The Dark Interval, Rainer Maria Rilke
The Dark Interval, Rainer Maria Rilke
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The Dark Interval
Letters on Loss, Grief, and Transformation

Author: Rainer Maria Rilke, Ulrich Baer

Narrator: Rosanne Cash, Ulrich Baer

Unabridged: 2 hr 51 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 08/14/2018


Synopsis

From the writer of the classic Letters to a Young Poet, reflections on grief and loss, collected and published here in one volume for the first time.

“A great poet’s reflections on our greatest mystery.”—Billy Collins

“A treasure . . . The solace Rilke offers is uncommon, uplifting and necessary.”—The Guardian

Gleaned from Rainer Maria Rilke’s voluminous, never-before-translated letters to bereaved friends and acquaintances, The Dark Interval is a profound vision of the mourning process and a meditation on death’s place in our lives. Following the format of Letters to a Young Poet, this book arranges Rilke’s letters into an uninterrupted sequence, showcasing the full range of the great author’s thoughts on death and dying, as well as his sensitive and moving expressions of consolation and condolence.

Presented with care and authority by master translator Ulrich Baer, The Dark Interval is a literary treasure, an indispensable resource for anyone searching for solace, comfort, and meaning in a time of grief.

Praise for The Dark Interval

“Even though each of these letters of condolence is personalized with intimate detail, together they hammer home Rilke’s remarkable truth about the death of another: that the pain of it can force us into a ‘deeper . . . level of life’ and render us more ‘vibrant.’ Here we have a great poet’s reflections on our greatest mystery.”—Billy Collins

“As we live our lives, it is possible to feel not sadness or melancholy but a rush of power as the life of others passes into us. This rhapsodic volume teaches us that death is not a negation but a deepening experience in the onslaught of existence. What a wise and victorious book!”—Henri Cole

About The Author

Rainer Maria Rilke (1875–1926), born in Prague into a German-speaking family, is widely recognized as one of the world’s great poets. He is the author of the novel The Notebook of Malte Laurids Brigge and several books of poetry, including The Book of Hours, The Book of Images, New Poems, The Life of the Virgin Mary, The Duino Elegies, and Sonnets to Orpheus. He wrote approximately about fifteen thousand letters to an enormous range of recipients. Letters to a Young Poet and Letters on Life have inspired countless readers. Ulrich Baer was educated at Harvard and Yale and has been awarded John Simon Guggenheim, DAAD, Paul Getty, and Alexander von Humboldt fellowships. He is Vice Provost and Professor of German and Comparative Literature at New York University. His previous books include Remnants of Song: Trauma and the Experience of Modernity in Charles Baudelaire and Paul Celan, Spectral Evidence: The Photography of Trauma, The Rilke Alphabet, Beggar’s Chicken: Stories from Shanghai, and We Are But a Moment. He edited 110 Stories: New York Writes After September 11, and edited and translated Letters on Life: New Prose Translations, published by the Modern Library.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Jennifer ~ TarHeelReader on July 11, 2018

Rainer Maria Rilke wrote over fourteen thousand letters during his lifetime to anyone who was close to him, anyone with whom he felt a connection, and this included those who contacted him after reading one of his works. Rilke considered his letters to be as significant as his more formal writings,......more

Goodreads review by Jill on March 20, 2018

After witnessing my mother’s death last month, I found myself asking: how do you reconcile such a transformative event when you don’t have faith to lean on? What does it all mean? I found the answers in Ranier Maria Rilke’s letters on loss, grief and transformation, which is surprisingly accessible a......more

If someone wrote me a letter like this I would tattoo it on my face......more

Goodreads review by Nancy on July 11, 2018

Rainer Maria Rilke wrote over 14,000 letters before his tragic death from leukemia at age fifty-one, we are informed in the Preface to The Dark Interval. This volume consists of two dozen of Rilke's condolence letters, newly translated and gathered into one volume. Also included is a letter Rilke wr......more

Goodreads review by Anita on June 17, 2022

If you have ever dealt with grief read this ❣️ توی بهترین زمان ممکن بازخوانیش کردم :))) دو هفته بعد کنکوره ... چند روز بعد سالگرد یکی از عزیزترین هامه ... و آرومم کرد :))......more


Quotes

“Even though each of these letters of condolence is personalized with intimate detail, together they hammer home Rilke’s remarkable truth about the death of another: that the pain of it can force us into a ‘deeper . . . level of life’ and render us more ‘vibrant.’ Here we have a great poet’s reflections on our greatest mystery.”—Billy Collins

“A treasure . . . The solace Rilke offers is uncommon, uplifting and necessary.”––The Guardian

“As we live our lives, it is possible to feel not sadness or melancholy but a rush of power as the life of others passes into us. This rhapsodic volume teaches us that death is not a negation but a deepening experience in the onslaught of existence. What a wise and victorious book!”—Henri Cole