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Letters to a Young Poet
 
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Letters to a Young Poet (Paperback)

by R M Rilke (Author)
5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
RRP: £7.95
Price: £4.99 & eligible for Free UK delivery on orders over £5 with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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Frequently Bought Together

Letters to a Young Poet + Rilke on Love and Other Difficulties: Translations and Considerations + The Essential Rilke
Price For All Three: £21.26

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Product details

  • Paperback: 123 pages
  • Publisher: W. W. Norton & Co.; New edition edition (27 Oct 1993)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0393310396
  • ISBN-13: 978-0393310399
  • Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 13.4 x 0.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 13,550 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories:

    #1 in  Books > Poetry, Drama & Criticism > Poetry > World > German
    #6 in  Books > Biography > Essays, Journals & Letters > 20th Century
    #7 in  Books > Poetry, Drama & Criticism > Essays, Journals & Letters > 20th Century

Product Description

Review
"...I cannot think of a better book to put into the hands of any young would-be poet, as an inspirational guide to poetry and to surviving as a poet in a hostile world." Harry Fainlight, The Times

Product Description
Drawn by some sympathetic note in one of his poems, young people often wrote to Rilke with their problems and hopes. From 1903 to 1908 Rilke wrote a series of remarkable responses to a young would-be poet, on poetry and on surviving as a sensitive observer in a harsh world. An accompanying chronicle of Rilke's life shows what he was experiencing in his own relationship to life and work when he wrote these letters.

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Letters to a Young Poet
85% buy the item featured on this page:
Letters to a Young Poet 5.0 out of 5 stars (9)
£4.99
Letters to a Young Poet
8% buy
Letters to a Young Poet 5.0 out of 5 stars (1)
£5.60
Letters to a Young Poet
5% buy
Letters to a Young Poet 5.0 out of 5 stars (2)
£13.18
The Essential Rilke
2% buy
The Essential Rilke
£7.28

 

Customer Reviews

9 Reviews
5 star:
 (9)
4 star:    (0)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
5.0 out of 5 stars (9 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful!, 18 Sep 2005
By A Customer
As a poet Rilke is wonderful, but this collection of letters is the most awe inspiring thing he has written. I was introduced to this book by a friend and have re read it countless times and cherished it since. It is my number one recommendation as a meaningful gift especially for young people and aspiring artists. Buy this!
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Rilkes book is not only for joung poets, 28 Jan 1999
By A Customer
I read this short book of letters by Rilke twice last year and browse through it again and again. Indeed, Rilkes thoughts on man, life, the world are not ony for 'young poets' but are useful for any man. Akthough written at the beginning of this century, these thoughts are also a good guide for anyone living now. I don't need any commercial "Celestine prophecies" - I prefer Rilkes little book !
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24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars "When a prince is going to speak silence must be made", 14 Jul 2004
By Bel Alcat "bel_78" (Buenos Aires, Argentina) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)   
"Letters to a Young Poet" is a very small book that allows us to enjoy the correspondence between a famous writer and an aspiring poet. This exchange of letters began in 1903 thanks to a missive that Franz Xaver Kappus sent to R. M. Rilke, and continued for many years, until 1908.

Why is this little book important?. Because it allows us to read what Rilke thought about many subjects, for example life, poetry, and art. And because, as F. X. Kappus said, "when a prince is going to speak, silence must be made".

Kappus wanted to share the insights that Rilke gave him, and thus compiled his missives in "Letters to a young poet". The letters are few, and not overly long, but in this case the knowledge offered is certainly greater than the number of pages.

It is easier to show you what I mean by giving you an example... For instance, what Rilke's advices Franz to do, when he tells him to: "Go into yourself and test the deeps in which your life takes rise; at its source you will find the answer to the question whether you must create. Accept it, just as it sounds, without inquiring into it. Perhaps it will turn out that you are called to be an artist".

On the whole, I highly recommend this book to everybody. It will probably be more useful to aspiring writers, but people who simply enjoy literature will delight in it too :)

Belen Alcat

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars wonderful
One of the most moving and life changing books, in the form of letters written by someone so young at the time and yet with such an unbelievable insight into human life.
Published 15 days ago by S.

5.0 out of 5 stars Images so beautiful it hurts.
A simply beautiful book. I highly recommend it to those who love the written word.
Published on 19 Jun 1999

5.0 out of 5 stars The book that can change a way of living
A friend gave it to me when I was 18, and after all this years, I think that it is the best gift someone has done to me. Read more
Published on 8 April 1999

5.0 out of 5 stars My way of looking at life was changed
I read this book when I was 18. A friend of mine recomended it to me. It was a great surprise from the first line. I read it in an afternoon, and could not forget it. Read more
Published on 8 April 1999

5.0 out of 5 stars A book of great depth, and of profound intrest to all.
Given to me by a wonderful new friend I was impressed that its concepts and precepts were akin to the Bible or The Book of Mormon. Read more
Published on 17 Dec 1998

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the greatest books I've ever read... A must read.
This is one of those books that no one ever goes out and buys, great friends just give it to you as a gift. Read more
Published on 19 Jul 1996

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