Nobel Laureate Hermann HesseHermann Hesse
(1877 - 1962)

Hermann Hess was born in Calw, Germany at the edge of the Black Forest on July 2, 1877. He grew up in a missionary household where it was assumed that he would enter the ministry. As a child, Hesse was extremely rebellious. Because of behavior problems, he was constantly moving from one school to another. His parents even considered sending him away. Despite Hesse's difficulties at home, he was always at the top of his class without putting much effort into his school work. From the age of twelve, Hesse aspired to be a poet. He was enrolled at the Maulbronn Seminary in Stromberg from September 15, 1891 until May 7, 1892. Other famous seminarians at the 850 year old Maulbronn Monastery include astronomer Johannes Kepler and poet Friedrich Hölderlin. Hesse left the school without permission. He was found on the following day after spending the night in an open field. The reason for this episode was presumed to be a difficult "state of mind" and he was not punished very severely. But the parents of other pupils suggested that Hermann be asked to leave the school. He left the school in 1892 without completing his studies. He tried a cure by a well known theologian, but later attempted suicide. Hesse studied the works of Freud and underwent psyhoanalysis by Carl Jung. For a time, he was a patient in a sanatorium. Hermann Hesse's search for orientation in his life continued for several years.

In 1895, Hesse began his apprenticeship as a bookseller at the Hechenhauer Bookshop in Tubingen. He educated himself by reading while working as a bookseller and antiquarian in Basel. Bookseller apprenticeship was typical of most aspiring German authors of the time. During his apprenticeship, Hermann Hesse published several poems (Romantische Lieder - Romatic Songs, Eine Stunde Hinter Mitternacht - An Hour Behind Midnight, 1899 ) and began his career as an author. His first novel Peter Carmenzind (1904) was inspired by this time in his life. He writes of his experience at the Maulbronn School in the novel Unterm Rad. Hesse's rebellion against formal education is also expressed in the work Beneath the Wheel (1906, trans. 1958).

Hermann Hesse circa 1917During World War One, Hesse joined the pacifist Romain Rolland in antiwar activities. He wrote antiwar tracts and novels. Hesse also edited two newspapers for german prisoners of war being a member of the Prisoners of War Welfare Organization. Hesse's wartime activities alienated many of his friends and readers who were enthralled with the militarism sweeping over Europe. Hesse was advised in 1917 to stop his journalism on contemporary issues, but he continued under the nom de plume Emil Sinclair. At this time, Hesse's first marriage broke up. He left Germany moving to Montagnola, Switzerland and became a Swiss citizen in 1923. The war and a series of personal tragedies led him to focus his writing on the spiritual search for new goals and values.

Demian (1919, trans. 1923) was strongly influenced by the Swiss Psychiatrist Carl Jung and reflected Hesse's interest in the sub concious and psychoanalysis. The book was an enormous success and made Hesse famous throughout Europe.

Siddhartha (1922, trans. 1951) is based on the early life of Buddha and resulted from a trip to India. Journey to the East (1932, trans. 1956) examines the mythic qualities of the human experience. For the next eleven years after Journey to the East, Hesse published no major works.

In 1943, Hesse's last and greatest novel, Magister Ludi or The Glass Bead Game was published. He began working on the book in 1931in Switzerland. The work was described as "sublime" by Thomas Mann and admired by André Gide and T.S. Eliot. It is considered one of the most important novels of the twentieth century. It was originally published as Das Glasperlenspiel. In 1946, Hesse was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature for Magister Ludi.

Hermann Hesse remained in Switzerland living in seclusion. He died in his sleep on the morning of August 9, 1962. His psychological and mystical concerns made him a cult figure after his death.

 

Hermann Hesse

Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse
Bantam Classics
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. In this translation Sherab Chodzin Kohn captures the slow, spare lyricism of Siddhartha's search, putting her version on par with Hilda Rosner's standard edition. --Brian Bruya
Release Date: 01 December, 1981
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The Glass Bead Game: (Magister Ludi) A Novel by Hermann Hesse, Richard and Clara Winston The Glass Bead Game: (Magister Ludi) A Novel by Hermann Hesse, Richard and Clara Winston
Picador

Release Date: 06 December, 2002
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Steppenwolf: A Novel by Hermann Hesse, Basil Creighton Steppenwolf: A Novel by Hermann Hesse, Basil Creighton
Picador

Release Date: 01 December, 2002
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Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse
Shambhala

Release Date: 17 September, 2002
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Demian (Perennial Classics) by Hermann Hesse Demian (Perennial Classics) by Hermann Hesse
Harper Perennial Modern Classics

Release Date: 02 June, 1999
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The Journey to the East by Hermann Hesse, Hilda Rosner The Journey to the East by Hermann Hesse, Hilda Rosner
Picador

Release Date: 01 February, 2003
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Narcissus and Goldmund: A Novel by Hermann Hesse, Ursule Molinaro Narcissus and Goldmund: A Novel by Hermann Hesse, Ursule Molinaro
Picador

Release Date: 01 February, 2003
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Narcissus and Goldmund by Hermann Hesse Narcissus and Goldmund by Hermann Hesse
Bantam

Release Date: 01 February, 1984
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Siddhartha (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition) by Hermann Hesse, Ralph Freedman, Joachim Neugroschel Siddhartha (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition) by Hermann Hesse, Ralph Freedman, Joachim Neugroschel
Penguin Classics

Release Date: 31 December, 2002
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Siddhartha (Shambhala Classics) by Hermann Hesse, Sherab Chodzin Kohn Siddhartha (Shambhala Classics) by Hermann Hesse, Sherab Chodzin Kohn
Shambhala

Release Date: 11 January, 2005
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Magister Ludi - The Glass Bead Game

The Glass Bead Game: (Magister Ludi) A Novel by Hermann Hesse, Richard and Clara Winston The Glass Bead Game: (Magister Ludi) A Novel by Hermann Hesse, Richard and Clara Winston
Picador

Release Date: 06 December, 2002
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Magister Ludi by Hermann Hesse Magister Ludi by Hermann Hesse
Bantam

Release Date: 01 June, 1982
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The Glass Bead Game (Magister Ludi) by Hesse Hermann
Holt, Rinehart and Winston

Release Date: 1969
Hardcover
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Glass Bead Game (Magister Ludi) by Hermann Hesse
HOLT, RINEHART & WINSTON

Release Date: 1969
Hardcover
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Magister Ludi by Hermann Hesse
F. Ungar Pub. Co.

Release Date: 1949
Paperback
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Magister Ludi by Hermann; and Mervyn Savill [Trans.] Hesse
Frederick Ungar Publishing Co.

Release Date: 1966
Hardcover
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Hermann Hesse on DVD

Sofie - Arrow Entertainment -

Release Date: 04 December, 2001
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Journey to the East

How to Walk in the Footsteps of Jesus and the Prophets: A Scripture Reference Guide for Biblical Sites in Israel and Jordan by Hela Crown-Tamir How to Walk in the Footsteps of Jesus and the Prophets: A Scripture Reference Guide for Biblical Sites in Israel and Jordan by Hela Crown-Tamir
Gefen Publishing House, Ltd

Release Date: 01 February, 2000
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From Beirut to Jerusalem by Thomas L. Friedman From Beirut to Jerusalem by Thomas L. Friedman
Anchor

Release Date: 15 July, 1990
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The Journey to the East by Hermann Hesse, Hilda Rosner The Journey to the East by Hermann Hesse, Hilda Rosner
Picador

Release Date: 01 February, 2003
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The Ends of the Earth: From Togo to Turkmenistan, from Iran to Cambodia, a Journey to the Frontiers of Anarchy by Robert D. Kaplan The Ends of the Earth: From Togo to Turkmenistan, from Iran to Cambodia, a Journey to the Frontiers of Anarchy by Robert D. Kaplan
Vintage
"The future here could be sadder than the present," writes Robert Kaplan in a chapter about the African nation of Sierra Leone. From Kaplan's perspective, the same could be said of virtually the entire Third World, which he spends the bulk of this book visiting and describing. Kaplan, an acclaimed foreign correspondent and author of Balkan Ghosts, is congenitally pessimistic about the developmental prospects of West Africa, the Nile Valley, and much of Asia. This traveler's tale offers dire warnings about overpopulation, environmental degradation, and social chaos. We should all hope that Kaplan's forecast is wrong, but we ignore him at our peril.
Release Date: 28 January, 1997
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Eastward to Tartary: Travels in the Balkans, the Middle East, and the Caucasus by Robert D. Kaplan Eastward to Tartary: Travels in the Balkans, the Middle East, and the Caucasus by Robert D. Kaplan
Vintage
The master of the hardheaded travelogue, Robert D. Kaplan returns with a book on what he calls "the New Near East," an area stretching from the Balkans to Central Asia that "might become the seismograph of world politics" in the new century. That doesn't sound like good news: "The pitiless history of the Near East [is] dominated by marauding armies and earthquakes while peace treaties have merely formalized temporary stalemates on the ground." Kaplan has made a career of writing about the world's trouble spots "without illusions"--his books Balkan Ghosts and The Ends of the Earth are at once influential and pessimistic.

Eastward to Tartary is a fascinating exploration of places Kaplan has not written about in depth before: "Third World Europe" (Romania and Bulgaria), Turkey, Syria, Jordan, and the confusing conglomeration of countries and peoples in the Caucasus. Smart observations leap off almost every page. "In every Arab city I have ever visited, people were polite and honest, running after you to return a loose coin you have left at a soft-drinks stand," he writes. So why hasn't democracy taken hold in the Islamic world? "The very perfection of the Islamic belief system begot a naive absolutism that made the compromises of normal political life impossible." In an aside on ancient Assyria, Kaplan notes, "The theme is always the same: Highly militarized and centralized states and empires, so indomitable in one decade or generation, hack themselves to pieces or are themselves conquered in another." Then he reminds readers that Assyria once bestrode present-day Iraq and Syria--a "hauntingly appropriate" coincidence. And surprising facts abound: "Turkey represents the most stable governmental dynasty in world history, with the Turkish soldiery able to trace the roots of its power to the Roman emperors." Fans of Kaplan's previous books won't want to miss this one, and neither will new readers interested in this part of the world. --John J. Miller
Release Date: October, 2001
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Rumi: Bridge to the Soul: Journeys into the Music and Silence of the Heart by Coleman Barks Rumi: Bridge to the Soul: Journeys into the Music and Silence of the Heart by Coleman Barks
HarperOne

Release Date: 18 September, 2007
Hardcover
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The Lost Years Of Jesus: Documentary Evidence Of Jesus' 17-Year Journey To The East by Elizabeth Clare Prophet The Lost Years Of Jesus: Documentary Evidence Of Jesus' 17-Year Journey To The East by Elizabeth Clare Prophet
Summit University Press

Release Date: 01 December, 1988
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Inside Lebanon: Journey to a Shattered Land with Noam and Carol Chomsky by Assaf Kfoury Inside Lebanon: Journey to a Shattered Land with Noam and Carol Chomsky by Assaf Kfoury
Monthly Review Press

Release Date: 01 July, 2007
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Journey from the Land of No: A Girlhood Caught in Revolutionary Iran by Roya Hakakian Journey from the Land of No: A Girlhood Caught in Revolutionary Iran by Roya Hakakian
Three Rivers Press

Release Date: 28 June, 2005
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Journey to the East: The Jesuit Mission to China, 15791724 by Liam Matthew Brockey Journey to the East: The Jesuit Mission to China, 15791724 by Liam Matthew Brockey
Belknap Press

Release Date: 01 March, 2007
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