January's Attempt at Poetry: Rainer Maria Rilke

The introduction to my edition of Rilke's poetry states that entire books have been written solely about Rilke's Duino Elegies; if that's not a deterrent to reading poetry, I don't know what is, and that's coming from someone who is reading War and Peace for really unironic fun. But in keeping with my Reading Resolutions to both read more poetry and read more academic texts that I missed out on as an undergrad, I read the Duino Elegies all the same, knowing full-well that I was certainly missing something, but enjoying the experience all the same.

For one thing, you can read all ten elegies in a sitting, making this a relatively painless undertaking. I didn't study German in school, but I took a crash course on reading in college to help with my senior thesis research, and I still enjoy reading German whenever I get the chance (which is not often), especially something like this with a more archaic vocabulary. This is not any kind of humble brag because my German is terrible, but my point is that having the German and English texts side by side was actually quite engaging, and if you have even the most basic understanding of German, I recommend this style of translation.

Following Duino Elegies, I read Sonnets to Orpheus, which reminded me precisely why I've struggled with poetry in the past; after each sonnet I felt a surge of panic and guilt -- panic that I wasn't "feeling" profoundly enough, and guilt that maybe I could have read the poem "better." The point of this exercise, though, is to get over that feeling, or at least gain the ability to push through it and find my own way of enjoying the poetry. Confidence as a poetry-reader is probably too lofty a goal to shoot for, but maybe someday I'll get there.

An interesting tidbit from Wikipedia: Rilke is apparently extremely popular because he's been adopted by many in the New Age world. I can't even really express how little I understand this.

What I'm Reading: 'The Souls of Black Folk' by W.E.B. Du Bois

Nothing about this book was easy. It was written in a very different era, and if my aborted attempts at reading Feminist literature have taught me anything, it's that there is nothing more difficult than reading dated social science. That being said, The Souls of Black Folk is still and probably always will be a hallmark of American Civil Rights literature, and I'm glad I struggled through it.

I was motivated by the Library of Congress' 'Books That Shaped America' list; I'm not necessarily interested in reading every book on the list ( I feel no need to read anything by Ralph Nader, for example), but there is a lot of important American literature and non-fiction on the list that I feel a sense of obligation to read. Plus, after Uncle Tom's Cabin, everything feels like a breeze.

Many folks are thinking about writers of color and the #WeNeedDiverseBooks movement; I've seen so many literary blogs resolving to bring greater diversity to their reading habits this year and while that's not officially one of my reading resolutions this year, it's certainly on my mind, and I'm happy to say that there are much more contemporary and relevant books on Civil Rights that I'll be posting about in the coming weeks.

Bookhive's 2015 Reading Resolutions

I make New Years resolutions every year, but I generally try to go easy on myself. I'm not looking to give up caffeine or lose 50 pounds; normally I pick a few things I'd like to learn, a few dishes I've always wanted to try cooking, and some books I know I want to read. It's nice to start the year with some intentions, even if they're small.

Last year my resolution was #ReadWomen2014, so that was relatively simple, and I stuck with it. As part of that goal, I also strove to read a lot more women authors of color (which I did) and some of the major feminist texts (which I mostly did not). 

This year my reading resolutions are very influenced by the blog; I don't spend much time on reading that I can't later write about, so my resolutions are also (hopefully) a forecast of what you can expect to see in 2015:

One poetry book per month -- This is not something I have ever had much success with, but Adrienne Rich has made me believe again. I will try not to let this become One Adrienne Rich Book Per Month, I promise

Doorstop Books -- I've read some very long books, but all the major ones (Atlas Shrugged, Infinite Jest, War and Peace) are still on my shelves. I still haven't decided which I'll attempt first, and I'm not going to put any metrics to this, because one will feel like a success. I'll be blogging throughout the experience, and I hope someone is inspired to read along with me.

More of Those Obnoxious Books I Missed in College -- The Rilkes and the Walter Benjamins of the world deserve my (and your) attention. I miss the experience of collegiate reading immensely, and I don't want to let too many post-grad years go by without revisiting the meaty stuff.

What are your reading resolutions for 2015?