Steppenwolf

[Tyrion Cheddar]

The other day I finished Steppenwolf, by Hermann Hesse. I would assume most people here have read it, and many probably have studied it and Hesse in depth. I don't know if this forum is the right place for this, but I thought I'd start here.

The first thing I want to say is that Steppenwolf is one of the best, most deeply moving, and, for me, highly personal novels I've ever read. I felt like a novel had been written about me and for me--something which, I imagine, generations of its readers have also felt. Although the book was part of the syllabus of a philosophical literature class I took in high school (I was in a small program for advanced students), I never actually read it, and as soon as I started to do so recently I was so glad. One needs to be a mature adult to understand and appreciate this story, this protagonist.

Mind you, Siddhartha I did read in that course, and it literally changed my life, awakening my fourteen-year-old mind to Buddhism, the idea of higher consciousness, walking a spiritual path, etc. I would go on to read that book a few times, and become deeply involved with Eastern thought and spirituality, especially different strains of Buddhism.

Now, here's why I really wanted to relate to you all the fact that I had recently read Steppenwolf. I would imagine that this is a book that whole college courses are devoted to, as well as dissertations, weighty tomes and academic careers, or parts of them. Now that I've come to understand that some of you are precisely the sort of serious scholars and academicians in question, I had hoped you could offer guidance and insight about this book. If it's been discussed on this site at length in the past, apologies, maybe you can direct me to such discussion.

[kev67]

I have not read it, but it must be good. There was a 60's rock band called Steppenwolf, and Boney M sang a song about it.

[Darcy88]

I read it several times a number of years ago and it also made a deep impression on me. I still rank it among my all time favorite books even though its been so long since I read it and my remembrance of it is rather vague. Hesse reminds me of Dostoevsky and Camus a little in that they are all as great philosophers as they are artists.

I would recommend you read his other less well known work Peter Camenzid. I remember being particularly impressed by it as well. And there's also the Glass Bead Game, which stands as a remarkable literary accomplishment. I didn't enjoy Siddartha as much as those other three, which is strange because I have always been deeply interested in buddhism. Damien is really popular but in my estimation it falls short of those I previously mentioned.

I haven't met anyone who has read Steppenwolf and not been at least somewhat rocked to their core.

[Tyrion Cheddar]

I read it several times a number of years ago and it also made a deep impression on me. I still rank it among my all time favorite books even though its been so long since I read it and my remembrance of it is rather vague. Hesse reminds me of Dostoevsky and Camus a little in that they are all as great philosophers as they are artists.

I would recommend you read his other less well known work Peter Camenzid. I remember being particularly impressed by it as well. And there's also the Glass Bead Game, which stands as a remarkable literary accomplishment. I didn't enjoy Siddartha as much as those other three, which is strange because I have always been deeply interested in buddhism. Damien is really popular but in my estimation it falls short of those I previously mentioned.

I haven't met anyone who has read Steppenwolf and not been at least somewhat rocked to their core.

Thanks, mate, I'm going to check out those other works of his.

[ennison]

Narcissus and Goldmund was my favourite

[Kemijost]

"Rocked to the core." You bet. I loved it.

The themes Hesse brought to light for me were part of a self discovery about myself and the human ego.

What door beckons you to cross its threshold?

[YesNo]

I remember reading almost all of these books by Hesse when I was in college (around 1970) and thinking positively about them, but I can't remember anything at the moment about the books. So now I wonder, what were they really about? I'll see if I can find Steppenwolf in the library.