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Oliver is on page 20 of 80

If I hadn’t read the translator’s note, I would have thought that Rilke telling Kappus to just drop everything and become a poet if he feels the need to write was such a rich person way of thinking. Knowing that he was going through hell as a poet when he wrote the letter makes it a lot more meaningful

— May 10, 2026 08:56PM

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Oliver’s Previous Updates

Oliver is on page 26 of 80

It makes me sad that he was too poor to buy his own books or gift them them to anyone. I can’t imagine having a dozen books published and not even owning one of them ☹️

— 3 hours, 44 min ago

Oliver is on page 22 of 80

Rilke says Auguste Rodin (the guy who sculpted The Thinker) “has not his equal among all artists living today.” Now I’m no art expert, but his sculptures are kinda ass. Rilke might just have bad taste

— 16 hours, 13 min ago

Oliver is on page 21 of 80

I find it odd that Rilke recommends Niels Lyhne, a story about a man who renounces Christianity, when he said in the same paragraph that he carries a bible with him.

— 17 hours, 41 min ago

Oliver is on page 20 of 80

I’m actually reading a translation by M. D. Herter Norton

— May 10, 2026 08:58PM

Oliver is on page 18 of 80

“A work of art is good if it has sprung from necessity”

— May 10, 2026 08:46PM

Oliver is on page 17 of 80

Rilke poetically says I’m not going to critique you and then immediately critiques him in the next paragraph lmao

— May 10, 2026 08:33PM