A thoughtful if imperfect primer on Rilke for the self-improvement minded.
Burrows and Dowrick tease out the timeless wisdom of a beloved poet in this nonfiction work.
For over a century, the writings of Rainer Maria Rilke—the Austrian poet who died in 1926—have encouraged readers to embrace life’s contradictions. “He himself saw language as a tool of inquiry,” write the authors in their introduction, “sent out like a ‘probe’ to the limits of human imagination and experience as ‘bees of the invisible,’ as he once famously put it. This adds up to a quite new way not just of seeing life, but of more fully embracing and valuing it.” With this book, Burrows and Dowrick use Rilke’s writings to explore topics like beginnings, questions, and mistakes. The chapters, which can be read in any order (the authors alternate writing duties), operate as self-contained essays, each inspired by a particular quote from one of Rilke’s poems or letters. The chapter titled “Where Do I Belong,” for example, begins with Rilke’s haunting poem “Entrance,” which Dowrick uses as a launching pad to consider the tensions of conformity and belonging. (Her close reading of the poem draws in ideas from Rumi and John O’Donovan as well as her husband’s work as a pediatrician among the First Nations of Australia’s Northern Territory.) Burrows and Dowrick are correct in their assertion that Rilke’s words have a surprisingly contemporary resonance. Though they sometimes consider Rilke’s words within the context of his own life and time, more often they look outward, which can occasionally lead to broad or slightly cliche insights like, “Finding a way to be curious, to be open to the unknown, to be ready to be surprised is not the goal of life’s journey. It is that journey itself.” Worse, they occasionally get caught in loops of abstracted self-help speak: “Such self-honoring may become a chance to discover the fertile wisdom already waiting in your own life, plus how to live into its depths.” More a book for readers of motivational nonfiction than for fans of literature, this work will undoubtedly bring new audiences to the great poet.
A thoughtful if imperfect primer on Rilke for the self-improvement minded.Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2024
ISBN: 9781958972533
Page Count: 260
Publisher: Monkfish Book Publishing
Review Posted Online: Sept. 5, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A conversational, pleasurable look into McConaughey’s life and thought.
All right, all right, all right: The affable, laconic actor delivers a combination of memoir and self-help book.
“This is an approach book,” writes McConaughey, adding that it contains “philosophies that can be objectively understood, and if you choose, subjectively adopted, by either changing your reality, or changing how you see it. This is a playbook, based on adventures in my life.” Some of those philosophies come in the form of apothegms: “When you can design your own weather, blow in the breeze”; “Simplify, focus, conserve to liberate.” Others come in the form of sometimes rambling stories that never take the shortest route from point A to point B, as when he recounts a dream-spurred, challenging visit to the Malian musician Ali Farka Touré, who offered a significant lesson in how disagreement can be expressed politely and without rancor. Fans of McConaughey will enjoy his memories—which line up squarely with other accounts in Melissa Maerz’s recent oral history, Alright, Alright, Alright—of his debut in Richard Linklater’s Dazed and Confused, to which he contributed not just that signature phrase, but also a kind of too-cool-for-school hipness that dissolves a bit upon realizing that he’s an older guy on the prowl for teenage girls. McConaughey’s prep to settle into the role of Wooderson involved inhabiting the mind of a dude who digs cars, rock ’n’ roll, and “chicks,” and he ran with it, reminding readers that the film originally had only three scripted scenes for his character. The lesson: “Do one thing well, then another. Once, then once more.” It’s clear that the author is a thoughtful man, even an intellectual of sorts, though without the earnestness of Ethan Hawke or James Franco. Though some of the sentiments are greeting card–ish, this book is entertaining and full of good lessons.
A conversational, pleasurable look into McConaughey’s life and thought.Pub Date: Oct. 20, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-13913-4
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.
A compendium of charts, time lines, lists and illustrations to accompany study of the Bible.
This visually appealing resource provides a wide array of illustrative and textually concise references, beginning with three sets of charts covering the Bible as a whole, the Old Testament and the New Testament. These charts cover such topics as biblical weights and measures, feasts and holidays and the 12 disciples. Most of the charts use a variety of illustrative techniques to convey lessons and provide visual interest. A worthwhile example is “How We Got the Bible,” which provides a time line of translation history, comparisons of canons among faiths and portraits of important figures in biblical translation, such as Jerome and John Wycliffe. The book then presents a section of maps, followed by diagrams to conceptualize such structures as Noah’s Ark and Solomon’s Temple. Finally, a section on Christianity, cults and other religions describes key aspects of history and doctrine for certain Christian sects and other faith traditions. Overall, the authors take a traditionalist, conservative approach. For instance, they list Moses as the author of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible) without making mention of claims to the contrary. When comparing various Christian sects and world religions, the emphasis is on doctrine and orthodox theology. Some chapters, however, may not completely align with the needs of Catholic and Orthodox churches. But the authors’ leanings are muted enough and do not detract from the work’s usefulness. As a resource, it’s well organized, inviting and visually stimulating. Even the most seasoned reader will learn something while browsing.
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2005
ISBN: 978-1-5963-6022-8
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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