful for the formulation of revolutionary demands in the politics of art".
Benjamin gave the name "auratic perception" to the aesthetic faculty through which civilization would recover a lost appreciation of myth.
However, the other half of the story, dealing with the Spanish republicans is also a believable tale about refugees. This storyline ties in well with other reading on the subject as the characters get involved in key civil war battles. There is little doubt that Arpaia, a journalist and former history teacher from Naples, has done his homework.
"The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" (German: Das Kunstwerk im Zeitalter seiner technischen Reproduzierbarkeit; originally published in Zeitschrift für Sozialforschung) is a 1935 essay by German cultural critic Walter Benjamin, which has been influential in the fields of cultural studies and media theory. It was produced, Benjamin wrote, in the effort to describe a theory of art that would be "useful for the formulation of revolutionary demands in the politics of art".
Benjamin gave the name "auratic perception" to the aesthetic faculty through which civilization would recover a lost appreciation of myth.
June 9, 2014
Στα ελληνικά Ο Αγγελος της Ιστορίας από εκδόσεις Ινδικτος.
http://trollingstone.gr/?q=node/1645
http://trollingstone.gr/?q=node/1645
April 21, 2020
Beautifully written and engaging fictionalisation of real events during the Spanish Civil War and the early part of World War 2, using the life of writer, essayist and philosopher Walter Benjamin as a touchstone for making moral sense of life in impossible sets of circumstances. The structure juxtaposes the well known flight of Benjamin from the Nazis to Paris to his death in Port Bou in September 1940 with a family history of a Spanish Republican fighter Laureano Mahojo, his battles against Franco, various imprisonments, wanderings and romances. Some of the accounts of the psychology of conflict are extremely well done - as we see life in Barcelona during the shelling by the Fascists in 1939, the threadbare squalor of French prison camps, and the realities of running from the German blitzkrieg in the Ardennes. The material on Benjamin is anything but hagiographic in terms of the 'cult' around his work and death. We are presented with a well rounded portrayal of a great mind lost in the weight of the circumstances, often deluded, even pitiful on occasions and prone to making poor choices.
On one level you can't fault what we are offered. Arpaia has really done his reading and the attempt to show the human angle - Benjamin as just another refugee and victim of war - is commendable and works very well in the text itself. However, if you are not familiar with his intellectual importance, the Frankfurt School, Hannah Arendt, Arthur Koestler and other key players in the shaping of philosophy subsequent to the Holocaust, then this book may be confusing. The acknowledgements page shows diligence to his subject matter, but it is not enough. The book is screaming out for an afterword to clarify some of the events and circumstances for those who are not going to read those texts. The responsibilities of someone writing historical fiction is to annotate or guide the reader enough by providing context, not assuming too much about having knowledge of the events which the writer is trying to be true to. The tragic tale of Benjamin lugging his briefcase over the Pyrenees ('this is more important than my life' etc) is well known and speculated upon, but giving the reader something about Walter's subsequent influence and some of the other consequences of the story would satisfy the non-specialist reader without undermining the literary achievement of this book. It would also add an element of hope to compliment the philosophical reflections upon those years by Laureano.
I would also add a timeline of events in Spain and Germany during the 1930s as an appendix or even a frontispiece.
On one level you can't fault what we are offered. Arpaia has really done his reading and the attempt to show the human angle - Benjamin as just another refugee and victim of war - is commendable and works very well in the text itself. However, if you are not familiar with his intellectual importance, the Frankfurt School, Hannah Arendt, Arthur Koestler and other key players in the shaping of philosophy subsequent to the Holocaust, then this book may be confusing. The acknowledgements page shows diligence to his subject matter, but it is not enough. The book is screaming out for an afterword to clarify some of the events and circumstances for those who are not going to read those texts. The responsibilities of someone writing historical fiction is to annotate or guide the reader enough by providing context, not assuming too much about having knowledge of the events which the writer is trying to be true to. The tragic tale of Benjamin lugging his briefcase over the Pyrenees ('this is more important than my life' etc) is well known and speculated upon, but giving the reader something about Walter's subsequent influence and some of the other consequences of the story would satisfy the non-specialist reader without undermining the literary achievement of this book. It would also add an element of hope to compliment the philosophical reflections upon those years by Laureano.
I would also add a timeline of events in Spain and Germany during the 1930s as an appendix or even a frontispiece.
December 11, 2016
Essere fuori luogo sempre: questa era stata tutta la sua vita
Questo romanzo racconta la storia (vera) del tentativo infruttuoso di fuga dalle persecuzioni naziste del filosofo ebreo tedesco Walter Benjamin, fuga conclusasi tragicamente con un suicidio quando oramai la salvezza era a portata di mano.
Siamo nell’Europa all’inizio della seconda guerra mondiale ed un fiume di persone è in fuga dalla guerra e dalla furia nazista. Rifugiatosi a Parigi, Benjamin passa i giorni a discutere con i suoi amici e colleghi, a scrivere lettere sempre più angosciate e a lavorare indefessamente nella biblioteca nazionale alla sua opera più importante. La minaccia nazista si fa sempre più pressante ma lui non vuole abbandonare il suo lavoro e tentenna. Quando poi decide di fuggire dalla Francia per raggiungere gli Stati Uniti sarà troppo tardi perché la cappa della Gestapo e dei collaborazionisti francesi si sarà quasi completamente richiusa. Parallelamente, il libro narra le vicende di un giovane comunista spagnolo che ha combattuto duramente nella guerra civile del suo paese, è stato imprigionato in Francia e poi dopo aver combattuto contro i tedeschi è riuscito a fuggire rocambolescamente per rifugiarsi in un paesino pirenaico dove fa il contrabbandiere.
La prima parte del romanzo è un po’ noiosa con il racconto delle vicende parigine di Benjamin tra tentativi di sbarcare il lunario e lotte per vedere riconosciuto il suo lavoro di pensatore.
La seconda parte, con il racconto della fuga, è bellissima. Arpaia è bravissimo nel raccontare l’animo dei protagonisti e le loro lacerazioni. Benjamin è un grande pensatore ma un uomo incapace di affrontare la vita reale. Il suo unico pensiero e la sua più grande preoccupazione è il manoscritto a cui ha dedicato gran parte della vita e continua a lavorarci fino all’ultimo, ignorando amici e familiari e la situazione che diventa sempre più grave per lui ebreo tedesco. Lo spagnolo, invece, ha passato la sua vita sempre combattendo e perdendo. In lui c’è una voglia fortissima di vita che è incarnata nel ricordo della donna che ha amato e che ha dovuto lasciare in Spagna. I due protagonisti si incontreranno casualmente su un passo pirenaico e le loro vicende si intrecceranno in maniera imprevedibile in un finale emozionante.
Questo romanzo racconta la storia (vera) del tentativo infruttuoso di fuga dalle persecuzioni naziste del filosofo ebreo tedesco Walter Benjamin, fuga conclusasi tragicamente con un suicidio quando oramai la salvezza era a portata di mano.
Siamo nell’Europa all’inizio della seconda guerra mondiale ed un fiume di persone è in fuga dalla guerra e dalla furia nazista. Rifugiatosi a Parigi, Benjamin passa i giorni a discutere con i suoi amici e colleghi, a scrivere lettere sempre più angosciate e a lavorare indefessamente nella biblioteca nazionale alla sua opera più importante. La minaccia nazista si fa sempre più pressante ma lui non vuole abbandonare il suo lavoro e tentenna. Quando poi decide di fuggire dalla Francia per raggiungere gli Stati Uniti sarà troppo tardi perché la cappa della Gestapo e dei collaborazionisti francesi si sarà quasi completamente richiusa. Parallelamente, il libro narra le vicende di un giovane comunista spagnolo che ha combattuto duramente nella guerra civile del suo paese, è stato imprigionato in Francia e poi dopo aver combattuto contro i tedeschi è riuscito a fuggire rocambolescamente per rifugiarsi in un paesino pirenaico dove fa il contrabbandiere.
La prima parte del romanzo è un po’ noiosa con il racconto delle vicende parigine di Benjamin tra tentativi di sbarcare il lunario e lotte per vedere riconosciuto il suo lavoro di pensatore.
La seconda parte, con il racconto della fuga, è bellissima. Arpaia è bravissimo nel raccontare l’animo dei protagonisti e le loro lacerazioni. Benjamin è un grande pensatore ma un uomo incapace di affrontare la vita reale. Il suo unico pensiero e la sua più grande preoccupazione è il manoscritto a cui ha dedicato gran parte della vita e continua a lavorarci fino all’ultimo, ignorando amici e familiari e la situazione che diventa sempre più grave per lui ebreo tedesco. Lo spagnolo, invece, ha passato la sua vita sempre combattendo e perdendo. In lui c’è una voglia fortissima di vita che è incarnata nel ricordo della donna che ha amato e che ha dovuto lasciare in Spagna. I due protagonisti si incontreranno casualmente su un passo pirenaico e le loro vicende si intrecceranno in maniera imprevedibile in un finale emozionante.
September 16, 2018
"Scrisse mettendo […] insieme marxismo e messianesimo, stretti in un'ultima, terribile difesa contro l'ottusa fede nel progresso, contro l'insensatezza della storia. Scrisse varcando e rivarcando con ironia dimessa le frontiere fra teologia, filosofia e letteratura, come se, nel pericolo, tutto fosse chiamato a dare il proprio contributo alla salvezza." (p. 137)
February 14, 2021
Ogni angelo è tremendo
August 22, 2023
Llegida en català. La novel·la explica la fugida de Walter Benjamin de la Gestapo i de l'horror nazi. La història és tristíssima, com ho va ser el final de moltes vides de l'època. Està ben escrita.
May 22, 2011
This book is a fictionalised account of Dr. Walter Benjamin's attempt to leave occupied Europe during WWII. A German Jew, he first leaves Germany for Paris, and then after The Nazis invade France, escapes to Spain. As well as his story, we are hear the tale of Laureano, a Spaniard who fought against Franco and then became a refugee in France. Towards the end of the book, their paths finally cross.
At first the switch between the third person telling of Walter's story and the first person retelling of Laureano's story (from a viewpoint many years after the events of the book) irritated me as it broke the flow of the stories. This was a temporary irritation however, and taking the book as a whole, this split worked. When the two men finally met I was pleasantly surprised at how uncontrived it felt.
The story itself was fascinating, containing details of the experiences of these refugees and explaining their thought processes, how they came to their decisions of if/when to flee.
Further reading (from the acknowledgements section)
Arthur Koestler Scum of the Earth
Anna Seghers Transit
Lisa Fittko Escape Through the Pyrenees
At first the switch between the third person telling of Walter's story and the first person retelling of Laureano's story (from a viewpoint many years after the events of the book) irritated me as it broke the flow of the stories. This was a temporary irritation however, and taking the book as a whole, this split worked. When the two men finally met I was pleasantly surprised at how uncontrived it felt.
The story itself was fascinating, containing details of the experiences of these refugees and explaining their thought processes, how they came to their decisions of if/when to flee.
Further reading (from the acknowledgements section)
Arthur Koestler Scum of the Earth
Anna Seghers Transit
Lisa Fittko Escape Through the Pyrenees
April 20, 2015
I first heard about the philosopher Walter Benjamin on a trip to Portbou. In my travel writing, I described the station as a Spanish Crewe with tracks shooting off in all directions, and the town as a place where French tourists are frisked on their way over the border. But it must have been a whole lot bleaker in 1940, when many of those crossing this frontier were in fear of their lives.
In this novel, episodes involving Walter Benjamin are interwoven with the fictional story of some Spanish refugees. For those who already know what happened to him in Portbou, this is a chronicle foretold. Nonetheless, the Benjamin storyline is the most riveting part. This may be due to my personal interest in finding out more about Benjamin. Arpaia’s novel evidently has a solid historical basis with references to events and important figures of the time...
Full review: http://www.threemonkeysonline.com/the...
In this novel, episodes involving Walter Benjamin are interwoven with the fictional story of some Spanish refugees. For those who already know what happened to him in Portbou, this is a chronicle foretold. Nonetheless, the Benjamin storyline is the most riveting part. This may be due to my personal interest in finding out more about Benjamin. Arpaia’s novel evidently has a solid historical basis with references to events and important figures of the time...
Full review: http://www.threemonkeysonline.com/the...
February 13, 2012
Excellent novel about the meeting of a Spanish militant and the German/Jewish philosopher Dr Walter Benjamin in the Pyranees during WWII, where a range of people were fleeing or crossing the border for various reasons. For me, the best of the book dealt with Benjamin as his orderly life is turned upside down and he is forced first to flee Germany for Paris, only to find that he is no safer there. You have a real sense of how he begins to feel a "guest in his own life" as he struggles with the endless visas, permits, queues and passes needed for him to leave France and the terrible situation he, one amongst many, finds himself. The way he keeps his own integrity and his own self intact is terribly moving. A really special book.
March 3, 2012
I quite liked this book but felt I had to really concentrate and read it in silence.
Maybe it's just me personally but with all the historical information, characters and politics in this story I really needed to think and take it all in and reading it with all the background noises in the house meant I kept getting lost and therefore I struggled to want to keep picking this book up again.
I ploughed through to the end but was left feeling that I thought I would like it more than I did as it is a genre I really enjoy. I think I just lost my way with this one.
Maybe it's just me personally but with all the historical information, characters and politics in this story I really needed to think and take it all in and reading it with all the background noises in the house meant I kept getting lost and therefore I struggled to want to keep picking this book up again.
I ploughed through to the end but was left feeling that I thought I would like it more than I did as it is a genre I really enjoy. I think I just lost my way with this one.
February 15, 2016
A very thorough account of Benjamin Walter's last few years. Hard work must have gone into this, and only the problem of trying to merge his fictional approach with factual knowledge creates a few breaks in the flow of the writing. Overall a very good account and an important book to having been written.
February 27, 2012
This is a great little book, more like three and a half stars. It centres around two completely different characters and their experiences in World War II. Poignant, heart breaking and beautiful in its style, I'm very glad I read this book.
June 29, 2016
en indrukwekkend boek, soms een tikje langdradig, maar de moeite waard om te lezen.
het is schokkend om te lezen wat de Fransen voor een smerige politiek voerde om anti fascisten uit te leveren aan de Duitsers
het is schokkend om te lezen wat de Fransen voor een smerige politiek voerde om anti fascisten uit te leveren aan de Duitsers
February 25, 2011
So far very good. It reminded me of Hemingway's for whom the bell tolls. Great description of the French.
May 21, 2012
Discuss it Book Group included this novel in our optional extra discussion in February 2012. It was rated 4.3 out of 5 by our group.
August 23, 2012
This is based on at least one true story. I think the other one is invented, although I'm not certain. The two stories meld together very well (in most dual stories novels, they don't).
February 10, 2013
I found this a hard book to plough through. I found it hard to connect to the story and the characters.
March 24, 2016
Chosen by Mary
Score - 78 out of 100
Word Description - Inspiring, Obtuse, Challenging, Infuriating, Agravating(sic), Urgent, Sad, Ominous.
Score - 78 out of 100
Word Description - Inspiring, Obtuse, Challenging, Infuriating, Agravating(sic), Urgent, Sad, Ominous.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews