You Must Change Your Life: The Story of Rainer Maria Rilke and Auguste Rodin
Category: Books,Literature & Fiction,Poetry
You Must Change Your Life: The Story of Rainer Maria Rilke and Auguste Rodin Details
Review “This empathetic and imaginative biography, deeply researched, is anchored by the friendship between [Rilke and Rodin].” - The New Yorker“Rachel Corbett has written an elegant and moving account of what was a cultural turning point, seen through the eyes of two very different artists.” - Luke Barr, author of Provence, 1970“Rachel Corbett, as any fine artist, has produced a work of great effect, and leaves a lasting and indelible mark on the reader.” - NPR“In honeyed, knowing prose, Rachel Corbett twines two great serpents of art: the suppleness of Rodin’s malleable flesh and eroticism and Rilke’s endless lyrical rivers. New portals of aesthetic intonations open; invisible elements come into sight.” - Jerry Saltz, senior art critic, New York Magazine“Spectacular. . . . A layered and lyrical inquiry into the personal, interpersonal, and cultural forces behind and around Rainer Maria Rilke’s iconic Letters to a Young Poet.” - Maria Popova, Brainpickings“Takes readers deep into the literary and art worlds of the beginning of the 20th century. . . . A must-read.” - Alanna Martinez, Observer“Much more than the story of Rilke as a young man serving as the personal secretary and confidante to Rodin. Laced with first-and second-hand accounts of the artists and their milieu, You Must Change Your Life is an examination of the gritty how and why of artistic creation, as well as an acknowledgement of the costs of such a life.” - Sarah Roffino, Brooklyn Rail“A riveting narrative. . . . Corbett writes sharp prose that gets to the point.” - Daniel Larkin, Hyperallergic“Charming and funny, Rachel Corbett renders turn-of-the-twentieth-century Paris in all its gritty glory, illustrating how the same place that saw ‘Baudelaire charge through the streets waving a gun and Balzac nearly starve to death’ could foster a magical artistic relationship like this one.” - Ada Calhoun. author of St. Marks Is Dead Read more About the Author Rachel Corbett is the editor in chief of Modern Painters. Her writing has appeared in The New Yorker, the New York Times, the Art Newspaper, New York magazine, and others. She lives in Brooklyn, New York. Read more
Reviews
You Must Change Your Life is about German poet Rainer Maria Rilke, who went to Paris in 1902, at the age of 26, to write a book about the sculptor Auguste Rodin (who sculpted The Thinker and The Kiss).When they met, young Rilke (1875-1926) was a loner and a poor, unknown poet, whereas Auguste Rodin (1840-1917), in his 60s, was revered, outgoing, and famous. The two polar opposites in status and personalities developed a deep friendship.Rilke and Rodin – their friendship, their rupture, the reversal and renewal, their marriages, and then Rilke ‘no longer a sapling cowering beneath the shade of Rodin.’ World War I followed, and both left Paris, but by then Rodin’s ideas about art and creativity had already influenced Rilke’s work.This is interesting account of two artistic men in Paris over a period of 15 years, and their interconnectedness, personally and professionally. It’s an enjoyable read.
