Reviews

Geschichten vom lieben Gott by Rainer Maria Rilke

jasminawithab's review against another edition

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3.0

how the thimble became god fucked me up for some reason??? im not religious but i find religion fascinating and that story really just hit. 
 
update: ive read more of rilkes work now (stories of god was only my second work at the time) and this is the one that has truly stuck with me. every now and then i think about how the thimble became god and the tale of hands of god. 

its one of those books that very quietly seeps into you and i find myself constantly going back to it

gabs_diliegro's review against another edition

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4.0

“Strange,” Said the doctor.
“What, Georg?”
“How well you understand life. How you’ve grown up, how young you’ve become.”

_jmperfeito_'s review against another edition

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challenging hopeful reflective fast-paced

4.0

itsreirei's review against another edition

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lighthearted reflective relaxing slow-paced

3.5

blueyorkie's review against another edition

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4.0

Here is a text that I fragmented to savor, chapter after chapter. We follow a character who tells stories about a good god. But does it exist? Does he appear in every account?
That's for the reader alone to judge. However, I, who did not follow, turned towards the religious theory; I found them charming and pushed me to think.
I would reread it more times, and many details that escaped me will return to me then.
Good reading :)

el_entrenador_loco's review against another edition

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inspiring mysterious reflective fast-paced

4.5

grvhppr's review against another edition

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lighthearted reflective fast-paced

2.0

I liked about half the stories. The ones I didn't like really fell flat for me and felt like skipping them. However, there were some gems in here that I would reread in future: 

. The Tale of the Hands of God (4 stars)
. Of One Who Listened to the Stones (5 stars)
. How the Thimble Came to Be God (5 stars)
. A Story Told to the Dark (4 stars)

I think I'd like to find another translation of this collection; it felt bereft of Rilke's word magic.

emmacrest's review against another edition

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5.0

"'What has made you so kind?'
'Everything,' she said softly and warmly."
(A Story Told to the Dark)

"The gravedigger still smiled. 'It is a way of earning one's bread–and besides, I ask you, aren't most people doing the same? They bury God up there as I bury men here.' He pointed to the sky... 'Yes, that too is a great grave, in summer it is covered with wild forget-me-nots..." (A Tale of Death)

"Healthy people are so changeable...[the sick's] immobility makes him resemble things, with which indeed he fosters many intimacies; makes him, so to speak, a thing far superior to other things, a thing that listens not only with its silence but also with its rare, quiet words and with its gentle, reverent feelings." (How Old Timofei Died Singing)

lvlykristen's review against another edition

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inspiring mysterious reflective medium-paced

4.0

etkk's review against another edition

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hopeful lighthearted reflective relaxing fast-paced

3.0