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A review by emilymknight
Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
4.75
Starting my year off once again with another Penguin Little Black Classics! These are great to read in one sitting and Letters to a Young Poet is one that I have seen recommended a lot over the years.
Ten letters. It blows my mind how these letters are so intimate between the writer and the recipient and yet at the same time can speak to and resonate with so many people no matter their age, where they're from, what their job is etc. It feels almost intrusive reading these letters which are composed with such passion and warmth for Franz Kappus - as though I am reading someone's diary, someone's thoughts crafted with the love of a teacher or a mentor for their student. Nevertheless, I wish there were more, I wish we could see Kappus' letters, and I wish their correspondence continued further.
This book only takes about 1-2 hours to read depending on how fast you read, and how often you re-read certain sentences to digest them better. It is 100% a must-read book that everybody should read at least once in their lives. There is something in it for everyone - whether that's all ten letters which resonate with you, or just one letter, or even just one sentence. It is worth your time.
Ten letters. It blows my mind how these letters are so intimate between the writer and the recipient and yet at the same time can speak to and resonate with so many people no matter their age, where they're from, what their job is etc. It feels almost intrusive reading these letters which are composed with such passion and warmth for Franz Kappus - as though I am reading someone's diary, someone's thoughts crafted with the love of a teacher or a mentor for their student. Nevertheless, I wish there were more, I wish we could see Kappus' letters, and I wish their correspondence continued further.
This book only takes about 1-2 hours to read depending on how fast you read, and how often you re-read certain sentences to digest them better. It is 100% a must-read book that everybody should read at least once in their lives. There is something in it for everyone - whether that's all ten letters which resonate with you, or just one letter, or even just one sentence. It is worth your time.
"You are so young, all still lies ahead of you [...] be patient towards all that is unresolved in your heart and to try to love the questions themselves like locked rooms [...]. Do not now strive to uncover answers: they cannot be given you because you have not been able to live them. And what matters is to live everything. Live the questions for now. Perhaps then you will gradually, without noticing it, live the way into the answer, one distant day in the future."
"What goes on in your innermost being is worth all your love"
"Why should you want to exclude from your life all unsettling, all pain, all depression of spirit, when you don't know what work it is these states are performing within you?"