Letters to a Young Poet – Rainer Maria Rilke (1929)
NUMBER: 76
Genre: Non-fiction; Origin: Austrian; Pages: 100
Satisfaction rating: 2.5
OVERVIEW:
The letters were originally written to Franz Kappus, a 19-year-old student at the Military Academy of Vienna, of which Rilke was an alumnus. Discouraged by the prospect of military life, Kappus began to send his poetry to the 27-year-old Rilke, seeking both literary criticism and career advice. Their correspondence lasted from 1902 to 1908. In 1929, three years after Rilke’s death, Kappus assembled and published the ten letters.
MATTHEW’S COMMENTS:
There is not much to like about this book from my perspective. There is no doubt that Rilke is an incredible writer, his use of language (or at least this translation) has a beautiful flow and descriptive quality. One you would expect from a poet!
Nevertheless, aside from sounding a little like a self-help book (crude analogy I know), the reading of this collected work is like listening to one half of a telephone call. For my mind there is not enough context to Kappus’ growth either as a writer or person to reflect on the comments by Rilke. I had hoped that this deficiency would be addressed in the edition I was reading as at it included a chronological appendix (equally as long as the letters). I expected this to close the gap between the two men. Well, I was disappointed that the chronology was in fact only of Rilke, at the end of 100 pages or so Kappus is still a mystery (beyond that of his page-long forward).
My interest is not in story alone, but empathy for character, character development. Something sorely missing from this collection. It has been put together by a fan, for fans who are obviously happy to read anything written by the master Rilke. And that’s cool, just not for me.
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