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Rainer Maria Rilke

The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge

Rainer Maria RilkeFiction | Novel/Book in Verse | Adult | Published in 1910

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Book Brief

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Rainer Maria Rilke

The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge

Fiction | Novel/Book in Verse | Adult | Published in 1910
Book Details
Pages

237

Format

Novel/Book in Verse • Fiction

Setting

Paris, France • 1900s

Publication Year

1910

Audience

Adult

Recommended Reading Age

18+ years

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Super Short Summary

The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge follows Malte Laurids Brigge, a young Danish man living in Paris who documents his observations and reflections on life's sufferings in a series of 71 notebook entries. He dwells on his impoverished existence, childhood illnesses, fragmented family memories, encounters with the supernatural, and philosophical musings about life and death, all while grappling with existential despair and a search for meaning. Themes of death, illness, and familial dysfunction are present.

Contemplative

Mysterious

Melancholic

Reviews & Readership

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Review Roundup

The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge by Rainer Maria Rilke is praised for its poetic language and profound introspection but critiqued for its fragmented narrative and challenging structure. Readers admire its exploration of existential themes and vivid imagery, though some find it difficult to engage with due to its non-linear storyline and dense prose.

Who should read this

Who Should Read The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge?

A reader who appreciates introspective and existential literature would enjoy The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge by Rainer Maria Rilke. Fans of Marcel Proust’s In Search of Lost Time and Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis will be captivated by Rilke’s poetic prose, philosophical ruminations, and exploration of memory and identity.

Book Details
Pages

237

Format

Novel/Book in Verse • Fiction

Setting

Paris, France • 1900s

Publication Year

1910

Audience

Adult

Recommended Reading Age

18+ years

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