AFINALISTFORTHEPEN/WESTTRANSLATIONAWARDThe100thAnniversaryEditionofaglobalclassic,containingbeautifultranslationsalongwiththeoriginalGermantext.WhilevisitingRussiainhistwenties,RainerMariaRilke,oneofthetwentiethcentury’sgreatestpoets,wasmovedbyaspiritualityheencounteredthere.Inspired,RilkereturnedtoGermanyandputdownonpaperwhathefeltwerespontaneouslyreceivedprayers.Rilke’sBookofHoursistheinvigoratingvisionofspiritualpracticeforthesecularworld,andaworkthatseemsremarkablyprescienttoday,onehundredyearsafteritwaswritten.Rilke’sBookofHoursshareswiththereaderanewkindofintimacywithGod,orthedivine--areciprocalrelationshipbetweenthedivineandtheordinaryinwhichGodneedsusasmuchasweneedGod.RilkeinfluencedgenerationsofwriterswithhisLetterstoaYoungPoet,andnowRilke’sBookofHourstellsusthatourroleintheworldistoloveitandtherebyloveGodintobeing.ThesefreshtranslationsrenderedbyJoannaMacy,amysticandspiritualteacher,andAnitaBarrows,askilledpoet,captureRilke’sspiritasnoonehasdonebefore.
