A NEW READING OF RILKE’S “ELEGIES” Affirming the Unity of “life-AND-death”
| Author: | Mood, John | |
| Year: | 2009 | |
| Pages: | 136 | |
| ISBN: | 0-7734-3864-5 978-0-7734-3864-4 | |
| Price: | $139.95 + shipping | |
| (Click the PayPal button to buy) | ||
This volume traces Rilke’s struggle to affirm death’s unity with life.
It examines selections from the poet’s letters and novel, The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge, analyzing his inexplicable popularity in America, his unexpected attention to the scientific accuracy of his poetic images and to his surprising use of humor. The work culminates in a new interpretation of Rilke's Duinese Elegies.
It examines selections from the poet’s letters and novel, The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge, analyzing his inexplicable popularity in America, his unexpected attention to the scientific accuracy of his poetic images and to his surprising use of humor. The work culminates in a new interpretation of Rilke's Duinese Elegies.
Reviews
“Most enjoyable, yr [ sic] Rilke; gave me a different overview of what often looked to me like the ruin of a barococo [sic] church . . .”
– Gore Vidal
“[Rilke’s] words on death, as [Mood] isolate[s] them, both in [Rilke’s] earlier prose and in the Elegies, are discerning, exquisitely phrased of course, and – perhaps most of all – helpful; an important aid, as in certain of the instructions in the Tibetan Book of the Dead.” – Harold Jaffe, Editor-in-Chief, Fiction International
"Mood’s vast knowledge about Rilke and those works where nearly 'every embrace seems to promise/ eternity' is as sure-handed and intimate and rich and reader-friendly as any book about a poet and his poetry ever gets. A New Reading of Rilke’s “Elegies” is a gift: an investigation that gives us even more evidence as to why Rainer Maria Rilke continues to endure." — Duff Brenna, Perigree
"A gift: an investigation that gives us even more evidence as to why Rainer Maria Rilke continues to endure." - Duff Brenna, Serving House, Journal of Literary Arts
“[Rilke’s] words on death, as [Mood] isolate[s] them, both in [Rilke’s] earlier prose and in the Elegies, are discerning, exquisitely phrased of course, and – perhaps most of all – helpful; an important aid, as in certain of the instructions in the Tibetan Book of the Dead.” – Harold Jaffe, Editor-in-Chief, Fiction International
"Mood’s vast knowledge about Rilke and those works where nearly 'every embrace seems to promise/ eternity' is as sure-handed and intimate and rich and reader-friendly as any book about a poet and his poetry ever gets. A New Reading of Rilke’s “Elegies” is a gift: an investigation that gives us even more evidence as to why Rainer Maria Rilke continues to endure." — Duff Brenna, Perigree
"A gift: an investigation that gives us even more evidence as to why Rainer Maria Rilke continues to endure." - Duff Brenna, Serving House, Journal of Literary Arts
Table of Contents
1. Rilke Reconsidered
2. Introducing Rilke’s Life and Work (1976)
3. Rilke on Learning to Die (1976)
4. “From Cheers to Chance to Change” – The Pop Rilke
5. “Factual Correctness” in Rilke’s Work
6. “Leaving the Grim Vision Behind”
7. The Structure and a New Reading of Duinese Elegies
Appendix “A.” Rilke on God and Spirituality
Appendix “B.” Translations of Duinese Elegies
Appendix “C.” Sources Cited in Text
2. Introducing Rilke’s Life and Work (1976)
3. Rilke on Learning to Die (1976)
4. “From Cheers to Chance to Change” – The Pop Rilke
5. “Factual Correctness” in Rilke’s Work
6. “Leaving the Grim Vision Behind”
7. The Structure and a New Reading of Duinese Elegies
Appendix “A.” Rilke on God and Spirituality
Appendix “B.” Translations of Duinese Elegies
Appendix “C.” Sources Cited in Text