Abstract

The appearance of an English translation of Gershom Scholem's 1975 memoir of his lifelong friendship with Walter Benjamin cannot help but raise (or, re-raise) a variety of questions, both biographical and substantive, concerning Benjamin's celebrated oscillation between theological and materialist interests. Scholem's portrait of Benjamin is undoubtedly the most intimate testimony available concerning Benjamin's early development — his early affiliations with the German Youth Movement, his virulent antiwar sentiment, his fascination for anti-positivistic, speculative modes of thought, and his taciturn and often unpredictable character. The reliability of Scholem's account is buttressed by a diary he kept during these years and a vast number of letters from Benjamin to him