Letters to a Young Poet 1st (first) edition Text Only Unknown Binding – January 1, 1986

When I purchased this, I only knew I love the poetry of Rilke and that I had read many positive reviews of this compilation of his letters to a young poet.I had no idea that this is a true chest of treasures. I purchased the Kindle version to go along with listening to this audiobook (the narration of which is outstanding). I kept placing bookmarks on the audible version and then highlighted the text in Kindle. This is quite a futile endeavor because, as I found, well over half deserves special emphasis.I will share only my favorite quote, after saying that this book of letters, and particularly this translation into English, is worth a credit in my opinion for its encouragement of creativity and a love of life and for the testimonials from the great artists over the past decades who have been deeply and positively affected by these letters."... try, like the first human being, to say what you see and experience and love and lose. Don't write love poems; avoid at first those forms which are too familiar and habitual: they are the hardest, for you need great maturity and strength to produce something of your own in a domain where good and sometimes brilliant examples have been handed down to us in abundance. For this reason, flee general subjects and take refuge in those offered by your own day-to-day life; depict your sadnesses and desires, passing thoughts and faith in some kind of beauty--depict all this with intense, quiet, humble sincerity and make use of whatever you find about you to express yourself, the images from your dreams and the things in your memory. If your everyday life seems to lack material, do not blame it; blame yourself, tell yourself that you are not poet enough to summon up its riches, for there is no lack for him who creates and no poor, trivial place."

If you EVER want to read Rainer Maria Rilke's LETTERS TO A YOUNG POET, you MUST read Stephen Mitchell's translation! It is transcendent, and he captures the poetry and meaning of the original. There are more recent translations out there, but there are sawdust in the mouth compared to Mitchell's silk. DO NOT BE FOOLED! DO NOT BUY OTHER TRANSLATIONS unless you want to be underwhelmed and turned off. Rilke's words breathe through Mitchell.

Order this book! Rilke is brilliant. I have many copies that I give away to friends because I enjoy Rilke's writing so much.

This book has gotten a lot of people I love, particularly young artists and writers, through darkness and through solitude.

If you haven't bought this yet your life is incomplete. Rilke is life changing.

I bought this for my son, as I recall being inspired and comforted by it when I was a teenager and trying to figure out the world. It arrived on time and has a nice cover.

I have wanted to get a sense of Rilke' s ideas/ philosophy. I think this little book has given me both of these insights

Incredible book, but there are LOTS of typos in this edition.

This book actually changed my life, as sad as it may sound. Ordered it on a whim while watching 'Sister Act 2' for the millionth time and forgot all about it. Came a few days later, brand new, and I read it. By the end of it I had decided I was a writer. I finished my college course and have been writing ever since. I recommend it to anyone, writer or not, because Rilke's views can be transferred over to anything, as it was in the film where Whoopi Goldberg's character uses it to make a young girl realise that she should be a singer. I am forever indebted to the 'Young Poet' for writing to Rilke so long ago and for Rilke for replying. No only do the lessons stick with you but the beautiful sentences are something to experience on their own merit. I had to read it twice to make sure I was paying attention to them both.

This is a brilliant book! Definitly worth reading if you like poetry. The 10 letters are all suberb and I found the notes at the back very useful in providing additional context. Brilliant book!

I'm not going to comment on the writing, as this is dealt with well by other reviewers. It's a classic.I bought this edition because it cost 1p new and I needed a cheap second copy of the book for annotating etc. Despite the low price, the text layout inside is perfectly good. It is a facsimile of a 1945 edition, in a decent translation, and includes a Translator's Foreword and endnotes, which provide context. A slight quibble is the cover quality - it's shiny and, to my mind, a little cheap looking. But overall, a bargain!

Hätte nicht erwartet, dass es mir auf Englisch noch mehr als auf Deutsch gefällt.Ich könnte es immer wieder lesen...

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