meythegreat's review
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
chadconnecticut's review
5.0
One of the best parts of waiting until now to read essential poets is getting to experience the magic that others have told me about for the very first time. This will be a book I come back to often.
eranada's review against another edition
Finished Duino Elegies but not in a good place to go with Sonnets
noahtato's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
3.0
lucy_qhuay's review
1.0
I'm sorry. I really am. I really wanted to love this book, since I love poetry and I have read some excerpts of other works of Rainer Maria Rilke and I thought they were pretty interesting.
But I just couldn't bring myself to appreciate this one.
I consider myself an erudite/educate person, however you prefer to call it but I have to admit that I spent most of the time extremely confused.
I couldn't understand what was that the author wanted to transmit with the metaphors and chains of imagery he used and I didn't like that he mixed said metaphors a lot, instead of finishing the ideas that he had started.
Elegies are supposed to give us the sense of lament and to bring us to a more melancholy and pensive mood. That didn't happen to me at all.
How could it happen when I'm supposed to know what is being mourned and feel deeply about it and I just didn't?
About the sonnets, I just have to say that I did, in fact, understand them but I just couldn't bring myself to care.
What a pity!
But I just couldn't bring myself to appreciate this one.
I consider myself an erudite/educate person, however you prefer to call it but I have to admit that I spent most of the time extremely confused.
I couldn't understand what was that the author wanted to transmit with the metaphors and chains of imagery he used and I didn't like that he mixed said metaphors a lot, instead of finishing the ideas that he had started.
Elegies are supposed to give us the sense of lament and to bring us to a more melancholy and pensive mood. That didn't happen to me at all.
How could it happen when I'm supposed to know what is being mourned and feel deeply about it and I just didn't?
About the sonnets, I just have to say that I did, in fact, understand them but I just couldn't bring myself to care.
What a pity!
raloveridge's review
4.0
Loved the Elegies, thought the Sonnets were a bit...uneven maybe? But still, oh, but still.
"Let yourself peal among the beams
of dark belfries."
—from "Sonnet 29"
"Let yourself peal among the beams
of dark belfries."
—from "Sonnet 29"
shaunnow38's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
hannahjs's review against another edition
4.0
I understand why Rilke is so beloved now. His writing is absolutely stunning. I liked The Sonnets to Orpheus slightly more than the Duino Elegies, because I found they were a little less dense, but all of them were beautiful. I’ll definitely be revisiting this collection many times in the future.