I'm mulling over hosting another
Rilke Week here on the blog. That would be the "second annual Rilke Week," and I imagine it could become a rich tradition. Or it could snowball into an obligation I struggle to meet. I could go into every Spring Break for the rest of forever dreading the work I need to do when I ought to be working on my own material or taking a vacation. Or worse: I might grow to feel like I shouldn't travel at all for Spring Break, because I would not want to break the tradition. And, no doubt, tens of thousands of readers are out there waiting to see if Rilke Week makes a comeback.
Needless to say, I'm feeling ambivalent, but I could sure use a close encounter with Rainer Maria Rilke right about now. I have found more than once that the close reading of poetry (well, not too close) sparks my imagination and focuses my thoughts. And these days, if I
must change my life, then I must bend this life toward a more single-minded devotion to writing fiction. Seven years ago, family life dragged me away from the writing life. (Oh, woe am I.) Now it's time to drag myself back.
It's all so inspiring, no?
Rilke Week is on. Or not. I'll keep you posted.
I would contribute to this conversation, but I gave at the office.
ReplyDeleteYaaaaay Rilky!
ReplyDeleteWhat great news! The World's Foremost Rilke Scholar back in action! I support this!
After failing to locate an untranslated "You who never arrived" I had one of those rare-ish but horrifying situations recently where I realised that the internets don't actually contain all the information that I could want from the world ...whut, you mean I have to go to, like, a library or somethin'!? Sheesh.
Actually in the ten minutes that you can't tell elapsed between the last sentence and this one I had another one of those not-so-very-rare internet-related moments when I went looking for what I thought I couldn't find and found it. I probably should have blamed my poor Deutsch language skills before criticising the web; my faith in it is restored, although the process has rendered most of this ever-lengthening comment redundant.
In short, I am excited at the prospect of another Rilkee Week!
L. (aka Anonymous Internet Pedant)
Alas, not this year, I'm afraid. My Spring Break vacation was utterly decimated by family drama and my earnest (if ineffective) attempts to finish my book manuscript. This week I go back to work--and an extremely busy week it will be. I must take care not to over-extend.
ReplyDeleteBesides, Rilke, you, and I aren't going anywhere. Same time next year?
My disappointment can only adequately be conveyed by the facial expression I am currently wearing.
ReplyDeleteBest summed up by a long-drawn-out "awwwwwww".
Take care of yourself through the fambly dramas and sign me up for a first edition of the book.
As for Rilke not going anywhere, we'll just have to wait and see how the speaking tour he recently embarked on with Orpheus pans out - you know how those lads like to pop a cork while they blather about "lerv"...
L.