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/lit/ - Literature

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6045421 No.6045421 [Reply] [Original]

Should I know more about Hinduism/Buddhism than the layman going into this book? If not necessary, would it at least help me have a better understanding of the underlying themes throughout the book?

I am but a mere plebian Westerner. Filthy, uncultured swine.

>> No.6045445
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6045445

Fully reading the Wikipedia article on Buddhism would not take long (it's actually pretty decent) and it would likely help you to have some more context for understanding the book.

I don't want to spoil anything, some people make the mistake of assuming the book is about Buddha when instead it is about a guy who lived in India/Nepal at the time of the Buddha.

The narrative style of the book can help you understand some aspects if eastern philosophy better and it is worth a read.

However you shouldn't make the mistake of reading it and assuming that the book is representative of Buddhism or eastern philosophy as a whole. If you like it the. I would recommend reading "what the Buddha taught" by Walpola Rahula as an intro text to Buddhism and from there go to the more heady stuff and selections from the Pali canon.

>> No.6045464

>>6045421
>Should I know more about Hinduism/Buddhism than the layman going into this book?
No

>If not necessary, would it at least help me have a better understanding of the underlying themes throughout the book?
Not very much. Hesse is writing fiction, he's not going to ask previous formal knowledge from you.
If you still want to read anything before, Dhammapada is what you're looking for, and if anything, you should read it after Siddhartha and only.if you liked this book.

>> No.6045496

No.

Honestly, I went to Hesse's Siddharta long after I've read extensively about Hinduism and Buddhism and I have to say the book sounded very silly to me. It presents buddhism as a truly marvellous but completely exotic way of thinking, it's as if Hesse was showing you a picture of a tiger and it is supposed to impress you even though you work in the zoo.

Go and read Hesse. Then go read about Hinduism and Buddhism from other sources.

>> No.6045552

In fact this book is entry level for buddhism

>> No.6045555

Guess that answers my question.

Thanks friends.

>> No.6045894

>>6045445
So this isnt so much a fictional biography of the Buddha? I thought in life his name was Siddhartha?

>> No.6046016

>>6045894
It's about a different Siddhartha. The Buddha is referenced as Gotama in the book. Siddhartha meets him halfway through the book, and although he recognizes he can't find flaws in the Buddha's philosophy, he decides to go his own way.

>> No.6046581

The brilliance of this book is the simplicity and accessibility. So no...you dont need anything goin in.

>> No.6046614

Don't read it it''s shit.

>> No.6046633

No. There are some things mentioned in the book that would not hurt to look up but they don't have anything to do with the book itself.