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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 831.912
EAN: 9780679601616
ISBN: 0679601619
Label: Modern Library
Manufacturer: Modern Library
Number Of Items: 1
Book Pages: 640
Publication Date: 1995-08-01
Publisher: Modern Library
Product Release Date: 1995-08-01
Studio: Modern Library

Customer Rating:
Review Summary: 5 stars for the original poetry, 1 star for the translations
Review: Rilke is just about my favourite poet... a true master. In the German, his verse is just sublime.

These translations, however, are shockingly bad. Not only does the translator completely ignore (or distort) some of the key images, he invents new ones for no apparent reason. Mitchell seems to think he is there to improve on the original. He doesn't.

If you don't read German, you should only buy this to read Mitchell's verse. You won't be getting Rilke's.

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Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Lush, Alive and Vivid Addition to Your Rilke Collection
Review: I am a passionate, ardent admirer of Rilke so
before I even opened this book I knew I would
be delighted because of its sheer weight and size.

Oh, YES! I thought to myself.

And then I opened it - and the very first selection
is Rilke's evocative poem, "I live my life in
Widening Circles" with the German on one page
and the English on the facing page.

I don't even speak German - but I love looking
at Rilke's original words - just LOOKING at them
elevates me. I also think that the side-by-side
translation says something of translater Stephen
Mitchell's love for the original.

I also enjoyed the Selected Prose. In reading it
I felt like I was stepping into Rilke's den for
a chat and either strong coffee or a cocktail.

This would be an excellent introduction to Rilke
or a fine compliment to anyone's Rilke Library.

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Customer Rating:
Review Summary: poetry from the soul
Review: I recently discovered Rilke, and am much the better for it - his craft with words literally gives one goosebumps. The poetry portion of _Ahead of All Parting_ is dual language, so readers of German can enjoy the original as well as Mitchell's translations. The book also contains copious notes about many of the poems (when they were written, what was going on in Rilke's life) as well as a section of his published and unpublished prose, which I found almost as vivid and beautiful as his poetry. The book itself is also physically beautiful - the pages are delicate, further adding to the sensusousness of the reading experience.

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Customer Rating:
Review Summary: eloquent and thought provoking
Review: ahead of all parting is a book that i treasure above all others. after reading a friends copy, i immediately ran to the bookstore that same night, and paid full price for it. something i rarely do, by the way. rilke is one of the most eloquent and beautiful writers that i know of. his poetry is some of the most thought provoking and uplifting that i have ever read. he saw things and felt things differently than the average person, and in turn used that to build his poetry and prose. mitchell is the best english translator for rilke's work, it's not perfect, but it's not bad. i have nothing but praise for rainer maria rilke. for all poetry lovers out there, i definately recommend you pick up a copy of this book, you will not regret it.

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Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Suspicious Translation
Review: The three stars I give this book are more for Rilke than for his rather poor translator.

I first became suspicious of Stephen Mitchell when I noticed some rather careless mistakes in this book (for instance, translating the German word for Moon into sun).

But I was no longer suprised by these flaws when I noticed some other works that Mitchell has translated:
the Bhagavad-Gita
The Book of Job
The Gospel
The Tao-Te-Ching

I suppose it is theoretically possible for there to exist an individual that is so immensely talented with languages that he is capable of translating adequately texts from Sanskrit, Hebrew, Ancient Greek, Classical Chinese, and German.... But I don't think Mitchell is that individual.

That being said, the poetics of the translation are very nice and the poems to feel pretty close to Rilke. However, to do this (whom I consider the most profound poet to ever take up a pen) author justice, I am just going to have to learn German for myself

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