Book Description
This digital document, covering the life and work of Hermann Hesse, is an entry from Contemporary Authors, a reference volume published by Thompson Gale. The length of the entry is 9622 words. The page length listed above is based on a typical 300-word page. Although the exact content of each entry from this volume can vary, typical entries include the following information:

• Place and date of birth and death (if deceased)
• Family members
• Education
• Professional associations and honors
• Employment
• Writings, including books and periodicals
• A description of the author's work
• References to further readings about the author

Book Description
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

Book Description

Customer Reviews (3)

More please
Yes, after reading passages from Hesses' letters in biographies & literary critisism for 20 years, it was very exciting to hear that Noonday was finally publishing a volume of them in English translation. The focus was to try to put them out in an edition that might pass for an autobiography. But many of the letters that dealt with his major criseses, or the inspiration for his major novels, so many important letters still go untranslated.
If they didnt translate the complete 4 volume edition back in the 1970s, when he was so popular with students & youth, I dont hold out too much hope that they will do it anytime soon. I guess my best betstll is to try & learn Gearman, go online & purchase the German edition. With my luck though, as soon as I have learned the language the set will suddenly appear in bookstores, neatly translated

Better than a biography
This is an important book to have if you're a fan of Hesse.There are many personal letters collected here by a reknown Hesse scholar which shed light on Hermann Hesse the man, artist, and writer.These are also the sources for many biographers and it's good to have them available for those of us who like to form their own opinions and thoughts about Hesse's life and works from the man himself.Ziolkowski provides a nice, brief introduction, and reading these personal (often private) letters whether chronologically or at random, is like eavesdropping in on the life of a kindred soul and good friend.Together they create a well rounded, kaleidoscopic view of one of the Twentieth-Century's greatest and most respected writers.

A good book for understanding Hesse
Soul of Age contains a good selection of Hesse's letters that provide a very usefull introduction to Hesse. The translations are very good, and the introduction is informative and intresting. Some letters between Jung andHesse are missing, but you can find them in Michael Serrano's book. ... Read more

Book Description

Customer Reviews (3)

A terrific introduction to Hesse
Hesse was an inveterate story writer and this collection is an excellent introduction to his work.Most of these tales are only a few pages long and even the longest can be completed in one sitting.They also span his entire career and give the reader a great overview of the author's style.

I recommend especially the title story, "Pictor's Metamorphoses":here a youth named Pictor wanders into a garden and finds a magic carbuncle which transforms him into a tree.But he realizes that his life his incomplete, and remains unhappy until a girl wanders into the same garden...

MAGIC
this book has followed me throughout my life, and has never been topped by another. He was, and is, the author closest to my heart.

Shows The Vast Range Of Writing Styles Of Hesse
This is a really good book. From the dreams he has as a young boy to the times after the war. A good book to read in between books. Most of the stories are short but there are some long ones too. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Poems by Herman Hesse selected and translated by James Wright
If you know and love Herman Hesse through his stories then I would guess you will appreciate this collection of his poems.There are not many poems, that is my only complaint, otherwise the poems are beautiful and the introduction insightful.I am glad to have it on my shelf next to the many books of Herr Hesse's fiction.

Great poetry, unfairly neglected
I will never understand why Hermann Hesse's poetry is as underappreciated as it seems to be.Translated by Pulitzer Prize winning poet James Wright, who set the standard for many aspiring poets in the twentieth century (and whose son later came to regain his father's crown), Hesse's work has an infectious melancholy to it, some of which we see in his fiction and some of which we don't.Many deal with the waste of human life in WW1, but never once does Hesse put on the mantle of a political ideologue: he is always a romantic, and he always knows just how to do it.

I say without exaggeration that his poem "Thinking of a Friend At Night" is one of the best pieces of poetry that I have ever read (certainly equalling anything Wright wrote during his short life.)I have trouble reconciling the translator's introduction, which posits Hesse as "irretrievably adolescent", with this masterpiece:

"In this evil year, autumn comes early.../I walk by night in the field, alone, the rain clatters/The wind on my hat...And you? And you, my friend?/You are standing--maybe--and seeing the sickle moon/Move in a small arc over the forests/And bivouac fire, red in the black valley/You are lying--maybe--in a straw field and sleeping/And dew falls cold on your forehead and battle jacket/It's possible tonight you're on horseback
The farthest outpost, peering along, with a gun in your fist,
Smiling, whispering, to your exhausted horse/
Maybe--I keep imagining--you are spending the night/
As a guest in a strange castle with a park
And writing a letter by candlelight/and tapping
On the piano keys by the window/
Groping for a sound..."

Not many perpetual adolescents could match that.Wright seems more sympathetic to Hesse's poetry than Stephen Koch (who?), the novelist who first convinced the literati that Hesse's image of himself a poet was erroneous.I would disagree.You could even say, after reading this collection, that his poetry rivals some of his fiction.Anyway, this is an important, extremely enjoyable read for anyone who enjoys German Romanticism brought to a more modern level.

Poems of longing and seperation
This is one of my favorite anthologies of poetry, worth reading repeatedly. It captures the spirit of a man, so much like us all, who longs for that something beyond the next hill or behind the wistful smile.How many of us sense intuitively that life is wrapped in a mystery, the veil of separation thin? Hesse's poetry, like his novels, reminds me that even though the inner meaning to life often seems just beyond my reach, it is none the less to be found in the quotidian activities of breathing the fresh air, cutting the finger on the edge of a dish, or listening to Bach as I clean the garage. Written almost 90 years ago, his poetry still rings true to the wandering steppenwolfe in each one of us. "The Gate of Heaven is everywhere."

You may also be captivated by another moving anthology of poetry, "Against Forgetting". It is an anthology of 20th century poems of witness, suffering, and hope.

Short & Sweet
It shows the excellent ability of Hesse in mastering both styles of writing. His style in writing poems is magnificant, and very clear. I am sure the translation is still weaker than the original german language, but nevertheless it is a highly recommended book to read.

If you are a Hesse fan, you will enjoy this even more.

A Fascinating Glimpse into Hesse's Poetic Mind
It is unfortunate, though Hesse always thought of himself first as a poet, readers who are not fluent in German rarely get to read any of his poetry.Highly lyrical and Romantic, Hesse's poems remind his readers that theworld he was most comfortable in was the creation of the German poets inthe century which preceded him.Highly reminiscent of Holderin with a bitof Goethe thrown in for style, all of the poems selected are eminentlyreadable.James Wright has gone for a literal translation, and in manycases causes the poems to loose the musical charm his words have in German. For those who, like me, are critical of translations, the German text foreach poem is also included.Anyone with an interest in Hesse or in thetwentieth century canon should defintely read this book. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Fascinating Look into the Life of Hesse!
Really enjoyed the fascinating look into the life of the writer of the great classics, including "Siddhartha". ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Demian, in my own words
I feel that the novel Demian was a highly intellectual novel and very enlightening!It's like no other book I've read in which it's not your usual story of a boy growing up.It's about a boy growing up andquestioning his faith with the help of a boy named Demian who is aclassmate.Emil, the main character feels that Demian is the image inwhich he wants to be.He fantisizes about this image and will do anythingto be it.Demian helps Emil to break from his contious mind and enter hissubconcious.It is a wonderful book and I highly recommend in to anyphilosophy fans, or anybody at all. ... Read more

Book Description
A lively, in-depth discussion of STEPPENWOLF AND SIDDHARTHA.Students are taken on an exciting journey of discovery through every scene or chapter.Also included are unique text notes, ideas for term papers, notes on the author's life as well as a glossary. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Steppenwolf - a sickness with some hope
Is one of the top-rated books in my collections. A book not for everyone, a book to be understood.

BOTH MEN ARE ENLIGHTENED--"BILL"
IT IS LIKE HESSE'S NARCISSUS AND GOLDMAN--THE WAY OF ENLIGHTENMENT AND THE WAY OF SERVING THE WORLD ARE BOTH IMPORTANT. THEY ARE OF EQUAL IMPORTANCE IN GOD'S EYES.WHY NOT DO BOTH?--BILL

THIS BOOK REVEALS TRUTH LIKE MIRROR REFLECTS ONESELF.
"Vedas" is like Bible for Indians. It is a Scripture where the Truth of life is told and also the path through which a person can attain.

Herman Hesse got the essence of Vedas in this small novel and describedit so methodically even a layman can understand and appreciate it.

It isTHE BOOK for anyone whose mind everyday nags saying "WHEN WILL I GETCOMPLETE SATISFACTION" or "IS THERE ANYTHING IN THE WORLD CANSATISFY ME COMPLETELY". Answer is defintely in the book.

Average Cliffs Notes Performance
This is difficult to understand at times, but if the original text is examined, the themes laid deeply are also difficult to understand.Thus, Cliff once again brings new facets as well as old interpretations to an oldtext.

I didn't like it , to complicated to understand
I dislike the book ... Read more