Reading Rilke

"After nearly a lifetime of reading Rilke in English, William Gass undertook the task of translating Rilke's writing in order to see if he could, in that way, get closer to the work he so deeply admired. With Gass's own background in philosophy, it seemed natural to begin with the Duino Elegies, the poems in which Rilke's ideas are most fully expressed and which as a group are important not only as one of the supreme poetic achievements of the West but also because of the way in which they came to be written - in a storm of inspiration."--BOOK JACKET. "Gass examines the genesis of the ideas that inform the Elegies and discusses previous translations. He writes, as well, about Rilke the man: his character, his relationships, his life."--BOOK JACKET.

First sentence: Open-eyed. Rainer Maria Rilke died in the arms of his doctor on December 29, 1926.

Year

1999

Language

English

Publisher

Basic Books

Editions

1

Pages

272

ISBN

9780465026227

Data source: Wikidata