Jul 21, 2026 · 1 hr 27 min · 12 segments
This week, we have two Bens! Ben's friend Ben Rosenzweig joins us to discuss "The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge" by Rainer Maria Rilke. We discuss our personal relationships with Rilke's work…
Ben RosenzweigGuestSo I think before I start, what did you guys think of this book? And I'll explain why I chose it in a second, because it's a very weird book.
And I feel like there's a lot to talk about.
And but I think we should just start at the beginning.
Any initial impressions before I explain why I picked it?
Yeah, I liked it.
I feel like we'll probably talk a little bit about our individual relationships with Rilke as a writer.
And
Fair, fair.
True, true.
But I like this book.
This is a book that I'm very glad no one gave to me when I was like 23.
Because that would have made me...
I would have been insufferable about it.
Yeah, would you have been walking around the streets of your local city, jotting impressions in a notebook, thinking about existential themes?
I mean, I was doing that anyway, but I would have been worse about it.
Yeah.
Yeah, I was thinking my dad gave me Dostoevsky's Notes from the Underground when I was, what, 14? And that had a similar effect.
You know, of course, a much darker take on the problems of reality and existence than real people.
Yes.
So I think before I start, what did you guys think of this book? And I'll explain why I chose it in a second, because it's a very weird book.
And I feel like there's a lot to talk about.
And but I think we should just start at the beginning.
Any initial impressions before I explain why I picked it?
Yeah, I liked it.
I feel like we'll probably talk a little bit about our individual relationships with Rilke as a writer.
And
Fair, fair.
True, true.
But I like this book.
This is a book that I'm very glad no one gave to me when I was like 23.
Because that would have made me...
I would have been insufferable about it.
Yeah, would you have been walking around the streets of your local city, jotting impressions in a notebook, thinking about existential themes?
I mean, I was doing that anyway, but I would have been worse about it.
Yeah.
Yeah, I was thinking my dad gave me Dostoevsky's Notes from the Underground when I was, what, 14? And that had a similar effect.
You know, of course, a much darker take on the problems of reality and existence than real people.
Yes.
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