Hesse's darker stories

[Kyriakos]

Hello :)

I am looking for titles of works by Hesse which are darker than the ussual ones, like The Man of the Forest, or The end of dr. Knelge (both of which are excellent in my view).

So, anyone got suggestions?

[libernaut]

Beneath the Wheel, as kurt vonnegut put it is one of the only hesse novels that end tragically in exception to demian, which is especially dark.

Beneath the Wheel, the story of a student that is oppressed by the system and eventually comes to rebel against it only to be crushed "beneath the wheel" so to speak.

Demian, in which we see two young men growing up during the first world war. Tells of much melancholy and inner distress. Also such themes as The Mark of Cain, and The Two Thieves, and Abraxas make this story incredible dark in a sense. It is very short and sweet, but is definitely very dark.

[libernaut]

Also, I might recommend Franz Kafka, for something similar and that is usually pretty dark.

[libernaut]

Oh and duh, - steppendwolf. but this can be considered Dry to many. So beware. I'd recommend demian to start and if you really get into hesse then go for the others, steppenwolf and beneath the wheel.

[Kyriakos]

Thank you for the suggestions :) I have read Demian and generally liked it. I also love Kafka, good call on that.

Beneath the Wheel sounds very interesting, i will try that next...