Hermann Hesse: Siddhartha (German language, 2020, Independently Published)
81 pages
German language
Published Feb. 23, 2020 by Independently Published.
Hermann Hesse wrote Siddhartha after he traveled to India in the 1910s. It tells the story of a young boy who travels the country in a quest for spiritual enlightenment in the time of Guatama Buddha. It is a compact, lyrical work, which reads like an allegory about the finding of wisdom.
Fourth read into Hesse and I can confidently say there’s a schema common to everything he writes. All I can do is marvel at the fact his reused ‘wander to find yourself’ bit has not once bored me. That being said, this is still no GBG or N&G.
As part of my "classic a month" reading goal, I picked something a little shorter than the tomes I tackled in the first quarter. Now I wish this book were a bit longer. I can't imagine what this must read like in the original German but the English translation sings.
In a nutshell, Siddhartha - son of a Brahman, raised on spiritualism - leaves home on the journey of his lifetime. The language feels like a Buddhist sutta - spun out with evocative language, overflowing with symbolism, and carrying lessons for the ages. In this case, all of Siddhartha's ages from callow youth to old man. At every turn he thinks, "At last, this is enlightenment." At each turning, he discovers that one thing still eludes him.
The story swept me along, recognizing myself in so many of his mis-steps and mis-conceptions. I'll be thinking about this book for a …
As part of my "classic a month" reading goal, I picked something a little shorter than the tomes I tackled in the first quarter. Now I wish this book were a bit longer. I can't imagine what this must read like in the original German but the English translation sings.
In a nutshell, Siddhartha - son of a Brahman, raised on spiritualism - leaves home on the journey of his lifetime. The language feels like a Buddhist sutta - spun out with evocative language, overflowing with symbolism, and carrying lessons for the ages. In this case, all of Siddhartha's ages from callow youth to old man. At every turn he thinks, "At last, this is enlightenment." At each turning, he discovers that one thing still eludes him.
The story swept me along, recognizing myself in so many of his mis-steps and mis-conceptions. I'll be thinking about this book for a very long time.
Highly recommended.
[Note: I read the Project Gutenberg. Credited Translators: Gunther Olesch, Anke Dreher, Amy Coulter, Stefan Langer and Semyon Chaichenets]
