Diaries of a Young Poet [Hardcover]

Rainer Maria Rilke (Author), Michael Winkler (Translator), Edward A. Snow (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1997

A collection of Rilke's early diaries, offering insight into his development as a poet and prose stylist.

Editorial Reviews

From Kirkus Reviews

The musings of a writer during his apprenticeship. Rilke (18751926) spent two and a half years, from 1898 to 1900, keeping a diary at the suggestion of his lover, Lou Andreas- Salom‚. This intrinsically private work takes shape as an impassioned miscellany, including drafts of poems, gossip about Rilke's friends and acquaintances, direct observations of place, his reflections on art and architecture from the Renaissance to Rodin, and fictional tales. Mixed in with this stimulating hodgepodge is some blather. ``Every day is the beginning of life,'' exulted Rilke in 1900. ``Every life is the beginning of eternity.'' But the youthful Romantic could be witty as well as narcotically lyric. One of the diary's climactic moments comes as he commits to paper his adventure of trying to visit and impress Count Leo Tolstoy at the great man's country estate with Lou: ``A dog comes right up to us, trusting and friendly, as we stand there in front of the small glass door. I bend down to the white dog and as I straighten up again I see behind the glass, vague and distorted by the flaws of the pane, a pair of searching eyes in a small grizzled face. The door opens, lets You [Lou] in and slams sharply against me, so that I, only after the Count has already greeted You, come in and now also stand before him, feeling awkwardly large.'' Rilke's actual visual sense takes the measure of Florence evocatively: ``The ornamentation that nestles up against the columns is in the best instances unobtrusive and straightforward, a beautiful thought or a tender feeling elicited by the column.'' The poems included are languorously unfinished reveries, brimming with girls, flowers, and boyish, transcendent emotion. But Rilke was not always sacramentally poetic; even ``a dachsund with the demeanor of a sphinx'' could catch his eye and spur his sentences. Platitudes, poetry, and revelations for Rilke's many American admirers--translated for the first time into English. (photos, not seen) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Review

When he was 23, Rilke set off to Florence upon the suggestion of Lou Andreas-Salom, his 36-year-old mentor and lover, to begin the first of these three diaries. The writings are structured as imaginary dialogues with her: "My joy will seem far-off and unfestive as long as You . . . do not share in it," he announces in his first entry. Recording, among other things, a detailed perspective of the gorgeous art and landscape around him, Diaries--translated for the first time into English--gives intimate insight into a crucial and formative period of Rilke's life. Characteristic moments of self-loathing, intense longing, and melancholy are chronicled here, as well as the kind of ecstasy and clarity achieved only through the act of writing: "everything becomes trusting and forgets all manner of disguise . . . in these moments I look deep into the earth. And see the causes of all things. And they drink from one source." These diaries and poems (written from 1898 to 1900 in Schmergendorf and Worpswede as well as Florence) mark the young poet's extraordinary journey from apprentice to artist: a lyrical, joyous, essential read.
Copyright © 1996, Boston Review. All rights reserved. -- From The Boston Review

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 306 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company (December 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393045536
• ISBN-13: 978-0393045536
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.5 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,421,114 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rilke enriches my heart, my mind, my life......, July 19, 2004

By 

Julie Jordan Scott "Writer, Life Coach - Owne... (Bakersfield, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Diaries of a Young Poet (Paperback)

Every time I pick up anything by Rilke I am astounded.

I read these works and think, "This is a diary? What if people, years from now published my morning pages notebooks? Hardly the beauty found here."

AND yet in Rilke's words, I find an appreciation not only for him, for his art, for the people who populated his life experience - I also find an extreme appreciation for the connection we all share.

What is exceptionally invigorating about these Diaries is their wide variety of creative expression. There are poems - there are pieces of short fiction - there is a sort of travel narrative and art criticism.

Unlike another reader, I found it highly personal.... Like stepping into the pages of anyone's diary is highly personal.

I found myself singing songs of gratitude for the fact his diaries were saved so that we could enjoy them today, more than one hundred years later.

Ironic and perfect, given that final appraisal by me, to hear this one quote from this book which really sums up Rilke's reflection of life from his pen - "Whoever understands and honors Death grants Life greatness."

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Food for the soul, August 16, 2000

By 

heidijohanna04 (Ithaca, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Diaries of a Young Poet (Paperback)

I'm just starting to explore Rilke...this book is wonderful for understanding where he is coming from in his poetry. In this blend of poetry, prose, journal-like entries and musings on nature, Rilke takes you on a journey into his own internal world of solitude. I force myself to read slowly and drink it in...it is worth it! I highly recommend this book.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars More about art than Rilke, March 1, 2001

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Diaries of a Young Poet (Paperback)

I love Rilke, and I bought this expecting something similar to his "Letters to a young poet." However, this book seems less personal- it contains much more of Rilke's reflections on Italian art, in Florence, and on the art of the people around him in Germany. It is perhaps more engaging to someone who knows a great deal about the art he is discussing! There are still wonderful, wonderful Rilke moments, but this may not be the best book for non-artists or for people discovering Rilke for the first time.