Most Popular Books by Hermann Hesse

An autobiographical novel featuring Harry Haller in "an experimental mix of symbolism, realism, and fantasy."--Cover.

The classic novel of a quest for knowledge that has delighted, inspired, and influenced generations of readers, writers, and thinkers. Nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read Though set in a place and time far removed from the Germany of 1922, the year of the book’s debut, the novel is infused with the sensibilities of Hermann Hesse’s time, synthesizing disparate philosophies–Eastern religions, Jungian archetypes, Western individualism–into a unique vision of life as expressed through one man’s search for meaning. It is the story of the quest of Siddhartha, a wealthy Indian Brahmin who casts off a life of privilege and comfort to seek spiritual fulfillment and wisdom. On his journey, Siddhartha encounters wandering ascetics, Buddhist monks, and successful merchants, as well as a courtesan named Kamala and a simple ferryman who has attained enlightenment. Traveling among these people and experiencing life’s vital passages–love, work, friendship, and fatherhood–Siddhartha discovers that true knowledge is guided from within. Susan Bernofsky’s magnificent translation brings out Hesse’s inspired lyricism and his elegant, melodious cadences, illuminating the novel’s universal themes and timeless wisdom about the human condition. This original Modern Library edition includes a lively new Introduction by Tom Robbins and a glossary of Indian terms.

A brilliant journey of the psyche written by one of Germany''s most influential writers and thinkers, Herman Hesse First published in 1919 under the pseudonyn Emil Sinclair, Demian follows the life of a troubled German youth as he navigates the duality of a world filled with illusions and spiritual truth. When Sinclair first meets childhood classmate Max Demian, his eyes are opened to the contradictions of his existing Christian knowledge. As Sinclair continues to question his worldview, the two friends are separated and reunited throughout their lives, with each encounter being a vantage for Sinclair to reconcile a world at discord. He ascends on his path to freedom and a realization of self as the friendship evolves in surprising and explosive ways. Demian is a classic coming-of-age story that continues to inspire generations of readers in its exploration of good and evil, morality, and self-discovery.

Analyse : Roman psychologique (intime).

A timeless tale of wanderlust, artistry, and the search for life''s deeper meaning from the Nobel Prize-winning author of Demian. First published in 1915, Knulp was Hermann Hesse''s most popular book in the years before Demian. This edition marks its first appearance in English. Knulp is an amiable vagabond who wanders from town to town, staying with friends who feed and shelter him. Consistently refusing to tie himself down to any trade, place, or person, he even deserts the companion who might be considered Hermann Hesse himself the summer they go tramping together. Knulp''s exile is blissful, gentle, and self-absorbed. But hidden beneath the light surface of these "Tales from the Life of Knulp" is the conscience of an artist who suspects that his liberation is worthless, even immoral. As he lies dying in a snowstorm, Knulp has an interview with God in which he reproaches himself for his wasted life. But it is revealed to Knulp that the whole purpose of his life has been to bring "a little homesickness for freedom" into the lives of ordinary men.

Dieser in unmittelbarer Nachfolge von Gottfried Kellers Der grüne Heinrich stehende »Erziehungsroman« hat mit seinen erfrischenden, allem Pathetischen abholden Naturschilderungen bis heute nichts an Charme und Farbe verloren. (Amazon)

Eight stories about the distillation of wisdom, concerning dream worlds, magical thinking, the subconscious and the soul.

This is the first English-language edition of Klingsor''s Last Summer, which was originally published in 1920, a year after Demian and two years before Siddhartha. The book has three parts: a story called A Child''s Heart, followed by Klein and Wagner and Klingsor''s Last Summer, Hesse''s two longest and finest novellas. These novellas, along with Siddhartha (the three works were republished in 1931 under the title The Inward Way), are the first fruits of the period that began in the spring of 1919, when Hesse settled in the Ticino mountain village of Montagnola to start a new life without his wife and children. A Child''s Heart, written in January 1919, in Basel, concerns the transmutation of a boy''s innocence into knowledge of good and evil, and the painful guilt that accompanies this process. Both Klein and Wagner (written in May-June 1919, immediately after the arrival in Montagnola) and Klingsor''s Last Summer (written shortly after) are set in a southern landscape that reflects Hesse''s life that summer; both novellas have heroes who are more or less Hesse''s age at the time; and in both the hero''s death is preceded by a grand vision of unity in which the polarities of life are resoluved. Hesse exposes himself mercilessly in Klein and Wagner, a story of escape, wrenching loose, letting go. But the expressionist painter Klingsor is a more direct self-portrait of the Hesse of 1919.

In the shade of a banyan tree, a grizzled ferryman sits listening to the river. Some say he''s a sage. He was once a wandering shramana and, briefly, like thousands of others, he followed Gotama the Buddha, enraptured by his sermons. But this man, Siddhartha, was not a follower of any but his own soul. Born the son of a Brahmin, Siddhartha was blessed in appearance, intelligence, and charisma. In order to find meaning in life, he discarded his promising future for the life of a wandering ascetic. Still, true happiness evaded him. Then a life of pleasure and titillation merely eroded away his spiritual gains until he was just like all the other "child people," dragged around by his desires. Like Hermann Hesse''s other creations of struggling young men, Siddhartha has a good dose of European angst and stubborn individualism. His final epiphany challenges both the Buddhist and the Hindu ideals of enlightenment. Neither a practitioner nor a devotee, neither meditating nor reciting, Siddhartha comes to blend in with the world, resonating with the rhythms of nature, bending the reader''s ear down to hear answers from the river.

Narcissus and Goldmund is the story of a passionate yet uneasy friendship between two men of opposite character. Narcissus, an ascetic instructor at a cloister school, has devoted himself solely to scholarly and spiritual pursuits. One of his students is the sensual, restless Goldmund, who is immediately drawn to his teacher''s fierce intellect and sense of discipline. When Narcissus persuades the young student that he is not meant for a life of self-denial, Goldmund sets off in pursuit of aesthetic and physical pleasures, a path that leads him to a final, unexpected reunion with Narcissus.

Throughout his life, Herman Hesse was a devoted letter writer. He corresponded, not just with friends and family, but also with his readers. From his letters home from the seminary at age fourteen, to his last letters, written days before his death at eighty-five, this selection gives a sense of the author of some of the most widely read books of the century.

A collection of essays from Hermann Hesse concerning World War II, his personal anguish and his antagonism to racism, nationalism and war.

"The classic novel of a quest for knowledge that has delighted, inspired, and influenced generations of readers, writers, and thinkers--a perennial favorite for graduation gifts.Nominated as one of America''s best-loved novels by PBS''s The Great American ReadThough set in a place and time far removed from the Germany of 1922, the year of the book''s debut, the novel is infused with the sensibilities of Hermann Hesse''s time, synthesizing disparate philosophies-Eastern religions, Jungian archetypes, Western individualism-into a unique vision of life as expressed through one man''s search for meaning.It is the story of the quest of Siddhartha, a wealthy Indian Brahmin who casts off a life of privilege and comfort to seek spiritual fulfillment and wisdom. On his journey, Siddhartha encounters wandering ascetics, Buddhist monks, and successful merchants, as well as a courtesan named Kamala and a simple ferryman who has attained enlightenment. Traveling among these people and experiencing life''s vital passages-love, work, friendship, and fatherhood-Siddhartha discovers that true knowledge is guided from within."