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/lit/ - Literature

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1051931 No.1051931 [Reply] [Original]

I just read Siddhartha and really enjoyed it. Does /lit/ like Siddhartha?

>> No.1051934

great book. better in the original german, tho.

>> No.1051943

I like Siddhartha, I think it is confusing when you talk about /lit/ like its one single entity that just has one coherent opinon. I don't know how far you want to go with Hesse, I assume you already read or planning to read Steppenwolf, But I have read everything there is by Hesse that has been translated into english, including his Autobiographical writings, and In my opinon which admitedly is not any more valid then anyone elses his best book is "Beneath the Wheel".

>> No.1051944

This might be my favorite book. I kind of want to learn German just to read this and other Hesse works in the original language.

>> No.1051948

It was nice. Don't recall much detail in the message of it though. Mostly plot points, which is sorta the wrong part to remember from philosophy novellas. Hrm.

>> No.1051951

>>1051943

Thank you. I was planning to read Steppenwolf.

>> No.1051957

I had to annotate Hesse's poem 'Im Nebel' in Grade 12 German.

He compares the human condition to being like trees on a mountain side, cut off from each other by the morning fog. Kinda fits into the whole Buddhist thing pretty well actually.

>> No.1051971

>>1051948
Actually what's interesting about Hesse, and what makes him stand out, is the fact that his philosophical points are often illustrated AS plot points. Siddhartha leaving the ascetics, his encounter with Buddha, etc are all philosophical points. It was the mark of his genius. Even Steppenwolf and Magister Ludi _seem_ like they're heavy with intentional messages laid out, a closer second reading will reveal that even the most minor of happenings in his books are really a set-up for or an illustration of what he goes into as a character's thoughts to qualify or state a view. Obviously the hallucinations and explanations of the thousands of complex associations that make up Harry Haller's true personality, not his self-imposed duality in Steppenwolf is a perfect example of that.
>>1051943
That's really interesting! Beneath the Wheel? It's certainly a touching book of Hesse's, it's a highlight of his ability for emotional intensity, but that's definitely not one I think of as a favorite.
OP, I'd also suggest Narcissus and Goldmund, if you liked Siddhartha, because it encompasses a lot of the same themes, but also provides a contrast of an intellectual life, and explores the juxtaposition of emotional/artistic and analytic/intellectual that he explores in his larger, more famous works like Magister Ludi. Like most of Hesse's works, it's both fascinating and touching, and a great read that's not overly difficult.
Hesse is definitely one of my favorite writers, I've read all of his books, most of them more than once.

>> No.1052051

I've read both Siddhartha and Steppenwolf and felt similarly about both of them. I think I learned a little that was useful from each one, but that their messages got a little too far-out for me to take seriously (like the shit about the river).