The notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge

This work is generally accepted as Rilke's most important prose work. It is autobiographical fiction, for Rilke thinly veils his own experiences under a romantic record of the memories, impressions and vicissitudes of an impoverished Danish poet living in Paris. A masterpiece of creative art and delicate portraiture, it is also an important document, throwing light on the genius of a great poet, whose work is a bold synthesis of Eastern mysticism and Western art. [Book jacket].