Just a little reminder that I’m keeping this list running over on Pinterest as well, if you are a pinterest kind of person. 🙂 Also, I’m building a window seat and feeding my small group, so… it’s hoppin’ over there.
Now on to the main event…. 🙂
Letters To A Young Poet
. . . . .
Author:
Rainer Maria Rilke
. . . . .
What the book is about:
When a young student at a military academy mails some of his poetry to the great poet Rainer Maria Rilke, seeking advice, he initiates years of correspondence, during which Rilke expresses his most personal insights into the artist’s relationship with life, the interior needs of the individual growing towards maturity, and how the impulse to artistic creation can and should be a source of abiding and developing happiness even for those who cannot become artists.
Written in Rilke’s early, struggling years, Letters to a Young Poet is a work of beauty and urgency. Its discussion of the young soldier’s difficulties in finding his identity and vocation, mirrored in Rilke’s own life, have resonated with generations of readers for over a century, and it stands as one of the most beloved and widely read sets of letters in the world.
. . . . .
Why I like it:
Yes, this book is over 100 years old and yes, sometimes young adults roll their eyes at such things. But let me tell you, this short (and cheap!) read is a game-changer, especially if you like to talk about art. Even if you don’t, this book is a worthy read, a good thing to keep on a shelf. This is one that can be tossed into a bag, brought on a trip, and read through a few times on a train in Europe. Or, you know, wherever. 🙂 It’s artsy fartsy and we all need a little bit of that in our lives.
. . . . .
