/lit/ - Literature

His work captures a peculiar zeitgeist of spiritual seekers very well

>>8739871
>/lit/ - Literature
spiritual seekers... Thats my point, I strongly believe in the power of rational thinking, human nature etc. Maybe thats why i dont like it, imo spirituality is hippyshit. Any writers you recommend i might like more?

>>8739869
How old are you? I tried to read in my 20's and didn't really get it then. I'm an old anon now and i read it again lately and understood it better.
Hesse's books mean something if you have lived a little, been through a few problems, disappointments, heartbreaks etc.

>>8739887
I am almost 20, might be my problem right there. I do really doubt that my opinion will change in the future though.

>>8739885
Oh this book is about spirituality? I had absolutely no idea.

Maybe you should research a book before just getting it because it gets name dropped on 4chan every 5 minutes

>>8739893
I knew it was about spirituality, still decided to read it since /lit/ says hes great, and now i want to know why since I clearly dont see it.

>>8739891
You can't know honestly. Interpretation depends so much on context. For any kind of art.

>>8739895
>spirituality is hippy shit
>guise this book about spirituality is bad because of my preconceived notions! Why did you tell me it was good!

That's like me being an athiest and reading the bible and saying its shit because God isn't real. All of this reeks of an immature closed mind

>>8739896
What do you mean by context? Social background? Social enviroment?

>>8739912
Not those specifically, but just where you are in your life, how was your day and so on...

>>8739895
You were not ready to like it, and you blame /lit/ for pushing you to read it.
Read the books you want to read, faggot.

>>8739869
if you want to learn about the dhamma, lock a few hours and watch this
>>>/his/1974011

>>8739917
i am not blaming anyone for anything you fucking imbicile.

>>8739869
He presents the idea that the world and the human experience are a phase space. Every human experience is a point in the phase space.
It's the best analogy I have, being a STEMcuck.
He takes a while to get to the point, and if you're already familiar with the concept there won't be anything engaging.

>>8739895
>>8740044
FEDORAS OUT

>>8740049
Am I wrong, though? I'm genuinely curious.

>>8739885
i recommend you some ayn rand

>>8739869
it's not that great

>>8740079
thank you

>>8739869
It was my favorite book because I was going through a heavy existential crisis, interested in zen, stressed from petty things like work/money (which Siddhartha refers to as 'samsara', or a child's game), and felt controlled by my vices, and the book helped me gain a lot of perspective on those things. It's mainly an internal endeavor. I approached it with the same mindset one approaches a self help book and I found it to be the ultimate self help/internal struggle guide without the modern day you're-a-snowflake shit

>>8739869
if you've read it you'll realise you can only enlighten yourself

>>8740552
Enlighten.. As stated im pretty sure i will be a pessimistic rationalist for the rest of my live. Thusfar i understand completely what Hesse means/tries to convey and it does nothing for me. Maybe you are right and I might change opinions though.

>>8739869
the deal with siddhartha is the poetic writing of universal experiences of the quest for meaning, identity, peace, work/materialism, father/son rebellion, and growing old

the extended river metaphor is of particular importance

What is the deal with his name?
Is it pronounced Hesss or HesEEEE?

>>8740766
HESS-sseh

Why do english speaking people have such a hard time pronouncing a schwa?

>>8739895
revisit it after puberty and after a thing happens to you.
it literally doesn't matter what thing happens to you, but its apparent that you're relatively unshaken and that gives you a false sense of intellectual security.

>>8740801
Nothing severe has happened to me except 3 years of depression, kinda a fucked up youth (nothing too bad though). What do you mean by a "thing" happening? Like me losing my legs or something? My best mate killing himselve?

>>8740812
Why does "something happening" have to be negative? Could be just a talk you have some guy in a bar, or something like that.

I'm not the guy you are talking to, nor have I read Siddhartha, but I know that as a teen I was also pretty atheistic and "I belive only in rationality."-ish. But over the years I came to appretiate "spiritual" stuff a bit better. Not that I believe in God or anything supernatural, that would be retarded, but seeing value in the belief in these things and being less serious and a bit open-minded with your own believes can go a long way.

>teach me how to like something

>>8740830
I can see the value in them i just can not make myselve like/use them to better my life. I might later, pull a Chris Mccandless or something similar, truly live.

>>8740834
FUCK OFF IM TRYING TO UNDERSTAND WHY YOU GUYS LIKE IT YOU FUCKING LOSER, NOT ASKING YOU TO TEACH ME TO LIKE IT MYSELVE

>>8740844
Calm your tits.

>>8739871
>zeitgeist
Nothing screams more pseud than using zeitgeist in the English language.

>>8740812
Something formative that operates as a cornerstone of your worldview, an event that defines all of the following events in your perception of your life(not necessarily your life itself).
It doesn't have to be a terrible thing. Maybe you'll fall in love. Falling in love can blow analytic philosophy out your ass. Sometimes a small thing like hitting a dog with your car or being prayed for by a stranger who thought you looked like you could use it can trigger an epiphany.
Point is, you're underdeveloped and you're reading something that was more or less written for someone a bit further down the road

>>8740844
It's a sensitive portrayal of the Buddhist myth of the coming of age of Siddhartha. Why don't you finish reading the book before making a stupid thread on it.

>>8740858
My wordview right now is basically fuck everything everything is pathetic. I truly hope youre right, i've never fallen in love etc.. I genuinely hope that you are right. I will still finish the book, revisit it later.

>>8740866
We've all been there anon. You're a teen. Or a tween, whatever. Try to be more humble, I suppose.

>>8740866
shoulda started with Demian.

>>8740877
Demian?

>>8740887
it's /lit/'s Hesse reading order.
Demian, Siddhartha, Steppenwolf, Glass Bead Game.

Demian is the bildungsroman for edgy teens seeking purpose.
Siddhartha is for when you're older and seeking direction and resilience.
Steppenwolf is to overcome spiritual duality.
Glass Bead Game is the entirety of Hesse's philosophy in one novel.

Don't feel bad about it, Demian is shorter and you'll probably identify with it more

>>8740912
I will read it. Thanks a bunch

>>8739895
Go drop some acid for a few years then read Siddhartha, maybe youll learn that Siddhartha is quite a powerful novel.
>>8740079
Yep. If you dont want to drop some acid and expand your perception, join the ranks of intellectual atheists who are hell bent on sucking their own egotistical dick, paying homage only to that which is "rational", "logical", "reasonable", etc

>>8742649
The psychedelic experience is a doorway which leads to a hallway which leads to only what you want to find within yourself.

In other terms, a drug is nothing but a high-yield (fast but not perfect) technique to reach partly what your reason and heart cannot achieve fully in your opinion. If anything, it is a total lack of confidence in your reason and in your abilities to philosophy to be at ease with life; ease which remains unlikely, given that the choice of doing these drugs with the goal of opening your awareness and opening your mind is already a sign of close-mindedness and poor ability to reflect.

>>8739869
I've only read Siddartha, but I think his appeal comes more from his ideas than it does from his writing style or characters.

The last two chapters made gave me some serious feels regardless.

>>8740812
>What do you mean by a "thing" happening?
Get in a long term relationship, grow disillusioned as the love fades and you both grow old.
Have a kid, grow disillusioned when you can't bring him up the way you want to.
Meet your heroes, grow disillusioned when they don't fit your ideal.
Get a job, become successful in your career, grow disillusioned when you get bored of it.
Then read Siddhartha.

Despite people itt claiming the contrary, disliking Siddartha is not a crime and says nothing about how mature you are. First post was best post.

>>8742738
That's a big assumption. A lot of people take those drugs out of pure curiosity of how it will effect them. The psychedelic and meaningful experience they get from that can trigger a life-long interest in philosophy.

>>8739930
just letting you know that you ironically misspelled imbecile

anyway don't let /lit/izens get to you, thety can be harsh

oh, and grow up

>>8740857
Chill dude. It is a useful word that most people understand and that there are almost no effective substitutes for.

>Started Steppenwolf last night
bretty gud

Siddhartha is a meme book for the same people who watch Alan Watts videos on youtube.

It's filtered down meme spirituality.

>>8744863
Using "meme" as criticism is a meme.

Seriously though, go back to /mu/.

>>8739869
Finish the book before you make a thread on it. It's only like 100 pages. If you can't even do that, then you are undeserving of discourse

>>8740830
>>>>>Not that I believe in God , that would be retarded

>>8745482
Is a smug anime reaction image all you can do? I mean, I do not like the fact that there is probably no god, but there really is no place for him in the world, or atleast no actual rational reason for anyone to assume his existence. That is a dilemma, yes, but a dilemma we have to learn how to live with nevertheless.

>>8745495
you underestimate the power of smug anime

but also if there's no god explain how life = began
czechmate my athiest friend :^)

>>8745495
In his defense, you said, "I don't believe in god, that would be retarded", which is about as low as his smug anime reaction image. Perhaps explain why you think believing in god is 'retarded'? How do you define god?

>>8745482
>>8745495
>>8745505
Oh great now you have completely derailed this burning train of a thread.

>>8745505
Random particle collision in the primary soup that was the ocean a few billion years ago. Scientists have actually reproduced that effect in labs with lesser amino acids.

>>8745516
Okay, retarded is a hard word, I admit, but the more educated you are on the matter not only scientifically, but also historically, culturally, philosophically and, yes, even theologically, the less likely god becomes. It doesn't help that every proof for god ever has been either a circular pre-assumption trying to prove itself ("god needs to be there or otherwise this does not make sense") or just a non-necessity tacked onto something else.

I suppose I define god as a conscious, absolute source of values.

>>8745530
Bring it back by adding something to the original discussion.

>>8744128
I agree. It's a bit like a subtle self-help book.

>>8744221
Agreed. I am >>8742649
Psychedelics (not only acid) opened me up to different ways to experience my life, some of which was philosophy and meditating.
Psychedelics definitely are not for everyone but for me it was life changing, a lot of fun, and incredibly useful.
>>8742738
>doing these drugs with the goal of opening your awareness and opening your mind is already a sign of close-mindedness and poor ability to reflect.

Making a lot of assumptions i see, i dropped acid originally having no idea how my awareness would be expanded. Besides how is wanting to become more aware a sign of close-mindedness?

>>8745549
>I define god as a conscious, absolute source of values
No wonder you didn't understand Siddhartha

>>8744159
https://youtu.be/dpmAY059TTY

The simple fact is that Siddhartha is a plain, middlebrow novel, barely above Kerouac/Bukowski-tier. It's not a bad book, but it is vastly overrated on /lit/.

>>8742649
>Go drop some acid.... youll learn that Siddhartha is quite a powerful nove.l
Terrible. Kill thyself.

>>8739869
It's just a book about two old dudes with dementia who thinks that water can talk to them. It portrays that you only find happiness and peace once you're old and insane, and then you die.

>>8739869
i dont know man. dat nigga look retarded to me.

>>8740785
elitist scum

Y'all niggas need Jesus