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Letters to a Young Poet
by Rainer Maria Rilke

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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/46199.Letters_to_a_Young_Poet?utm_medium=api&amp;utm_source=blog_review" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="Letters to a Young Poet" border="0" src="http://s3.amazonaws.com/photo.goodreads.com/books/1170315515m/46199.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/46199.Letters_to_a_Young_Poet?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">Letters to a Young Poet</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7906.Rainer_Maria_Rilke">Rainer Maria Rilke</a> 
 <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5750492?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review"><h3>My review</h3></a>
 rating: 5 of 5 stars I was first acquainted with this book through an excerpt I heard in the tape of Beauty and the Beast, Love and Hope. It goes: "How should we be able to forget those ancient myths, those myths about dragons that at thelast moment turn into princesses. Perhaps all the dragons of our lives are princesses,who are only waiting to see us once beautiful and brave. Perhaps everything terrble is, in its deepest being, something helpless that wants help from us. So you must not be frightened when a sadness rises up before you larger than any you have ever seen. Or a restiveness, like light and cloud shadows passes over your hand, and over all you do. You must think that life has not forgotten you. That it holds you in its hands. It will not let you fall."
 
 That was one of my favorites in the tape, but that time I didn't know who wrote it. I would spend several hours poring over poetry books in bookstores to find out who wrote those beautiful and uplifting words. Then, I heard that excerpt again in a priest's sermon, one time when I was attending mass. The priest was talking about despair and darkness and he quoted those same words, saying it was written by Rainier Maria Rilke, one of Pope John Paul II's favorite poets. I found him in a church! 
 
 I eventually found Letters to a Young Poet and read the entire book straight. Reading it felt like being thirsty for so long and finally able to drink. You just want to drink and drink and drink. Most of what he wrote echoed what I have thought before, but was never sure whether those thoughts were right, or if they made sense in the real world. I especially like the part about the joys and pains of solitude, which I totally agree with. Others, I still did not understand, due to my own inexperience in life then. I was at the point of my life where I was starting to be independent, and was figuring out the direction I wanted to take. 
 
 From that time on, when I felt confused or sad or depressed about things, I would read Letters and find a profound consolation. Reading somebody's thoughts which almost echoes one's own, makes one feel less alone. 
 
 As I grew older and wiser, everytime I read Letters, it was like opening different doors of understanding. The words are the same, but it seems like he speaks to you in different ways, depending on your level of consciousness and comprehension. What is consistent, though, is the gentle comfort his words bring. 
 <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/342152?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">View all my reviews.</a>

Lani's review
rating:
recommended for: everyone who seeks self-understanding and self-awareness

I was first acquainted with this book through an excerpt I heard in the tape of Beauty and the Beast, Love and Hope. It goes: "How should we be able to forget those ancient myths, those myths about dragons that at thelast moment turn into princesses. Perhaps all the dragons of our lives are princesses,who are only waiting to see us once beautiful and brave. Perhaps everything terrble is, in its deepest being, something helpless that wants help from us. So you must not be frightened when a sadness rises up before you larger than any you have ever seen. Or a restiveness, like light and cloud shadows passes over your hand, and over all you do. You must think that life has not forgotten you. That it holds you in its hands. It will not let you fall."

That was one of my favorites in the tape, but that time I didn't know who wrote it. I would spend several hours poring over poetry books in bookstores to find out who wrote those beautiful and uplifting words. Then, I heard...more I was first acquainted with this book through an excerpt I heard in the tape of Beauty and the Beast, Love and Hope. It goes: "How should we be able to forget those ancient myths, those myths about dragons that at thelast moment turn into princesses. Perhaps all the dragons of our lives are princesses,who are only waiting to see us once beautiful and brave. Perhaps everything terrble is, in its deepest being, something helpless that wants help from us. So you must not be frightened when a sadness rises up before you larger than any you have ever seen. Or a restiveness, like light and cloud shadows passes over your hand, and over all you do. You must think that life has not forgotten you. That it holds you in its hands. It will not let you fall."

That was one of my favorites in the tape, but that time I didn't know who wrote it. I would spend several hours poring over poetry books in bookstores to find out who wrote those beautiful and uplifting words. Then, I heard that excerpt again in a priest's sermon, one time when I was attending mass. The priest was talking about despair and darkness and he quoted those same words, saying it was written by Rainier Maria Rilke, one of Pope John Paul II's favorite poets. I found him in a church!

I eventually found Letters to a Young Poet and read the entire book straight. Reading it felt like being thirsty for so long and finally able to drink. You just want to drink and drink and drink. Most of what he wrote echoed what I have thought before, but was never sure whether those thoughts were right, or if they made sense in the real world. I especially like the part about the joys and pains of solitude, which I totally agree with. Others, I still did not understand, due to my own inexperience in life then. I was at the point of my life where I was starting to be independent, and was figuring out the direction I wanted to take.

From that time on, when I felt confused or sad or depressed about things, I would read Letters and find a profound consolation. Reading somebody's thoughts which almost echoes one's own, makes one feel less alone.

As I grew older and wiser, everytime I read Letters, it was like opening different doors of understanding. The words are the same, but it seems like he speaks to you in different ways, depending on your level of consciousness and comprehension. What is consistent, though, is the gentle comfort his words bring. ...less

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