The Last Ones

Rilke, Rainer Maria, 1875-1926Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.6

Word count: 83K words
Chapters: 9

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Die Letzten by Rainer Maria RilkeAuthor: Rilke, Rainer Maria, 1875-1926,Language: German, Class: PT: Language and Literatures: Germanic, Scandinavian, and Icelandic literatures, Release Date: Feb 6, 2010

Editor's review

This is an early short work by Rilke, in the original German. It is brief, yet already reveals the themes of solitude, decline and marginal figures that the poet would return to again and again in The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge. Centered on "the last ones," it carries a symbolist colouring and a fin-de-siècle mood, with restrained narration, a dense atmosphere and highly concentrated language. As a public-domain ebook, it is better suited as supplementary material for studying the development of Rilke's writing than as a first introduction. It is worth reading as a transitional work between Rilke's poetry and his fiction, with attention to the descriptions of space, objects and the silence of the characters—details that anticipate the poet's later way of gazing at "things." Since it is in the original German and lacks translation notes, readers need some German, or should read it alongside a translation, to fully appreciate its stylistic qualities.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Literary readers with some German who want to read Rilke in the original
Students of Rilke's early work and symbolist style
Readers who prefer short fiction with a dense atmosphere and restrained narration

Not a good fit for

Readers with no German who are unwilling to use a translation
General fiction readers expecting a full-length plot and a clear ending

Reading tips

Read through once to grasp the atmosphere, then go back section by section, noting the recurring descriptions of objects and silence.
Read it alongside Rilke's poetry from the same period to observe how the language of the fiction and the language of the poetry seep into each other.
After finishing, read the relevant chapters of The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge to understand how the themes continue and change.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book in German or English?

According to the catalogue information, the language of this book is German: it is Rilke's original German text, not an English translation. Readers need some German before starting, or should have a translation at hand for comparison.

Is it suitable as an introduction to Rilke?

Not really. The work is short, highly symbolic and in the original German without notes, so beginners may struggle. It is better to start with translations of Rilke's poetry or Letters to a Young Poet.

What are the features of this edition?

This is a public-domain ebook released by Project Gutenberg, available free of charge, with the original German text. It contains no translation notes or introduction, so it suits readers with some background to study on their own rather than beginners who need supporting materials.

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About the author

Rilke, Rainer Maria, 1875-1926 Author

Rilke, Rainer Maria (1875–1926) is one of the most influential poets in German-language literature. Publicly available information is limited, and details of his life should not be overstated. Judging from the thirteen works held in the collection, his writing spans poetry, prose and essays on art: Neue Gedichte and its sequel Der Neuen Gedichte: Anderer Teil are known for their distilled imagery and the "thing poem" approach, drawing existential experience from concrete objects; Das Stunden-Buch and Das Marien-Leben show a strong religious and meditative character; Die Aufzeichnungen des Malte Laurids Brigge portrays urban loneliness and perception through fragmentary narration; and Auguste Rodin reflects his close observation of the visual arts. His delicate, symbolic language has had a lasting influence on modern poetry in Chinese and on the German poetic tradition.