''The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge'', first published as ''The Journal of My Other Self'',
[ M. D. Herter Norton (tr.). New York: W. W. Norton, 1949, 1992. Translator's Foreword, p. 8.] is a 1910 novel by Austrian poet
Rainer Maria Rilke
René Karl Wilhelm Johann Josef Maria Rilke (4 December 1875 – 29 December 1926), known as Rainer Maria Rilke, was an Austrian poet and novelist. Acclaimed as an Idiosyncrasy, idiosyncratic and expressive poet, he is widely recognized as ...
. The novel was the only work of prose of considerable length that he wrote and published. It is semiautobiographical and is written in an
expressionistic style, with
existentialist
Existentialism is a family of philosophical views and inquiry that explore the human individual's struggle to lead an authentic life despite the apparent absurdity or incomprehensibility of existence. In examining meaning, purpose, and value ...
themes. It was conceptualized and written while Rilke lived in Paris, mainly inspired by
Sigbjørn Obstfelder's ''A Priest's Diary'' and
Jens Peter Jacobsen's ''
Niels Lyhne''.
English translations
* John Linton (Norton, 1930; Hogarth Press, 1930). Originally published under the title ''The Journal of My Other Self''.
*
Mary D. Herter Norton (Norton, 1949)
*
Stephen Mitchell (Random House, 1982)
*
Burton Pike (Dalkey Archive, 2008)
*
Michael Hulse
Michael Hulse (born 1955) is an English poet, translator and critic, notable especially for his translations of German novels by W. G. Sebald, Herta Müller, and Elfriede Jelinek.
Life and works
Hulse was educated locally in Stoke-on-Trent unti ...
(Penguin, 2009)
*
Robert Vilain (Oxford, 2016)
*
Edward Snow (Norton, 2022)
See also
*
''Le Mondes 100 Books of the Century
*
Raffaello Baldini – Romagnol poet who counted the novel among his influences
References
External links
English translation of ''Notebooks'' Original text at zeno.org
1910 German-language novels
Austrian autobiographical novels
Culture of Austria-Hungary
German-language novels
Works by Rainer Maria Rilke
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