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riddlersboyfriend's review against another edition
5.0
I always tell people that this book is essentially my relationship with God all the time, and they’re always a little freaked out by my spiritual yearning. This book is beautiful, the messages clear, and I liked seeing the original German side by side with the translations. Highly recommend. And Rilke was right- rumors of God do run through my dark blood.
berrycedar's review against another edition
The third section of the book is not as good as the first two. It's supposed to be about poverty and even though Rilke himself struggled with money, these poems do come off as "me vs them", " i pity the poor" energy. His intentions were good, he wanted to write socialist poems but it still feels like a middle class college educated man writing about poverty.
The second book gutted me. Rilke reached inside my chest, gripped my heart, and squeezed the blood out of it. These poems are meditational and medicinal. I will be returning to them often.
The second book gutted me. Rilke reached inside my chest, gripped my heart, and squeezed the blood out of it. These poems are meditational and medicinal. I will be returning to them often.
rachbreads's review against another edition
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
3.75
I loved the first two books more than the last. I think Rilke's thoughts on God and the divine are so interesting and worth thinking about.
My favorites were:
I, 12: Ich glaube an Alles noch nie Gesagte
I, 51: Du wirst nur mit der Tat erfaßt
II, 1: Dich wundert nicht des Sturmes Wucht
II, 15: Alle, welche dich suchen, versuchen dich
As a note, I read the Anita Barrows & Joanna Macy translation because I thought they did a good job with their translation of Letters to a Young Poet. But I have the same concerns and complaints about this translation as I did the Letters, which is that while their treatment of the German is stellar, I really do not appreciate their editorializing. Adding commentary is one thing, but the fact that they cut out large portions of certain poems simply because they didn't like it or they don't think that's what Rilke meant....he was a poet, it's what he wrote, I'm pretty sure he meant for it to be there. I'm not sure why they feel like the job of a translator is to edit material out, but it really bothers me. If I read more Rilke I'm going to look for other translators.
My favorites were:
I, 12: Ich glaube an Alles noch nie Gesagte
I, 51: Du wirst nur mit der Tat erfaßt
II, 1: Dich wundert nicht des Sturmes Wucht
II, 15: Alle, welche dich suchen, versuchen dich
As a note, I read the Anita Barrows & Joanna Macy translation because I thought they did a good job with their translation of Letters to a Young Poet. But I have the same concerns and complaints about this translation as I did the Letters, which is that while their treatment of the German is stellar, I really do not appreciate their editorializing. Adding commentary is one thing, but the fact that they cut out large portions of certain poems simply because they didn't like it or they don't think that's what Rilke meant....he was a poet, it's what he wrote, I'm pretty sure he meant for it to be there. I'm not sure why they feel like the job of a translator is to edit material out, but it really bothers me. If I read more Rilke I'm going to look for other translators.
ovenbird_reads's review against another edition
5.0
I wish I could give this 10 stars. I love Rilke.
christinajcraig's review against another edition
5.0
This book has been a companion and so good for me.