Catherine's review
Rilke on Love and Other Difficulties: Translations and Considerations
by Rainer Maria Rilke
Catherine's review
Rilke on Love and Other Difficulties: Translations and Considerations by Rainer Maria Rilke
Catherine's review
rating:
bookshelves:
couldnt-stomach-for-another-minute
recommended for: no one
The 1 star review is not a reflection on Rilke, but the editor and his "considerations," Mr. John Mood. If you're thinking of reading Rilke, please try Letters to a Young Poet instead.
Mr. Mood is quite clear from the get go that this collection is the way he sees Rilke and his hope is to remedy the state of affairs in which Rilke is praised for the spirituality of his works, instead of the sex. I was skeptical - it's not like our culture is so spirituality based to begin with.
But the real kicker for me is when he takes Rilke's famous passage about living the questions and being unable to live the answers and Mr. Mood launches into an essay about how this is solely about sex. Really? There are no other questions to ponder?
At that point, I decided I could learn more and gain more from Rilke's work without Mr. Mood's help - and also wished I could exchange this for a different collection of Rilke's work.
Mr. Mood is quite clear from the get go that this collection is the way he sees Rilke and his hope is to remedy the state of affairs in which Rilke is praised for the spirituality of his works, instead of the sex. I was skeptical - it's not like our culture is so spirituality based to begin with.
But the real kicker for me is when he takes Rilke's famous passage about living the questions and being unable to live the answers and Mr. Mood launches into an essay about how this is solely about sex. Really? There are no other questions to ponder?
At that point, I decided I could learn more and gain more from Rilke's work without Mr. Mood's help - and also wished I could exchange this for a different collection of Rilke's work.
