Product Description
In the novel, Siddhartha, a young man, leaves his family for a contemplative life, then, restless, discards it for one of the flesh. He conceives a son, but bored and sickened by lust and greed, moves on again. Near despair, Siddhartha comes to a river where he hears a unique sound. This sound signals the true beginning of his life -- the beginning of suffering, rejection, peace, and, finally, wisdom.


From the Paperback edition. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

This Translation is Garbage
One symptom of the Myth of Progress is the belief that any new translation is automatically better than an older one. Publishers thrive thanks to this myth, enabling them to come out with a "new" translation every five years or five minutes, as circumstances permit. This Bernofsky translation, utterly unnecessary, exists thanks to that myth and to the publisher's greed, and should be avoided.

Why should it be avoided?Is it at least as good as the existing Rosner translation?No.

Pedants will tell you that the Rosner translation is full of "errors". This is because they don't know what a translation is supposed to accomplish. A pedantic review over on the better Rosner translation's page claims that Rosner makes a mistake in the first sentence: instead of "sallow wood" it should read "forest of sal trees". The review neglects to realize that "sallow", besides meaning yellow or jaundiced, can also refer to a type of tree.

But even taken as an error -- it is a minor thing compared to the nauseating, misfiring sentences produced in Bernofksy's version. A translation should match the pace and the tenor of the original. Bernosky's English instead is frequently a morass.Rosner's translation has a clear rhythm and a comprehensible meaning like the original.Bernofsky almost always opts for the figurative and the weak, while Rosner goes for the direct -- like the original.Take one case from the German:

"Sonne bräunte seine lichten Schultern am Flußufer [...]"

Rosner has: "The sun browned his slender shoulders on the riverbank [...]"

Bernofsky has instead: "Sunlight darkened his fair shoulders on the riverbank [...]"

Ever had the sun "darken" your shoulders?How about brown or tan."Darken"?

The same charge -- that a translation is "full of errors" -- is levelled at all the best translations, translations that succeed at conveying the original's overall effect.Bly's "Hunger", Kaufmann's Nietzsche, etc. are all accused of having "errors" that are always pedantic and minor.It is because they are *too* good.And publishers want a reason to publish new editions, and academics want to get lost in the minutiae, so these new translations come out that are full of "nuance" -- only when a non-native speaker is comparing it to the original and doing ad hoc translating.

This translation, for being water that seems to just drip through the fingers, makes me want to go back and evaluate her translations of Walser.

brilliant and beautiful
i've only read one other translation before reading this one.this one appears to be smoother.as for the story, it is wonderful, somewhat bittersweet, far different than originally expected, but, magnificent nevertheless.it doesn't take long to read and you won't get distracted by errors.as it is already a classic, it is difficult for me to do anything but highly recommend it.this is a book that is most appealing to individuals who wish to assume a spiritual path, who have an interest in eastern philosophies.it contains no material inappropriate for teens.i give it a solid "A", i don't think, if you're like me, you'll want to lay this aside once you have picked it up!

Siddhartha
When I first received Siddhartha I thought it was going to be an easy read considering the small amount of pages and simplistic title. Though this is true when I read it I realized just how good a book it was. I think that Siddhartha's path on his search for Nirvana was very interesting and I was drawn into this book. The way Siddhartha's many challenges, human desires, and obstacles that prevented him from reaching his inner peace are presented made me excited to read more.

Ahhhh... so THIS is the one to get
The book itself is a treasure, I can't add to any of the kudos it's received, but till now I've only been able to appreciate it in the original German (which is pretty simple and doesn't require a PhD in Germanic Studies to decode). The two English translations I have are simply a shame, with as much heart and poetry as the average daily newspaper column. This one, however, judging by the first chapter generously provided above, looks very promising, it drew me in right away and certainly makes me want to order the book, which I'll do as soon as I post this review :-)

So, now I'm wondering why neither this version nor the Hilda Rosner I've seen mentioned are the major translations of the book. Why does the bland version with 496 reviews, and no named translator come up at the top of the list when you search the title here? Very strange...

Translating is an ART, and not everyone who is bilingual can do it well. A good translation can be more difficult to achieve than writing a book from scratch. And, like I said, this one seems to project the voice of the original.

An Interesting Adventure
This book came highly recommended from several sources, so I decided to give it a try. I think I would have liked it more had I not been expecting so much from Hesse. Overall, this is a rather simple tale with the essence of this book living in the details. Since it is such a quick read, I nevertheless would recommend it, especially if it falls outside of your literary tastes, for the simple fact that it may widen your world view. I definitely learned something about other cultures and for that Siddhartha was worth every minute. ... Read more

Product Description
Hesse's novel of two medieval men, one quietly  content with his religion and monastic life, the  other in fervent search of more worldly salvation.  This conflict between flesh and spirit, between  emotional and contemplative man, was a life study for  Hesse. It is a theme that transcends all time.  The Hesse Phenomenon "has turned into a vogue,  the vogue into a torrent. . .He has appealed both  to. . . an underground and to an establishment. .  .and to the disenchanted young sharing his contempt  for our industrial  civilization."--The New York Times Book Review ... Read more

Customer Reviews (89)

more than i expected
The description said it was used and had normal wear and tear. I needed tghe book for school and planned on highlighting and writing so the book didn't have to be perfect. Lo-and-behold, it was! It looked as if no one had cracked it open. It also arrived quickly.

Herman Hesse
If you haven't read any Hesse, do it now. This is a great book in his canon of literature. Book arrived within projected delivery date in condition advertised. Thank you.

The search for salvation foiled by the duality in our existence
The author through Goldmund and Narcissus finds duality everywhere: "...either a women or a man, a wanderer or sedentary burgher...", "...either a thinker or an artist...". There seems to be no in between for Herman Hesse: "All existence seemed to be based on duality, contrast." , "...no one could...experience freedom as well as order, combine instinct and mind." This may or may not be the most valid or practical view of life but duality and contrast create tension and that's what you need for a good story. And if you are a gifted writer an appealing tale can be told about two monks struggling to resolve this eternal tension. That is what Hermann Hesse did (and much more that I have failed to mention).

The search for salvation foiled by the duality in our existence
The author through Goldmund and Narcissus finds duality everywhere: "...either a women or a man, a wanderer or sedentary burgher...", "...either a thinker or an artist...". There seems to be no in between for Herman Hesse: "All existence seemed to be based on duality, contrast." , "...no one could...experience freedom as well as order combine instinct and mind." This may or may not be the most valid or practical view of life but duality and contrast creates tension and that's what you need for a good story. And if you are gifted writer an appealing tale can be told about two monks struggling to resolve eternal tensions. That is what Hermann Hesse did (and much more that I have failed to mention).

Needs more of Narcissus
This book has tension and will keep you turning pages.However I found
the character of Goldmund unbelievable
and he began to get on my nerves, obviously he was a fantasy self image of
Hesse himself. Although I believe Hesse imagined himself perfect combining all the talents of Narcissus and Goldmun. Or the bourgeois and the anarchist from Steppenwolf or Mao and Mother Teresa = pseudo intellectual leftie.

Still it is quite a good read. As another reviewer pointed out the author
gets bogged down a little bit too much in his own philosophy but nothing compared to authors such as Arduous Huxley or Saul Bellows.

You will never forget the characters---for that it gets 3 stars. Best sellers have such formula stereotyped characters you only have a desire to forget
them. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Bad edition!
Very... but very bad edition... if this books costs me 1 cent I would feel swindled.
Don't get me wrong, this Hermann Hesse book is good, the bad here is the edition. I think I'll use this for my BBQ.

Siddharta by Hermann Hesse
Hermann Hesse is a Swiss Nobelist. The story commences with
conversations between Siddharta and Govinda who are friends.
Siddharta grows to become a learned person amongst the Brahmins.
The love of his parents, knowledge passed down from posterity and
time in the local community are not enough for Siddharta. He routinely practices meditation near a banyan tree. Siddharta makes a pact to go into the forest. If he succeeds in finding bliss as a Samana, he will return to teach the experiences gained in absentia. If he becomes dis-illusioned, he will return to offer special sacrifices.

Siddharta began his journey stripped of worldly possessions. He
entered the forest with only a loin cloth and an unstitched cloak. He spent time fasting to become empty of thirst, desire,
dreams, pleasure and sorrows. The experiential domain of this
exercise was supposed to lead him to purity of mind and thought.
Ultimately, Siddharta came to a realization that knowledge can be communicated but not wisdom. Wisdom only comes with the experiential aspect of life's tribulations. The book provides an important lesson on Eastern philosophical and religious thought.
The contents will be appreciated by philosophers, religionists
and literary experts everywhere.

A Beautiful Story to Describe The Subjective Non-Descriptive
A great book that had me completely subjective to the storyline, into the journey of Siddhartha and the many other characters: his childhood friend - Govinda, his father, his later lover - Kamala, his son, his acquaintance with the Buddha, his friend and teacher - Vasudeva the ferryman and others.

It's a very interesting story of a spiritual seeker who at the very end of the novel manifests his enlightenment, as his childhood friend, Govinda, experiences. The journey of spiritual seeking, of learning and taking in knowledge, of asceticism, of sexuality and love, of power seeking and money making, of both poor homelessness and luxuriant living and its eventual culmination, the outcome of the spiritual enlightenment: the subjective experience beyond all knowledge and teachings, transcending all the relative and transitory existence into a unity of Being.

Now it's the way Hesse writes and his descriptive and artistic style that weigh his story of the enlightened soul and I found it outstanding. Similar to his other book, Journey to the East, the story leads up to the final outcome, the ending of the novel, the last chapter, explains what can not be explained culminating from the entire story line.

The story itself depends on the readers individual experiential spiritual seeking and both external and internal search. The external eventually leads to the internal where all lies in mystical experience and the internal and personal spiritual development.

I can't help but continue visualizing the last scene of the book with the sudden flash of Siddhartha's translucent smiling face overseeing the realm of multifaceted relativity in its complete unity under the mystical kiss of Govinda on Siddhartha's farhead and his perceived subjectivity of consciousness and marvel at Hesse's attempted descriptive undertaking of the Nirvana and subjective experience. What an awesome attempt to convey such a non-thing and Hesse is a great and unique writer.

Life Changing
I had read "Demian" by Hesse several years ago, and did not care for it. But I thought I would give him another try and picked up this book. I couldn't have made a better decision. This book has changed my life in ways, well, you only read about. Hesse gives a wonderful story about Siddharta from his earlier days through his old age. The book is a very quick, easy read. It makes the reader think about his/her own life in ways never before imagined.

A man's true profession !
wow. Being a prolific reader, I thought I could finish this small (relatively) book in under two hours. Well, more than six years have passed since I first read it, and my thoughts keep coming back to Sidhartha andhow he found his way to himself - a man's true profession.This book willrequire you to search within for an understanding of yourself. This was thefist book of Herman Hesse that i read and since then I have readSteppenwof, demian, and Narcissus and Goldmund. All great books that forceyou to seach for meanings within your life through the experiences of thecharacters in the book. But Sidhartha is the best of the lot. The journeyby Sidhartha from his place to the river where he discovers himself isworth reading. ... Read more

Product Description
"...if Hesse had not written any novels at all, his poems alone would have proclaimed him as a distinctly eloquent voice..." ... Read more

Product Description
Get your "A" in gear!

They're today's most popular study guides-with everything you need to succeed in school. Written by Harvard students for students, since its inception SparkNotes™ has developed a loyal community of dedicated users and become a major education brand. Consumer demand has been so strong that the guides have expanded to over 150 titles.SparkNotes'™ motto is Smarter, Better, Faster because:

· They feature the most current ideas and themes, written by experts.
· They're easier to understand, because the same people who use them have also written them.
· The clear writing style and edited content enables students to read through the material quickly, saving valuable time.

And with everything covered--context; plot overview; character lists; themes, motifs, and symbols; summary and analysis, key facts; study questions and essay topics; and reviews and resources--you don't have to go anywhere else!



... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Sparknotes Rule!!
We are collecting as many Sparknotes as possible. When you are required to read Shakespeare, you must have a guide. It's that simple. There is no guide better, in our opinion as teachers, and students of literature. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

CHARMING!
The book consists of six narrative poems describing beautiful scenes of nature.
Hesse takes you with him for his morning walk through his garden drawing a lively picture of his flowers, vegetables and trees. He describes the hard work and the time he, his wife, Natalina and Lorenzo put to make this garden one entity of beauty and care. You take every step with him up the hill... see every tree and feel the warm sun ...and even smell the burning leaves. Of course Hesse never forgets to comment on human nature and life!
Whether he was planting his tree, describing the broken bough, the pavilion or the fall wind blowing at the old man's face... each poem has its message of contentment, serenity and natural beauty.

"The Lame Boy" is a recollection of his childhood and his relationship with a crippled boy, a "comrade" who taught him patience and understanding nature but could never call a friend!! He remembers his summers with this boy, going fishing together, showing his weak body but revealing his true qualities as a person. He talks about how we judge people and comments on the way he looked at his friend and what he thinks of him now after all those years.

I enjoyed reading the poems and I read the book more than once. The description is sublime... and I couldn't believe the sense of calmness it had on me!! ... Read more

Product Description
Demian es una de las novelas más bellas e interesantes de Hermann Hesse.

La Historia de la juventud de Emil Sinclair es una novela que relata en primera persona el paso de la niñez a la madurez de este personaje del escritor alemán Hermann Hesse.

Emil Sinclair es un niño que ha vivido toda su vida en lo que el llama el Scheinwelt (mundo de ensueño o mundo de la luz), pero una mentira lo lleva a ampliar sus visiones del mundo y a conocer un personaje enigmático de nombre Max Demian que lo llevará por los senderos del auto-razonamiento destruyendo paradigmas materialistas que antes lo rodeaban. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

enjoyable
demian, one of my favorite books of all time that ive read countless time inenglish.

reading it in spanish has been a challenge but definitely worth while.

offered me some perspective on language and the novel itself of course.

I definitely recommend this book, though if you are looking for a good English translation do not get the one with this cover, the BN, it is awful, get the bantam classic or penguin one or whatever with the thomas mann introduction, the english translation of this book with this cover is horribly translated.

as for the spanish edition i am pleased..

A Spiritual Read
Hesse's novel is a tribute to what I will refer to as religion with a big 'R'.This novel surpasses the conventions of religion and goes to the root of what it is to be a man and have faith in something even if the something is yourself.This is a very short and quick read so there is no reason that anyone should pass this up.

Fascinating
I think it's an over-statement to say that this book offers a path for anyone's life other than Hesse's.The book was written after many years of psychotherapy with the young Jung, and reflects (symbolically) the inner turmoils of Hesse's struggle and his own personal growth.The book is agreat book - "great" in that it is disturbing, thought provoking,and well written.It's also a soul searching book, and one that noteveryone should read.In fact, I would only suggest it to a minority ofreaders.

Beautiful and Insightful
This is the best book I have ever read. It is the perfect guide for people who do not know what is going on in there lives, and even if you do, it will give you a path to follow. This book will leave you wanting for moreand more of Hesse's work. And it is sure worth it!

Incredible philosophical story
This book just made so much sense in an almost child-like way.It was beautiful.One of my favorite books... ... Read more

Product Description
This Halcyon Classics ebook contains the English and German versions of German Swiss author and poet Hermann Hesse's allegorical novel SIDDHARTHA.Set in Nepal, the story of SIDDHARTHA takes place around the time of Gautama Buddha. It starts as Siddhartha, the son of a Brahmin, leaves his home to join the ascetics with his companion Govinda. The two set out in the search of enlightenment. Siddhartha goes through a series of changes and realizations as he attempts to achieve this goal.

Includes an active table of contents for easy navigation.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

One of the best biographies I have read, ever
This book is not only a very thorough biography of Hermann Hesse.

It is also one of the best biographies I have ever read. Among other things, it does a very impressive job of blending Hesse's life and work, explaining how precise parts of a given book were influenced with events in his life, and so on.

I do wish all biographies were as well researched, and as well written, as this one.

Necessary for any serious student of Hermann Hesse
Ralph Freedman ranks with Joseph Mileck, Theodore Ziokowski, and Mark Boulby in his importance to Hesse scholarship.Freedman previously published an important study comparing the fiction of Virginia Woolf, Andre Gide, and Hesse.This biography is a standard against which any future biographies are likely to be judged, composed by a man who has studied the author for many years. ... Read more

Product Description
'One of the defining spirits of our century.' -Ralph Freedman With Gertrude, Herman Hesse continues his lifelong exploration of the irreconcilable elements of humanexistence. In this fictional memoir, the renowned composer Kuhn recounts his tangled relationships with two artists- his friend Heinrich Muoth, a brooding, self-destructive opera singer, and the gentle, self-assured Gertrude Imthor. Kuhn is drawn to Gertrude upon their first meeting, but Gertrude falls in love with Heinrich, to whom she isintroduced when Kuhn auditions them for the leads in his new opera. Hopelessly ill-matched, Gertrude and Heinrich have a disastrous marriage that leaves them both ruined. Yet this tragic affair also becomes the inspiration for Kuhn's opera, the most important success of his artistic life. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (20)

A cracking short novel, and a great way to start with Hesse
This is a great novel. While perhaps too short to deal with its subject matter, Hesse writes a fantastic account of the young composer Kuhn's love for Gertrude and his depression as he watches her marriage to his best friend, a charismatic opera singer, gradually destroy both of them. He deals very sensitively with the concept of love artistic development, and also the effect on the psyche of the hero caused by a crippling accident. While not quite as impressive as Steppenwolf, this is a great book to start with for those new to Hesse; introducing many of his recurring themes, including Indian philosophy and rural idealism, and providing an interesting comparison to the musical development of his contemporary and friend Thomas Mann's composers( Leverkuhn and Hanno Buddenbrook).

Huge Hesse fan, Loved this one too
Great book from Herman Hesse, I am a huge fan of his work, and may be biased, but I thoroughly enjoyed this book, as I usually do with his work.Highly Recommended.

rarified atmosphere
"Gertrude", Hermann Hesse's third novel is intimately concerned with the emotional and psychological underpinnings of works of art - in this particular case, music. The creative impulses behind art are formed by the same dynamic forces which animate life in general. The artist distills his keen impressions of the deep foundations of the drama of life and delivers them back to the public in the refined form of a work of art.

Pleasure and pain, love and hate, passion and calm, and all the other polarities and contradictions must somehow be portrayed, reconciled or pitted against each other in a mutual self-destruction. The artist is oftena cripple in some psychic sense which may cause him to be maladjusted, but which gives him insight and more intense awareness than the rest of us.

In the paroxysm of creativity, the artist may no longer distinguish between pleasure and pain; they are expressions that spring from the same mysterious depths. Well, and so what does all that have to do with the story in "Gertrude"? There is a definite story with a protagonist and major characters as well as a coherent story-line, but my take on the novel is that this story of a composer and his development and life within a very cultured and wealthy social milieu has more to do with Hesse's very internal exploration of the themes I have mentioned, and perhaps some that have escaped my understanding.

These issues are unlikely to have quite the immediacy for most of us as they did for Hesse. The novel flows well for the most part and is easy to read, and for this reason I think we can vicariously identify with the struggles of Kuhn, the composer. But such artistic and philosophical quests are more pertinent to people with exceptional innate artistic ability and/or the wealthy leisure to make such investigations.

I enjoyed the novel greatly, but almost felt like I was going blue-collar into a restaurant which demands suit-and-tie attire. The novel is a fictional autobiography of an artistic genius in which we are made privy to the influences which shaped him, but the gift(and curse) of artistic vision is unexplainable. In this novel, the artist achieves creative, and popular, success, although he experiences great emotional suffering in his private life.

This is a progression from Hesse's first novel "Peter Camenzind" in which the protagonist remains merely a latent poet and tries to find fulfillment through a dedication to helping those in need. I think we could view Hesse's books as his working out of his own inner quest for the truth of his existence. That is what gives them such appeal to other seekers, artistically gifted or not.

The Sorrows of Young Herman
It's a long time(35 years) since I had anything to do with Hesse.So it was with a cautionary grasp that I accepted a friend's offer of this book. And I was gratefully surprised. My own youthful exhuberance of'Steppenwolf' had long diminished. And save the three tales that close,'The Bead Game', I hadn't found much of enduring pleasure in Hesse's wearisome journeys East and inwards. A pre-World War 1 Hesse? Gertrude is brisk and muscular,given its lineage is the artistic romanticsim reaching back to Goethe's 'Werner'; the introspective outsider (the subject of Brit. author, Colin Wilson's extravagant thesis of that name). Here was an elegantly composed piece of writing that gets Hesse's concerns(elucidated very well by other reviewers)out there with a minimum of fuss, free of the angstings that its narrator is suffering. The psychological condition of 'projection', so much the jargon word since the publishing of Jung's ideas, is presented as clearly as you'd ever wish for. Recommended!

BUT NOT FOR ME
The hero of Hesse's early novel GERTRUDE is straight from the Romantic tradition, even to the Byronic crippled leg that its narrator, Kuhn, suffers in a sledding accident. We have the growth of the artist fully on display here, from his early meanderings through music school, to fleeting first loves and disillusionment, to the existential angst, and the realization of the quest for one's muse. Yep, all of this is contained in this novel, that could have been written in the 1850s in England, but was instead written in the first quarter of the 20th century. Kuhn is a gifted composer, if not a musician, born to a wealthy family who is trying to decide what to do with his life. Almost everyone at the music school he attends seem to think that he is too unorthodox and too lazy to amount to anything. The novel Gertrude is a narrative of his life as he proves that he is anything but a nobody, as he works his way up the musical ladder, making friends with one of the best opera singers around, Heinrich Muoth, who also happens to be a ladies man, and is introduced to Gertrude, the daughter of one of his patrons with whom he falls in love.

Although the general tone of Gertrude is Romantic, Hesse's third novel also touches upon ground that would only be fully explored later by Camus and the other Existentialist writers. The book is a little slow at points but becomes a study in cross purposes as characters fall in love with characters that do not love them in return. Hesse also hits upon the theme of the cruelty of life and that the great task of people is to lose themselves in others because as the self-absorbed Kuhn comes to find out, loving thyself to the exclusion of all others is a ticket to despair. ... Read more

Product Description
Siddhartha. Eine indische Dichtung ist eine Erzählung von Hermann Hesse, die im S. Fischer Verlag in Berlin im Jahr 1922 zum ersten Mal veröffentlicht wurde.Siddhartha, der BrahmaneDas Buch handelt von einem jungen Brahmanen namens Siddhartha und seinem Freund Govinda. Der von allen verehrte und bewunderte Siddhartha widmet sein Leben der Suche nach dem Atman, dem All-Einen, das in jedem Menschen ist.Siddhartha, der SamanaSeine Suche macht aus dem Brahmanen einen Samana, einen Asketen und Bettler. Govinda folgt ihm auf diesem Weg. Siddhartha spürt jedoch nach einiger Zeit, dass ihn das Leben als Samana nicht an sein Ziel bringen wird. Zusammen mit Govinda pilgert er zu Gautama, dem Buddha. Doch dessen Lehre kann er nicht annehmen. Siddhartha erkennt zwar, dass Gotama Erleuchtung erlangt hat und zweifelt die Richtigkeit seiner Lehre nicht an, jedoch glaubt er, diese sei allein für Gotama selbst gültig. Man kann nicht durch Lehre Buddha werden, sondern muss dieses Ziel mittels eigener Erfahrungen erreichen. Aus dieser Erkenntnis heraus begibt er sich erneut auf die Reise und beginnt einen neuen Lebensabschnitt, während sich sein Freund Govinda Gotama anschließt. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Kindle Version
I had never read this book by Herman Hesse before. My first language is German, so I thought I read the text in its original. I enjoyed very much the content, but was a bit disappointed by the many spelling mistakes and punctuation mishaps. My Kindle version of the book was very cheap ($0.99), which could be the reason for the mistakes. Someone without advanced knowledge of the German language might get confused by those typos. I just hope that it was the original text, not something translated into German from another language. All in all, I do recommend the book. The text exemplifies what is possible when an author skillfully uses literary devices within his creation. Indian philosophy is not forced on the reader, but the choice is left to the audience what to make of it. I would have given five stars if it weren't for the mistakes.

I love this book!
First of all, I am german and german is my first language. I read this book in Germany and loved it! Many years later, I live in the USA and wanted to read it again. At first I bought the english version and was borderline disgusted. I felt the english translation lost all of the charm, the entire atmosphere the german edition has.
I recommend this book to anyone interested in Buddhism, finding enlightenment, finding their true path, Deepak Chopra and so on. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Eyes
Greetings,
What a pleasure it has been to look into the eyes of a great writer. His thoughts on change and personal responsibility is mind blowing. I love the way he gives feedback on the life, writings and ideas of other writers from his time. Hesse's humble but yet confident.

Wonderful essays--check out the one on "Bad Poetry"
Hesse writes as beautifully in his essays as he does in his non-fiction.What piqued my interest in the book was his essay on "Steppenwolf".It disappointed me, because it is barely a page and a half, a unsatisfactory synopsis of his most personal (I believe) book.When Hesse comes to mind I immediately think of "Steppenwolf" before the "Glass Bead Game", "Siddharta", or any of his other masterpieces.Like Hamsun's "Mysteries" or Ingmar Bergman's film "Hour of the Wolf", perhaps it was simply too "personal" for him to go into.
The rest of the essays, however, reflect a meditative, open, imaginative mind free of prejudice.I can't recall the exact name of the essay, but it has to do with bad poetry, and Hesse articulates a feeling that other lovers of poetry will immediately understand: that poems traditionally considered 'bad' often reflect our feelings in a less 'rhyme-scheme', formulaic way, and have a sort of tonic effect on the emotions.Hesse was truly a revolutionary.

A very valuable book indeed!
A collection of some of Hermann Hesse`s best essays and articles. This is the evidence that he was one of the foremost thinkers of the 20th century. Here he directly express some of his opinions on several subjects, ieliterature and they all have a touch of his brilliancy of wisdom andnarrative skills. A book that still deserves to be read! ... Read more

Product Description
The most autobiographical of Hesse's works, Steppenwolf is the profoundly memorable and affecting story of Harry Haller--an evocative portrayal of the wrenching conflict between the needs of the flesh and the spirit and a searing appraisal of Western civilization. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (79)

Steppenwolf..possibly the best.
In my opinion it is possibly one of the best novels of all times.Hesse is brilliant!This is a must read for every man (and woman) who battles with getting to know one's "self".

Hermann Hesse's Mid-Life Crisis...
"Ignorance is bliss," goes the old proverb coined by Thomas Gray, and I'd wager Hermann Hesse would agree. When you are as intelligent and sensitive a man as Hesse, the quotidian crap that assails you and the rest of humanity must be almost unbearable. But if felo-de-se is out of the question, how exactly do you bear up?

That seems to be the point of Steppenwolf, a clear-cut masterpiece whose omission from the MLA 100 is nothing if not a scandal. This is a deep book, a profound book, a book that is wearying to read, and which seems longer than its 208 pages. It is by no means a page-turner, nor is it as accessible as Siddhartha.

Steppenwolf raises many questions, and answers none satisfactorily--understandable given that human beings are essentially cosmic orphans, alone and adrift on a small planet, making everything up as they go along. Hesse does not like this. He seeks order and rationale, a raison d'etre...but all he finds is stupidity, primitiveness, and ennui.

This is ventriloquized through the perspective of the narrator, and there are pages and pages of angst-ridden, existential thrashing about. Sometimes these passages drag...but always--always--the sheer quality of the writing is evident. The talent on display is rare indeed, and appreciable even when you want to grab Hesse by the shoulders, give him a shake, and tell him to come to grips with life's meaninglessness and quit being such a pussy.

I recommend Steppenwolf to those who are interested moreso in philosophy than literature. If you are looking for a simple, straight-forward yarn, this ain't the book.

THIS IS IN GERMAN!!!
There is no way to tell from the Amazon page, but this version is in the orginal German language.The title (Der Steppenwolf) does provide a hint, but it would certainly be nice if the knuckleheads at Amazon made it clearer.Der Steppenwolf

Steppenwolf, over and over again.
I love this book. It's like a breath of fresh air into a world you've never been. The book never has a boring moment; it's filled with deep, sophisticated poetry. One of my favourite lines quotes, "I like the contrast between my lonely, loveless, hunted, and thoroughly disorderly existence and this middle-class family-life... There is something in it that touches me in spite of my hatred for all it stands for." --Steppenwolf

You must face the razor to find the Kingdom!
_Here I am, like the Steppenwolf, approaching the age of 50. I understand him now for I have lived his life. His deepest thoughts are mine- indeed, they read exactly like my own journals. No wonder I am told that Hesse is my soul mate. It is true.

_I lived Steppenwolf's solitary life. I knew his crisis. I share his rejection of bourgeois society because it grates the fundamental essence of my soul. And I know what he means by the strength derived from knowing that you can leave this world any time. I know the conviction to never sell yourself into wage slavery for mere money. I know his night wanderings, his books, his music, his rooms, his cigars, and his wine. I know.

_But I also know his central crisis. For when we are ready then a door really does open to a higher perspective. I literally walked through that door in the wall for "madmen only." Like the wulf I had always sensed the golden moments that form the golden path to that door. I was eventually shown it. I had always suspected that man was more than a half rational animal, that he was a child of the Gods and destined to immortality. When you are ready, when you are sick enough of the petty ego, you will be shown the kingdom on the other side of time and appearances. It is just necessary to stumble through your share of dirt and humbug before you reach Home.

_Time and the world, money and power belong to the small and shallow people. To the rest, the real men, belongs nothing. Nothing but death- and eternity- and the kingdom. ... Read more

Product Description
Steppenwolf is Hermann Hesse's best-known work. It is a profoundly memorable and affecting novel, the gripping and fascinating story of disease in a man's soul, and "a savage indictment of bourgeois society." ... Read more