Letters to a Young Poet: A New Translation and Commentary Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

Rainer Maria Rilke (Author), Anita Barrows - translator (Author), Joanna Macy - translator (Author),

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A fresh perspective on a beloved classic by acclaimed translators Anita Barrows and Joanna Macy.

German poet Rainer Maria Rilke’s (1875-1926) Letters to a Young Poet has been treasured for nearly a century. Rilke’s personal reflections on the vocation of writing and the experience of living urge an aspiring poet to look inward, while also offering sage wisdom on further issues including gender, solitude, and romantic love. Barrows and Macy’s translation extends this compilation of timeless advice and wisdom to a fresh generation of readers and listeners. With a new introduction and commentary, this edition places the letters in the context of today’s world and the unique challenges we face when seeking authenticity.

Listening Length

1 hour and 37 minutes
Author

Rainer Maria Rilke, see all
Narrator

Trevor White
Audible release date

1 June 2021
Language

English
Publisher

Shambhala Publications
ASIN

B093N3LB9Q
Version

Unabridged
Program Type

Audiobook
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Product details

Listening Length	1 hour and 37 minutes
Author	Rainer Maria Rilke, Anita Barrows - translator, Joanna Macy - translator
Narrator	Trevor White
Whispersync for Voice	Ready
Audible.com.au Release Date	01 June 2021
Publisher	Shambhala Publications
Program Type	Audiobook
Version	Unabridged
Language	English
ASIN	B093N3LB9Q
Best Sellers Rank	6,466 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals) 3 in Literary Letters & Correspondence 6 in Letters & Correspondence

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5 star		79%
4 star		13%
3 star		4%
2 star		2%
1 star		2%

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Kindle Customer

Great read

Reviewed in India on 23 December 2021

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Easy to understand translation that is relevant to current times. I enjoyed this book but I wonder how much was lost in translation.

amba

Bowdlerized by the new puritans

Reviewed in the United States on 5 November 2021

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I was appalled to find that the translators have taken it upon themselves to censor Rilke lest his turn-of-the-20th-century ideas on love, sex, and gender "trigger" some nonbinary young postmodern and make them unable to access the book's creative sustenance. Passages expressing such benighted ideas are not removed entirely (YET—that will be next), but moved to the back of the book where they are **scolded** for their "foolishness." For christ's sake, let Rilke speak in his own words from his own time. Surely we're not so apocalyptically "presentist" that we can't place past ideas in context or admit that our current understandings may not be the final ones, either. Rewriting literature to make it conform to the morals of a different time is wrong in so many ways I don't know where to begin. I'm returning the book.

20 people found this helpful

John David Craycraft

The letters are inspiring

Reviewed in the United States on 18 July 2021

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Someone else noted (…and it is peculiar) that the translators omitted sections of the letters, relegating them to the translator’s commentary. There was an agenda there. Which is ironic because they say practicing accurate journalism requires courage. They could not even show the letters as they actually are rather they needed to omit some things they found “tasteless”. This smacks of ideology.
It was a good read and I am indebted to the translators for their work. Rilke’s words may be useful. I found them inspirational.

17 people found this helpful

M. R. Wilson

Timeless wisdom for creative people

Reviewed in the United States on 10 September 2021

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When I met John Dominic Crossan in 2007, I asked, "What is your favorite prayer?" He replied it wasn't exactly a prayer, but an excerpt from R.M. Rilke's LETTERS TO A YOUNG POET that concerned having patience with life's uncertainties and the value of "living the questions." In Letter 4, Rilke wrote: "Don't search for answers now, because you would not be able to live them....Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer."

The power of solitude and immersing oneself in the natural world are emphasized.

This beautiful little volume is easily read in one sitting. I know I will return to its pages again and again.

2 people found this helpful

Peter Minter

The translators represent the repressive of the intolerant type of feminist.

Reviewed in the United States on 27 February 2022

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The translators sound puritanical, Protestant and the repressive of the intolerant type of feminist. To make letters to young poet a politically correct book by removing paragraphs and putting them at the end with an explanation of why they’re inappropriate. To me it’s like putting black squares over the naughty bits of paintings in a museum.

2 people found this helpful

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Letters to a Young Poet: A New Translation and Commentary Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

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