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gwyl's review against another edition
dark
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
it is strange to think of this as a "book", or an instance of the epistolary form, when it is the real correspondence between real men who lived in the eighteenth century. and for that reason, i had my reservations, sceptical about whether the musings of an eighteenth-century austrian poet would have any bearing on me today (asian girl, 21st century). to my delight, i was highlighting passage upon passage from these letters which were so much more sincere and compassionate than i anticipated. the introduction in my edition emphasised that these were both letters to and by a young poet as rainer maria rilke was only 26 when he penned the first one. a truly unexpected source of comfort, advice that cuts to - and also warms - the heart of early adulthood and its landscape of solitude.
my favourite takeaways: to love and live the question, that all the dragons in our lives may be princesses waiting to see us act with beauty and courage, to do things because they are difficult, the future comes upon us in the quiet and uneventful moment so much more than when it seems to come from the outside in that noisy and accident point
my favourite takeaways: to love and live the question, that all the dragons in our lives may be princesses waiting to see us act with beauty and courage, to do things because they are difficult, the future comes upon us in the quiet and uneventful moment so much more than when it seems to come from the outside in that noisy and accident point
lizagee's review against another edition
5.0
I don't know what took me so long to read this small collection of letters, but they are transforming. Rilke writes beyond the scope of a poet, but as a philosopher, too. I can imagine returning to these letters again and again.
"Have patience with everything that remains unsolved in your heart. Try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books written in a foreign language. Do not now look for the answers. They cannot now be given to you because you could not live them. It is a question of experiencing everything. At present you need to live the question. Perhaps you will gradually, without even noticing it, find yourself experiencing the answer, some distant day."
"Have patience with everything that remains unsolved in your heart. Try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books written in a foreign language. Do not now look for the answers. They cannot now be given to you because you could not live them. It is a question of experiencing everything. At present you need to live the question. Perhaps you will gradually, without even noticing it, find yourself experiencing the answer, some distant day."
izasballad's review against another edition
5.0
loved the gentleness of the letters and of course it is filled with rich thoughts. enjoyed reading them and needed to hear some of them at present
oofym's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
3.5
Will definitely need to come back to this one in a year or two. What I read and understood was great, but in all honesty alot of it flew over my head. Each letter tackles a different question of life, and I feel like my brain only had the storage to take in a couple of the letters meanings, definitely more of a philosophical experience than I was expecting.
I feel like the more I re-read this the more I'll like it, for now it's a 3.5 but I've got a gut feeling it deserves a higher rating than that.
I feel like the more I re-read this the more I'll like it, for now it's a 3.5 but I've got a gut feeling it deserves a higher rating than that.
endymions_rage's review against another edition
5.0
Motivational Letters to a lonely, depressive Soldier who is a poet. Surprisingly warm, philosophical, anti-depressant, anti-loneliness mini-essays touching on what it means to be an artist, to be alone, to overcome things and to love. Also a hint of feminism.
(freely translated:)
..."maybe all the Dragons of our Life are princesses, just waiting for us to stand beautiful and brave before them.
Maybe everything terrible is just in its core something helpless that needs our support."
(freely translated:)
..."maybe all the Dragons of our Life are princesses, just waiting for us to stand beautiful and brave before them.
Maybe everything terrible is just in its core something helpless that needs our support."