Rilke by Lesley Chamberlain

An incisive and intimate account of the life and work of the great poet Rilke, exploring the rich interior world he created in his poetry

When Rilke died in 1926, his reputation as a great poet seemed secure. But as the tide of the critical avant-garde turned, he was increasingly dismissed as apolitical, the angels and roses of his poems deemed irrelevant.

In Rilke: The Last Inward Man, acclaimed writer Lesley Chamberlain uses this charge as the starting point from which to explore the expansiveness of the inner world Rilke created in his poetry.

Weaving together searching insights on Rilke’s life, work, and reputation, Chamberlain casts the poet’s inwardness as a profound response to a world that seemed to be losing its spirituality.

In works of dazzling imagination and rich imagery, Rilke sought to restore value to Western materialism, encouraging not narrow introversion but the cultivation of a new sensibility in a secular world after the death of God.

Lesley Chamberlain is a British writer and critic who has written extensively on German and Russian literature and published three novels. Her books include The Philosophy Steamer: Lenin and the Exile of the Intelligentsia, The Secret Artist: A Close Reading of Sigmund Freud and Motherland: a Philosophical History of Russia. Nietzsche in Turin is also available from Pushkin Press.

Author Residence: London, UK

Author Hometown: Rochford, UK