Stories of God

December 15, 2009

Finding God

Filed under: Spiritual — Jack Beacham @ 10:04 am    

It was the summer of 2003 and I was not consciously intent on finding God. However, a seemingly random sequence of events led me first to Rainer Maria Rilke and then to his Stories of God. “Finding God” – the phrase still makes me uncomfortable. Rilke has one of his characters say that it is an insane arrogance to decide whether He exists or not, as if the decision itself calls Him into being or banishes Him from existence.

Just this past Friday, at a Christmas party, given by friends – a couple, a mutual friend I’ve known a long, long time, said to me that my fascination with Rilke’s Stories of God still surprises her somewhat. I thought that odd because I felt that I was in one way or another on the road to finding God for quite some time. She reminded me though of a time when I was an adamant atheist.

I smiled because, in my college days, that was true. I said quite a lot and as one does when filled with the fervor of the righteous, I said it quite loudly. I recall a Christmas Eve party a very long time ago when I drove a poor Catholic friend to tears for saying something quite rotten about nuns and their renunciation of their humanity, of their sexuality. I, in due course, apologized to her for that.

Still, I felt that I had, as the years worn on, settled into a stoic sort of agnosticism. A theological “don’t ask / don’t tell” policy.

Then, in 2003, as I became reacquainted with a singer-songwriter’s latter body of work, themes of which centered upon mortality and eternity, I became more conscious of my estrangement from this notion of heaven and a loving God. The man quoted from Rilke’s Herbsttag (Fall Day): “he who now has no house, shall never have a house / he who now is alone, shall long remain so…”

That spoke to me.

So, I set out to discover who this Rilke gentleman was and in finding these stories, I have found much besides. Finding God though – I still don’t know. There is much I don’t yet understand about Rilke’s view of God – I’ve only recently been introduced to the concept of Rilkean angels. And, so, I remain, perhaps arrogantly so, an agnostic. One bent on finding God, but an agnostic just the same.

There is much in these stories that bends me toward Rilke and God. From the allegorical journey of the right hand of God to the final tale told to the Dark which envelopes all things, much – well – is said about God and life. In due course, Rilke takes us to Russia, to Italy, to cities near and far, small and large, to the countryside, to the edge of the world and ultimately to within ourselves to think upon things, all things, quietly, alone.

If you’ve not read Stories of God, I encourage you to do so. If you too are on the road to finding God, I think you’ll feel as much joy in reading these stories as I have.

A Unique Stories of God collection – in three respects

I’ve read, in fact first read, two fine, earlier German-English translations of these stories. I recommend these to you as well. However, this edition has three unique attributes not found in either of those earlier translations. In this edition of Stories of God:

  • Each story is translated by a different translator, enabling you to glimpse something of the art of translation, something of how different translators solve particular problems in different, interesting and valid ways – and compare with your own approach –
  • A fourteenth story not found in either of the English translations currently on the market
  • The original German work, Geschichten vom lieben Gott, so, you can read either / or, or in parallel

In Closing

Aside from Sonnets to Orpheus and the Duino Elegies, Rilke, of course, left a great body of poetry. From Life and Songs to New Poems, there is a good number of reasons to overlook his prose, especially Stories of God, which he wrote at about the same time as The Book of Hours.

However, I encourage you not to pass over Stories of God. So much so that I’ve put together a special offer that will enable you to not only read the stories in English, essays about the translation process which led to them, and also Rainer Maria Rilke’s original text.

In the first story, Rilke’s storyteller says that these are stories to be told to the children. Perhaps, but they are certainly stories to be told. Elsewhere in Stories of God, Rilke writes that the story was alive when it passed many lips. In that spirit, I encourage you to also listen to the stories.

The Offer

So, if you’d like to read great German literature as you learn German, why not read Stories of God in parallel with Geschichten vom lieben Gott? And, for a limited time, take advantage of the free audio recordings: click here.

Thank you!

Jack Beacham

Copyright 2009 – Aventure Works, Inc.

December 14, 2009

Interested in German-English Translation?

Filed under: Translation — Jack Beacham @ 8:59 pm    

If you are interested in German-English translation as a profession or simply as a hobby, your may benefit from actively reading this translation of Rainer Maria Rilke’s Geschichten vom lieben Gott, translated here as Stories of God.

Picture yourself at table, actively reading the book – flipping from the original German to the English translations, comparing the German-English translations with how you might have translated each story and discovering why each translator made the choices that each did as you read the essays on the art of translation. The process may increase your confidence in your own skills and help to highlight just where you need to further develop your skills.

Good translation requires time and patience as well as a solid grounding in the German-English translation problem domain. That is, a thorough knowledge of German and a thorough knowledge of English. Myself, try as I might, I still lack the former, which is why I asked these fourteen professional translators to have a hand at translating Rainer Marie Rilke’s youthful work into English.

Rainer Marie Rilke – as Translated by

Each of these fourteen stories are translated by a different translator. And, each translator provides an essay on the art of translation and how they went about doing what they did. Each of these wonderful professionals have years of experience as translators, but their experience and cultural backgrounds are each quite different from one another. Part of the charm and purpose of this edition of Stories of God is to take in the resulting differences in tone and style and, well, how each story turned out in relation to the others. Some have a more literary background. Others a more technical or commercial background. All have an appreciation of Rainer Maria Rilke. And, all are well-versed in German-English translation. Each has a bio elsewhere on this site so I’ll simply list them here:

  • Gunilla Zedigh – translator of By Way of Introduction: The Tale of God’s Hands and author of The Opposite of Immaculate.
  • Sean Craig – translator of The Stranger and author of Essay on Translating Der Fremde Mann.
  • Stefan White – translator of Why the benevolent God wants there to be poor people and author of “What a splendid art. And what a sad profession.”.
  • Karen Haydon – translator of How betrayal came to Russia and author of The Art and Challenge of Translation.
  • Walter Köppe – translator of How old Timofej died singing and author of Translating Rilke – an approach.
  • Gert Sass – translator of The Song of Justice and author of Translating Inaccessible Silence.
  • Linda Gaus – translator of A Scene from the Venetian Ghetto and author of Trapped in a Bubble of Language?.
  • Therese Eglseder – translator of About One Who Eavesdrops On The Stones and author of A Stony Way Full Of Stumbling Blocks.
  • Tessa Sachse – translator of How the thimble came to be God and author of Reconciling Twain, Rilke and the German language.
  • Emily Williams – translator of A Tale of Death and a Strange Postscript to It and author of With Respect to the Author, from the Translator.
  • Chris Michalski – translator of An Organization Called Forth by an Urgent Need and author of Translating Another Rilke.
  • Rebecca Lavnick – translator of The Beggar and the Proud Maiden and author of Translating “The Beggar and the Proud Maiden”.
  • Katarina Peters – translator of A Tale told to the Dark and author of Reflections on Rilke’s Fascination with the Dark.
  • Neil Williamson – translator of Addendum: A letter from lame Ewald and author of Translator’s notes on Ein Brief des lahmen Ewald.

    A Unique Stories of God collection – in three respects

    I’ve read, in fact first read, two fine, earlier German-English translations of these stories. I recommend these to you as well. However, this edition has three unique attributes not found in either of those earlier translations. In this edition of Stories of God:

    • Each story is translated by a different translator, enabling you to glimpse something of the art of translation, something of how different translators solve particular problems in different, interesting and valid ways – and compare with your own approach –
    • A fourteenth story not found in either of the English translations currently on the market -
    • The original German work, Geschichten vom lieben Gott, so, you can read either / or, or in parallel.

    In Closing

    Aside from Sonnets to Orpheus and the Duino Elegies, Rilke, of course, left a great body of poetry. From Life and Songs to New Poems, there is a good number of reasons to overlook his prose, especially Stories of God, which he wrote at about the same time as The Book of Hours.

    However, I encourage you not to pass over Stories of God. So much so that I’ve put together a special offer that will enable you to not only read the stories in English, essays about the translation process which led to them, and also Rainer Maria Rilke’s original text.

    In the first story, Rilke’s storyteller says that these are stories to be told to the children. Perhaps, but they are certainly stories to be told. Elsewhere in Stories of God, Rilke writes that the story was alive when it passed many lips. In that spirit, I encourage you to also listen to the stories.

    The Offer

    So, if you’d like to read great German literature as you learn German, why not read Stories of God in parallel with Geschichten vom lieben Gott? And, for a limited time, take advantage of the free audio recordings: click here.

    Thank you!

    Jack Beacham

    Copyright 2009 – Aventure Works, Inc.

December 10, 2009

Learn German

Filed under: Learn German — Jack Beacham @ 2:59 pm    

Before returning from Dresden and Munich in 2006, while waiting for a train on the platform in Hannover, like a bell, it rang in my head: Learn German. Learn German. Learn German… Before then, I had set for myself the task of learning German on account of Rainer Marie Rilke’s – one of the greatest authors of German literature – Geschichten vom lieben Gott, translated here as Stories of God. However, I did not know how to learn the German language formally and so, my first trip there, it was soon apparent to me that I had not the tools or the confidence to engage in the simplest of conversational German.

When I first started learning German that I was afraid to speak, oblivious that I had more to be embarassed about due to this fear rather than the attempt to speak. Assuming you are a student of German, I think the following tale of how I’ve set about learning German – through German software, reading German literature – particularly, Rilke’s Geschichten vom lieben Gott, German immersion, German language audio CDs, interactive online German courses and the use of a German language dictionary, a book with popular German verb conjugations and, of course, a book for learning German grammar – will be helpful.

First, I’ll tell you how I went about learning German before traveling there in 2006. Then, the things I’ve done to learn German since returning that first trip. And lastly, I’ll relate to you my plan to learn German going forward. (My entire purpose in learning German is to read Rainer Marie Rilke’s Geschichten vom lieben Gott and to really understand it first-hand, so to speak, and at the bottom of this post is a link to an offer for the Stories of God translation which I’ve published; if you’d like to skip straight through to it, you can do so by clicking here.

How Not to Learn German

Prior to that 2006 trip, I did of course think that I had done something of use. I had purchased and studied an accelerated German language audio course as well as had purchased some wonderful music set to Rilke’s poetry. The workbook that came with the German audio course was encouraging and useful. It pointed out the common heritage of the German and English languages and how this transparency helped one to learn German. On that score – true enough, but I’m afraid that once I was in the real world and the conversation wondered off script from the storyline contained in the German audio CD’s, I was reduced to pointing at things, making odd guttural gestures and finally, resignedly, opening my mouth and letting forth — in English. Now, as a rule, the Germans that I met in my travels appreciated these attempts. Only one exception comes to mind.

Another Reason to Learn German

That was a woman at my second hotel in Dresden who replied in response to something I said, “Deutsch in Deutschland.” I thought that right and proper and told her so: “Ja ist es richtig. Deutsch in Deutschland und Englisch in Amerika. Entschuldigan Sie bitte aber…I don’t know how!” She and her man friend laughed and we clanged our beer mugs. They continued on in German and I was left to listen. I wasn’t prepared for this German immersion though and I was frustrated by it. It seems obvious now but aside from a few rote words and phrases, I really had no idea of what words to use or in what order to put them or, even a notion of what the concept of declension was.

Tools I’ve used while Learning German

There’s lots of helpful advice about learning German on the Internet. Presumably you too have searched for tools and found tools to help you. I won’t go into detail about specific tools and titles here – these would be (future) articles in and of themselves. Besides, I can’t say that I would recommend them or not in relation to other tools, based on what I’ve recently learned – something I’ll touch on a bit more below. Here, I’ll simply mention the types of tools I used, the name of the tool I used without any recommendation or critique, and how I went about using them to learn German.

Even before returning home, in a small shop in Munich very near Marienplatz, I bought a German-English language dictionary, designed, I believe for a native German speaker who is learning English: Langenscheidt Power Dictionary Englisch. It wasn’t at first of much use to me as I didn’t know in what order to put the words. Still, I had some sense in that I didn’t simply look up an English word and take the first German word that appeared next to it. Usually, the English word was accompanied by several German alternatives, which were more or less a better fit depending on the context. Likewise, the English word typically had several phrases and their German language counterparts. And so, I would look up each suggested German word and the English words suggested for it and more or less triangulate which one would be best, given the context.

More often than not, I wrapped this well chosen word into a carelessly constructed collection of words I thought constituted a sentence. This left my listener bemused, helpful and eagerly speaking English. Although not a conscious strategy, I found this to be the single most effective, non-obtrusive way to get people to speak to me in English: just try to speak German and someone will help you out.

As an aside – I was fortunate, by way to find a few people that didn’t speak English and this, although frustrating was liberating. As they didn’t know me I felt free to fumble about and learn to communicate in German. I don’t know why I feel that way – although I’m still wasting their time at least it is in German.

So, upon returning home, vowed to learn German, I purchased a grammar book, Essential German Grammar, and a book of common verbs, 501 German Verbs: fully conjugated in all the tenses. Both have been very helpful. As would be obvious to all but me, the German grammar book should have been my starting point. As you would expect it provided all the essentials of German grammar:

  • noun phrase determiners and pronouns
  • adjectives, adverbs and adverbials
  • prepositions
  • verb forms and uses
  • valency and cases
  • word order
  • Complex sentences
  • Word formation

As valuable and fundamental as all of these topics are, I found the section on word order the most enlightening and therefore encouraging. Finally, I had some idea of where things went! This was especially helpful to me as I had set off on what I thought was a very good plan. That is –

I sought out and found Pen friends through a website that connected people learning German with one another. I had no idea of who I was corresponding with or whether, particularly at first, they knew anything more than I did. But, it was fun and rewarding. From a large collection of initial and sporadic correspondents, I now have a small group of genuine friends. The only downside is that they are as eager to learn English as I am to learn German and so we correspond in both languages.

All along, I’ve listened to this wonderful music, The Rilke Projekt and, when I can, I listen to German audio clips – usually via Internet radio. Lastly, I studied the German language online via a course through the Rosetta Stone. This was helpful to me as it helped me associate German words directly with images of things rather than translated through the not-necessarily-so English equivalents.

In sum, using these tools on my own have had some success. Aside from things I’ve memorized such as passages from Geschichten von Lieben Gott / Stories of God, I can comprehend what I read with and without the tools. I can write with the tools. I can say simple things without tools. I can comprehend what is said, if it is said slowly and if it is the simplest of things.

How to Learn German

Some success is nice but I had expected more from myself by now. It has after all been three years. That’s why I was so pleased to discover The Art and Science of Learning Languages, by Amorey Gethin and Erik Gunnemark. The book was recommended to me by a dear friend to whom I am most grateful. The book, which I in turn highly recommend, has much useful to say about the art of learning languages, facts about languages, even a part about how to pass language examinations as well as eleven interesting appendices.

A complete review of the book will have to wait for another time but, suffice it to say, the book has given me a structure for building upon the good things I’ve already done. I am encouraged that am on the right track, as far as the authors are concerned, as they say if you want to learn German – if you really want to learn, speak German. Listen, associate the sounds with things, even abstract things like actions and feelings. relative positions of things (e.g., atop, below, aside, before, behind, etc, relative movement (toward, from, arrival, depart, etc.), I was also reassured that learning on one’s own is not such a foolhardy idea after all. I particularly like the authors notion of a language guide rather than an instructor.

How many words does one need to know?

I’ll admit that I was disappointed but not surprised to see that the authors – in answering the question, “How many words does one need to know?”, classified being able to read all sorts of literature at the fifth level (about 8,000 words, as opposed 400-500 words and 150 phrases at the first level). And, so, they do not recommend doing what I have done in attempting to read Geschichten vom lieben Gott at the outset — what they might refer to as “running before crawling,” However, they also say that one needs an inquisitive attitude towards the language and it is this book, Stories of God, that has roused my interest in the German language itself. So, I’m happy to have made an exception to their general rule!

Inquisitiveness and Joy in Learning German

Truly, I had read the stories in English so many times that I knew the plots and interplay of the characters therein so well that when I began to read the German, although I had little idea of what the meaning of each word was or the technical names of cases, etc., I knew what was going on. I remember the very first time I read the words, “lange bliebe alles so.” (from The Stranger), and simply pictured the silence between the two characters, pictured the two characters sitting across from one another, both letting the preceding words echo onward into the silence.

And I remember saying aloud, “Ja, lange bliebe alles so.” I felt a sense of accomplishment and, well, somewhat proud that I was actually beginning — beginning — to internalize an understanding of Rilke’s beautiful, profound thoughts that he set down in Stories of God. Now, I know that this is as simple a sentence as one can get but I was still pleased with the idea that I had felt those words go into my head and ring with what I believe to be its full meaning, without having translated it subconsciously into English along the way.

Gethen and Gunnemark use a metaphor to which I alluded above. That is, we must crawl with a language before we can walk with it and walk with it before we can run. That, we must learn its structure and vocabulary before we can listen, speak, read and write the basics of daily life. And that, we must know how to communicate in daily life before we can hope to understand — really understand — that language’s finest literature. I believe that is true and I have been somewhat foolishly insisting on understanding this book before learning, for instance, how to order breakfast or pay for a train ticket, etc. Still, I will continue with it.

And you, if you are walking in German, perhaps about to run, I suggest that you read this book, Stories of God. The edition I’ve edited, contains the English translations as well as Rilke’s original German work, Geschichten vom lieben Gott. Read the English translations in parallel with the original text. Compare – and enjoy – for yourself. The book contains an essay on translation written by each translator specifically for this edition. Read the essays to get a better understanding that many choices must be made and that several choices are valid.

Perhaps, there are as many paths to German as there are to God. Well, I hope you would like to find out for yourself.

The Offer

So, if you’d like to read great German literature as you learn German, why not read Stories of God in parallel with Geschichten vom lieben Gott? And, for a limited time, take advantage of the free audio recordings: click here.

Thank you!

Jack Beacham

P.S. If you have suggestions to improve this post – or for related, more in depth posts on various German learning language tools, please let me know in the comments or via email. Tcshuss!

Copyright 2009 – Aventure Works, Inc.

December 8, 2009

Reading Rilke: Reflections on the Problems of Translation

Filed under: Rilke, Translation — Jack Beacham @ 9:22 pm    

Story lead from New York Times online edition:

Open-eyed, Rainer Maria Rilke died in the arms of his doctor on December 29, 1926. The leukemia which killed him had been almost reluctantly diagnosed, and had struck like a storm, after a period of gathering clouds. Ulcerous sores appeared in his mouth, pain troubled his stomach and intestines, he slept a lot when his body let him, his spirit was weighed down by depression, while physically he became as thin and fluttery as a leaf. Since, according to the gloom that naturally descended on him, Rilke’s creative life was over, he undertook translations during his last months: of Valery in particular — “Eupalinos,” “The Cemetery by the Sea ” — and composed his epitaph, too, invoking the flower he so devotedly tended.

Review of Reading Rilke: Reflections on the Problems of Translation By William H. Gass (Knopf) in the NY Times Online edition. To read full review, Click Here.

Subscription (free) required.

December 4, 2009

For Rainer Marie Rilke Lovers

Filed under: Landing, Publicity, Rilke — Jack Beacham @ 2:46 pm    

Any lover, I think, of Rainer Maria Rilke will love Stories of God. They are joyful, loving and, perhaps, surprisingly witty. Rilke scholars – and I’ve been fortunate to have visited with the Rainer Marie Rilke Literary Society in both Dresden and Wolfenbüttel – uniformly agree that Rilke’s poetry, particularly his later and best known works, Sonnets to Orpheus and the Duino Elegies, are his best works.

Still, I guarantee that you will not be disappointed. More about that below (if you’d like to skip straight through to the offer, click here).

Am I a Storm, or a Great Song?

When I first read them I was at a low point in my life. I was drawn to them by a man going through a somewhat public death – more about that at a more appropriate time. As I read them my sense of loneliness and anxiety about God began to subside and as I continued to reread and reread them something like joy and a sense of optimism, despite continued material and mortal difficulties, came to me. From a sense of passion for Rilke’s passion to a renewed passion for life came to me. And for that, to him and, perhaps to Him, I am forever grateful.

Yes, there have been many days where I woke and while still in bed read of the hands of God. Had breakfast with a stranger. Took time on park benches to read of God’s fascination with Michelangelo. Sat at table and took my evening meal with Death. Spent a quiet evening with a proud maiden. And, before shutting off my bedside light, closed the book on Rilke’s tale which he told only to the Dark. I would fall asleep with this notion of Rilke’s, this notion of the darkness which surrounds each of us and of all things. Awake to it and began again anew the very next day.

“These stories are not his best work…”

Perhaps you will be not so taken with these stories. The above quote I was told at the Rainer Marie Rilke Literary Society dinner at the Restaurant Luisenhof overlooking the Elbe River from its eastern bank, to the south of Dresden proper lying on the Elbe’s western bank. Still, I replied to the scholar, these stories give me much, much joy.

How could they not?

The overarching framework of Stories of God is that the narrator – the storyteller – Rainer Marie Rilke – will tell stories to various people in the town and they each in turn will tell the stories to the children of the town. The stories take us from Germany through parts of Europe, back in time and to the edges of the world.

  • On a street in Schmargendorf-Berlin circa 1900, we first meet our storyteller as well as his neighbor, a woman – a mother. The tale he tells her is about God and Creation in which St. Nicholas appears, about His hands and the seventh day. Letters are exchanged with the children, setting the stage for the stories which follow.
  • In a simple room at twilight with tea, a oddly familiar stranger is related another critical episode concerning God and His hands.
  • On another street, a most modern and officious teacher is given an account of an encounter between God and a sculptor in a bustling German town of its day – an account in which our storyteller demonstrates why God would want there to be poor people.
  • Our storyteller then greets his friend and neighbor, Ewald, a lame man. Ewald sits in his room at his window fascinated as he listens to a tale set in Russia in the time of Czar Ivan the Terrible and discovers how betrayal first came to Russia.
  • Ewald is then related a tale set in the Russian Ukraine in the time of the Czars in which an old singer of epic songs and fairy tales dies singing.
  • Our storyteller is rather partial to Ewald for he is a reverent listener and so he is told another tale. This one set in the Ukraine while it was ruled by Polish noblemen and at civil war with the Cossacks in which another ancient singer, sings a song of justice.
  • Walking about, our storyteller meets Mr. Baum, a civic leader with an air of certainty about him. So much so that our friend the storyteller can’t help but smile kindly at him and then relate a tale set loosely in Renaissance Venice, which tells of an old Jewish goldsmith ‘confined’ to his ghetto, of his grand-daughter, Esther, of her child and of the sea.
  • Our storyteller is a good natured man who, perhaps, has a bit of fun with his audience from time-to-time. Most of all though, he enjoys telling stories to his dear friend Ewald. One of the most powerful is a simple story about one who eavesdrops on stones, in which Ewald learns something about Michelangelo and God.
  • Alone, as evening comes, our storyteller greets a group of evening clouds, both young and old, impertinent and wise, and relates to these clouds a tale of seven children and of how a thimble came to be God.
  • With evening having fallen, our storyteller is startled by a gravedigger, they walk through the dark, together, and the gravedigger absorbs a tale of love and of death far, far away from clocks and the city; the tale has a strange postscript to it.
  • On his way to the rail station, our storyteller is accosted by a young musician on a civic errand at the behest of Mr. Baum and, with a touch of humor, tells the young fawn instead a tale of three painters and their brotherhood called forth by an urgent, albeit somewhat self-important need.
  • Our storyteller finds the teacher aghast at a town beggar and so relates to him a tale set in Renaissance Florence about an encounter outside a church between a beggar and a proud maiden.
  • Alone, our storyteller finds comfort in the darkness surrounding him and tells of one man’s search for meaning and his encounter with his long-lost and only childhood friend.
  • And, as a postscript not included in the original collection of stories – nor in either of the other English translations currently in print – lame Ewald has sent a letter to his ‘dear and distant friend’, our storyteller, Rainer Marie Rilke.

Rainer Marie Rilke – as Translated by

Each of these fourteen stories are translated by a different translator. And, each translator provides an essay on the art of translation and how they went about doing what they did. Each of these wonderful professionals have years of experience as translators, but their experience and cultural backgrounds are each quite different from one another. Part of the charm and purpose of this edition of Stories of God is to take in the resulting differences in tone and style and, well, how each story turned out in relation to the others. There is too much to say here about their qualifications. Some have a more literary background. Others a more technical or commercial background. All have an appreciation of Rilke – and an understanding of him that far exceeds mine. Each has a bio elsewhere on this site. You can check these out by clicking here.

A Unique Stories of God collection

I’ve read, in fact first read, two fine, earlier English translations of these stories. I recommend these to you as well. However, this edition has three unique attributes not found in either of those earlier translations. In this edition of Stories of God:

  • Each story is translated by a different translator, enabling you to glimpse something of the art of translation, something of how different translators solve particular problems in different, interesting and valid ways – and compare with your own approach –
  • A fourteenth story not found in either of the English translations currently on the market
  • The original German work, Geschichten vom lieben Gott, so, you can read either / or, or in parallel

In Closing

Aside from Sonnets to Orpheus and the Duino Elegies, Rilke, of course, left a great body of poetry. From Life and Songs to New Poems, there is a good number of reasons to overlook his prose, especially Stories of God, which he wrote at about the same time as The Book of Hours.

However, I encourage you not to pass over Stories of God. So much so that I’ve put together a special offer that will enable you to not only read the stories in English, essays about the translation process which led to them, and also Rainer Maria Rilke’s original text.

In the first story, Rilke’s storyteller says that these are stories to be told to the children. Perhaps, but they are certainly stories to be told. Elsewhere in Stories of God, Rilke writes that the story was alive when it passed many lips. In that spirit, I encourage you to also listen to the stories.

The Offer

So, if you’d like to listen to Stories of God for free as well as read them, click here.

Thank you!

Copyright 2009 – Aventure Works, Inc.

Copyright 2009 - Aventure Works, Inc.