The Poet's Guide to Life Audiobook By Edited, Translated by Ulrich Baer cover art

The Poet's Guide to Life

The Wisdom of Rilke

Preview
Try for $0.00
Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

The Poet's Guide to Life

By: Edited, Translated by Ulrich Baer
Narrated by: Ethan Hawke
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $9.88

Buy for $9.88

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use, License, and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

About this listen

In this treasury of uncommon wisdom and spiritual insight, the best writings and personal philosophies of one of the 20th century's greatest poets, Rainer Maria Rilke, are gleaned by Ulrich Baer from thousands of pages of never-before translated correspondence.

The result is a profound vision of how the human drive to create and understand can guide us in every facet of life. Arranged by theme, from everyday existence with others to the exhilarations of love and the experience of loss, from dealing with adversity to the nature of inspiration, here are Rilke's thoughts on how to live life in a meaningful way.

Intimate, stylistically masterful, brilliantly translated, and brimming with the wonder and passion of Rilke, The Poet's Guide to Life is comparable to the best works of wisdom in all of literature and a perfect book for all occasions.

©2005 Ulrich Baer (P)2005 Random House, Inc. Random House Audio, a division of Random House, Inc.
Personal Development Personal Success Wisdom Life Poetry
adbl_web_global_use_to_activate_T1_webcro805_stickypopup
All stars
Most relevant  
I stumbled on this book- one late night. It is lovely. It is not poetry- it is more akin to philosophy.
Narration is soothing and if you use audible as I do, to help with sleep, it is helpful.

Philosophy of a Poet

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Absolutely. Rilke was passionate and original. Listening to this book reminds me how much his work, "On Love and Other Difficulties," influenced me when I first read it 40 years ago.

What other book might you compare The Poet's Guide to Life to and why?

Works by Hesse, such as Siddhartha, and Demian.

What about Ethan Hawke’s performance did you like?

Precise and energetic--he leaps at every word with enthusiasm. I would probably enjoy his voice, even if he was reading the phone book.

What’s an idea from the book that you will remember?

I love the way Rilke grounds ideas about the meaning of life in the visceral feelings of his body.

Rediscovering Rilke

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Rilke was a master wordsmith,, but never lost sight of his purpose - to do justice to the exploration of life and everything within it and within us. In this beautifully crafted book, Baer gives us a taste of Rilke's passionate conversations found in his letters. The result is an intimate, and yet universal mediation on life separated into categories such as "on work", "on nature", "on language", "on art", and of course, "on love.

At first I wasn't sure that Ethan Hawke was the best choice for narrator, but I quickly came to love his work here. His voice is warm and soothing and he never tries to add anything unnecessary to Rilke's words. He lets those words express what Rilke intended, yet you can feel the passion of Hawke, as well as RIlke.

You don't have to love poetry - this is prose. You just have to be willing to love life. And Baer indicates that RIlke actually felt his prose was even better than poetry to express his thoughts. Transcendent and practical.

Beautiful - Light - Deep

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Would you consider the audio edition of The Poet's Guide to Life to be better than the print version?

i don't recieve the print version ever so i won't know

What did you like best about this story?

the emphasis on romance and love

Have you listened to any of Ethan Hawke’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

no, i have never listened to ethan hawke before

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

yes

Any additional comments?

i think this survey is too long and time-consuming and takes time away from other necessities. i am so tired of others who feel like i have nothing else to do with my time!!!!

thoight provoking

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Listening to this engulfs my creative spirit. True beauty in the writings. Hawke narrates very calm and contained and meek allowing the tone of Rilke to have space to speak volumes. An audio book you put on repeat to let soak into the soul.

Laser Beams of Flowing Wisdom

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

philosophical poetry. I really love Rilke. Narrator voice is mellow, this could work as a bedtime story. Well unless you are apt to ponder his thoughts. Than maybe not. Great listen I definitely recommend.

I love Rilke.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Ethan Hawke does an impressive job bringing Rilke to life. This is a dear volume filled with inside looks into Rilke's life and work. Don't miss it.

Simply wonderful to listen to.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.