Like most of Gass's essays, it wanders through a jungle of ideas and images, and then suddenly beats a series of clearly marked, though often forking, paths toward a clearing. For Gass's free-wheeling imagination is balanced by a philosopher's love of order. He is at his best as a critic who is translating, interpreting poetry both from the outside and the inside, both in the form of an essay and in the form of poetry. Similarly the illustrative quotes chosen here are merely those the complete review subjectively believes represent the tenor and judgment of the review as a whole. But no one hears our wails, our anguished howls, when we stand, teary-eyed, leafing through these obscene renditions.
Translation is a difficult problem.
Rilke's poems are among the greatest of the 20th century and the urge to share them with an audience not fluent in German and therefore to render them in English has proved irresistible to a number of writers. Gass at least considers translation critically, understanding that there are problems with it. Most people pick up translations indifferently, barely considering whose version they are reading and the consequences of their choice. It is a study of the great poet Rainer Maria Rilke, offering much useful biographical material and an insightful analysis of man and work. Gass also offers his own translation of the Duino Elegies , appended to the book.