THE DARK INTERVAL Letters on Loss, Grief, and Transformation

Rainer Maria Rilke was a twentieth-century Austrian poet and the author of the iconic volume LETTERS TO A YOUNG POET, written in German and available in English for many years. Rilke wrote 14,000 letters in his lifetime. Here, Rosanne Cash narrates 23 letters newly published in English--these to Rilke's friends, former lovers, and acquaintances. The themes are loss, grief, and transformation, and Cash's delivery is expressive and consolatory. Translator and editor Ulrich Baer delivers a lengthy preface that tells of Rilke's short life and the themes in his letters, along with discussing his own translation process and experience of loss. While the work itself is accessible but often repetitive, Cash's empathetic tone invites the listener to embrace pain in order to overcome it. This is a helpful work for those looking for solace in a time of grief. A.C. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine [Published: NOVEMBER 2018]