Siddhartha

by Hermann Hesse

Book Overview

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...

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0553208845
• ISBN13: 9780553208849
• Release Date: January 1982
• Publisher: Bantam
• Length: 160 Pages
• Weight: 0.24 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 4.1" x 6.8"
• Age Range: 15 to 17 years
• Grade Range: Grades 10 to 12

Customer Reviews

I believe that this has the potential to be a very interesting book, but this version/translation is

It’s hard to read, it’s repetitive, and it’s just not enjoyable. It doesn’t seem like the proper version of what I assume is a great book otherwise.

Good insights

I’m not a very religious person but I picked up this book to see what Buddhism was like. The second reason being is that it was for English class and I have to say this book has a lot of rhetorical elements and other fundamental English techniques to make a book enjoyable. Highly recommend for a light read

A Mystical Look at a Universal Problem

Set in India, Siddhartha is subtitled an "Indic Poetic Work" and clearly it does owe much to both Buddhism and Hinduism, however the philosophy embodied in Siddhartha is both unique and quite complex, despite the lyrically beautiful simplicity of the plot.Siddhartha is one of the names of the historical Gautama and while the life of Hesse's character resembles that of his historical counterpart to some extent, Siddhartha is by no means a fictional life of Buddha and his teachings.Siddhartha is divided into two parts of four and eight chapters, something some have interpreted as an illustration of Buddhism's Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path to Enlightenment.Elements of Hinduism can also be found in Siddhartha. Some critics maintain that Hesse was influenced largely by the Bhagavad Gita when he wrote the book and that his protagonist was groping his way along a path outlined in that text. Certainly the central problems of Siddhartha and the Gita are similar: how can the protagonist attain a state of happiness and serenity by means of a long and arduous path?Hesse's protagonist, however, seeks his own personal path to fulfillment, not someone else's. It is one of trial and error and he is only subconsciously aware of its nature. Although many see Siddhartha's quest as embodying the ideals of Buddhism, Siddhartha objects to the negative aspects of Gautama's teaching. He rejects Gautama's model for himself and he rejects Buddhism; Siddhartha insists upon the right to choose his own path to fulfillment.The primary theme of Siddhartha is the individual's difficult and lonely search for self-fulfillment. Both the means used by the hero in his quest and the nature of his fulfillment are of prime importance and reflect recurring themes that thread their way through all of Hesse's work.Although Siddhartha listens with great respect to the words of Buddha and does not reject Buddhism as being right for others, he, himself, does not become Buddha's disciple, but decides to pursue his goal through his own effort, not by following a teacher. As in Demian, Nietzsche's influence is apparent; the reader is strongly reminded of Nietzsche's Zarathustra who exhorts his listeners not to follow him, but to excel themselves.Siddhartha's sense of fulfillment is a mystical one and cannot be defined with precision. In this respect, it resembles the Nirvana of Buddhism. The most important aspect of Siddhartha's growing awareness, however, is an unselfish and undirected love.The division of the world into the two opposing poles of masculine and feminine is another common theme in Hesse's writings. The Father World, or masculine, is dominated by the intellect, reason, spirit, stability and discipline; the Mother Word, or feminine, by emotion, love, fertility, birth, death, fluidity, nature and the senses.While this symbolism is more pronounced in other works, such as Demian and The Glass Bead Game, it is also present

Truth is not as much out there as in here.

I'm looking at the different reviews about this book and while majority has been favorable, there are some that are not towards this book. Each of these reviewers is exactly correct about this book for him/herself. It's about being on a particular path in your life that is exactly the right one for you at this time of your life. Siddhartha was very intelligent, yet intelligence has nothing to do with enlightenment that he desperately sought. He often felt superior to others, yet could not experience the intensity of passion that others experienced. It wasn't until he experienced humanity himself, including the hurts of love and conceit and sorrow with the appearance and disappearance of his son, that he understood that each person's path towards enlightenment is one's alone, yet intertwined with everyone else's. My favorite part was when Vasudeva reminded him that his role was not to spare his son of pain because each person has to experience life for himself in order to fully understand his own existence within that context.

A simple, affecting parable of life...Spiritually enriching

Hesse's tale of a young Brahmin's son about to embark on the adventure of life is a wonderfully simple and concise story - it is a parable about the struggle of life, and has a wonderfully optimistic message.Hesse's strengths as an author lie in the way he imbues a strong narrative with a dual meaning - one comes away with the impression of having read a good book, but at the same time with the realisation that the story was merely a framework on which Hesse has hung a touching spiritual tract.