Pictor's Metamorphoses: And Other Fantasies

by Hermann Hesse

Book Overview

In the spring of 1922, several months after completing Siddhartha , Hermann Hesse wrote a fairy tale that was also a love story, inspired by the woman who was to become his second wife. That story, Pictor's Metamorphoses , is the centerpiece of this anthology of Hesse's luminous short fiction. Based on The Arabian Nights and the work of the Brothers Grimm, the nineteen stories collected here represent a half century of Hesse's short writings. They...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312422644
• ISBN13: 9780312422646
• Release Date: December 2003
• Publisher: St. Martins Press-3PL
• Length: 213 Pages
• Weight: 0.53 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.5" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

One of my favorite books of short stories.

I love the the title story. It is filled with wisdom and laid out in such rich detail. He actually wrote these stories over a number of years and I liked seeing how time affected him in each one.

A terrific introduction to Hesse

Hesse was an inveterate story writer and this collection is an excellent introduction to his work. Most of these tales are only a few pages long and even the longest can be completed in one sitting. They also span his entire career and give the reader a great overview of the author's style.I recommend especially the title story, "Pictor's Metamorphoses": here a youth named Pictor wanders into a garden and finds a magic carbuncle which transforms him into a tree. But he realizes that his life his incomplete, and remains unhappy until a girl wanders into the same garden...

MAGIC

this book has followed me throughout my life, and has never been topped by another. He was, and is, the author closest to my heart.

Shows The Vast Range Of Writing Styles Of Hesse

This is a really good book. From the dreams he has as a young boy to the times after the war. A good book to read in between books. Most of the stories are short but there are some long ones too.