― andyjack (andyjack), Friday, 29 April 2005 06:56 (nineteen years ago) link
Some facts about Karl Gjellerup i stumbled across while looking for the engish title:http://nobelprize.org/literature/laureates/1917/gjellerup-autobio.html
― Docolero (Docolero), Monday, 30 May 2005 19:29 (nineteen years ago) link
― Josh (Josh), Saturday, 27 August 2005 05:28 (nineteen years ago) link
they seemed kinda goofy and turned me off coz i wanted BIG REVELATIONS and instead got dippy spiritual ones, even tho i felt like they promised the other. a sorta like zen that was too broken to be profound.
but reading them again at a difft. level for historic context etc. might... might prove to be interesting.
― Sterling Clover (s_clover), Saturday, 27 August 2005 05:39 (nineteen years ago) link
― Josh (Josh), Saturday, 27 August 2005 06:13 (nineteen years ago) link
what do yall niggas think of siddhartha
― a narwhal done gored my sister nell (cankles), Sunday, 23 August 2009 05:37 (fifteen years ago) link
I need to read this. Fortunately i bought an older edition--the current one has an introduction by master-dickhead Paulo Coelho
― When two tribes go to war, he always gets picked last (James Morrison), Monday, 24 August 2009 00:41 (fifteen years ago) link
loved 'siddhartha' in high school. own a couple others that i'd like to read.
― (The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Friday, 28 August 2009 03:58 (fifteen years ago) link
http://www.theispot.com/images/source/1hesse1.jpg
― just sayin, Monday, 8 October 2012 16:54 (twelve years ago) link
https://i.imgur.com/W0K5Scn.jpg
― calstars, Friday, 28 April 2023 23:38 (one year ago) link
I read a book more than a decade ago that made extensive reference to The Glass Bead Game, which I picked up because of that other book and which I could not get more than about 75 pages into. It bothers me that I can't remember what the other book was.
― immodesty blaise (jimbeaux), Sunday, 30 April 2023 00:45 (one year ago) link
I didn’t make it any farther either
― calstars, Sunday, 30 April 2023 01:01 (one year ago) link
i've been on a bit of a Hesse kick. read PETER CAMENZIND last month, and just now finished DEMIAN. i was a bit disappointed in the latter, which started to fall off about halfway through and then eventually became downright silly -- "dippy spiritual" revelations upthread is otm. CAMENZIND was much less cornball but ultimately was another case of the first half being much better, and the second half failing to deliver.
i'm thinking now of tracking down some of the other early ones, like GERTRUD and ROSSHALDE. still haven't read STEPPENWOLF, and eventually will probably read NARCISSUS AND GOLDMUND, which is my favorite of his along with SIDDHARTHA.
― budo jeru, Tuesday, 30 April 2024 03:11 (seven months ago) link
*re-read N&G
― budo jeru, Tuesday, 30 April 2024 03:12 (seven months ago) link
it's crazy how much that cover of Der Spiegel looks AI generated ...
― budo jeru, Tuesday, 30 April 2024 03:18 (seven months ago) link
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fb/Hans_Sturzenegger_-_Hermann_Hesse_mit_Panamahut%2C_1912.jpg
― budo jeru, Tuesday, 30 April 2024 03:27 (seven months ago) link
Hesse made his bones as a westerner who appropriated various strands of eastern philosophical and religious traditions, but filtered them through an essentially western interpretation and reworked them into narratives with allegorical elements. That's his basic contribution to the canon. But I have trouble with his novels because, for me, he never quite figured out how to marry his ideas with compelling narratives. I'd rate Steppenwolf as probably his most successful, if only because it came from a more personal and urgent place and broke through his tendency toward awkward and labored exposition.
― more difficult than I look (Aimless), Tuesday, 30 April 2024 04:04 (seven months ago) link
I loved the Glass Bead Game when I was in my early 20s but I don't think I'd dare re-read it: current me would see straight through it, I think?
I read a lovely short book of his, Wandering, a spiritual autobiography built around his walks in the Italian Alps.
― I would prefer not to. (Chinaski), Tuesday, 30 April 2024 09:29 (seven months ago) link
I would never bother with Jesse again but that sounds nice
― xyzzzz__, Tuesday, 30 April 2024 12:37 (seven months ago) link
Hesse
those bantam mass market paperbacks are ubiquitous, so i've easily been able to track down more HH, who i've continued to read despite diminishing returns.
i didn't like STEPPENWOLF. for a novel about middle age, it seems as though it could only appeal to a teenage boy. the magical realism aspects sort of fell flat for me. kerouac sort of otm ("he feels tormented in a 'personal hell' he calls it because he doesnt like what other people like!" lol). also, surely Hermine is the first manic pixie dream girl? i just kind of felt like Harry was pathetic and it made me totally uninterested in his stupid midlife crisis.
BENEATH THE WHEEL was much better. bildungsroman with a great deal of pessimism in spite of some truly charming aspects. especially enjoyed the part that takes place in Maulbronn seminary, i mean who doesn't like that kind of dead poet society shit
JOURNEY TO THE EAST -- this one kind of fell flat for me. i realize that this is supposed to be some kind of sophisticated allegory, but either i wasn't able to penetrate its mystery or (more likely i think) there just wasn't enough there there.
up next is ROSSHALDE.
― budo jeru, Thursday, 17 October 2024 16:19 (one month ago) link