Hermann Hesse (1877-1962) - “There is no reality except the one contained within us. That is why so many people live such an unreal life. They take the images outside of them for reality and never allow the world within to assert itself.” -- quote from the novel Steppenwolf

Hermann Hesse enjoyed a short-lived cult following among German youth after World War 1 and a second cult following among youth in the 1960s, this time in the United States. For the German youth, key novels were Peter Camenzind and Demian and for Americans primarily Siddhartha and Steppenwolf. This collection of eleven essays edited by Theodore Ziolkowski published back in 1979 provides a well-balanced overview of Hesse’s life and work, at the time a much needed literary and scholarly analysis since, although Hesse won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1946, for years his reputation had been something of a political and cultural hot potato. Here are quotes from five of the essays with my brief comments:

Introduction --- Theodore Ziolkowski
“There are now an increasing number of articles devoted to Hesse as a writer – to the interpretation of specific texts as aesthetic structures within a literary tradition rather than to the discussion of his ideas, taken out of the context of the works and their cultural background.” ---------- In terms of ideas ascribed to Hesse taken out of context, Ziolkowski notes one such example: Timothy Leary recommending The Magic Theater section of Steppenwolf as a user’s guide for psychedelic experience and LSD trips. Accordingly, Ziolkowski only includes essays for this book that evaluate Hesse as a man and Hesse’s novels as literature.

Introduction to Demian --- Thomas Mann
“I also love Hesse the man, his cheerfully thoughtful, roguishly kind ways, the beautiful, deep look of his, alas, ailing eyes, who blue illuminates the sharp-cut face of a Swabian peasant.” --------- One of the appeals of reading Hermann Hesse is knowing the author not only talked the talk but walked the walk of a spiritual pilgrim in his own life. When I myself look at photos of Hesse, I see a man who has internalized the wisdom traditions from both East and West. Hesse was not only a great novelist but also poet, artist, essayist, literary critic and creator of fairy tales.


Hermann Hesse in the Service of the Spirit --- Martin Buber
“In Siddhartha’s opinion no single teaching can do justice to the reality of being, for they all necessarily affirm one thing and deny the other. Siddhartha has no desire to probe and split the world by discrimination, by saying Yea or Nay. Instead, he wants only to love the world, love it as it is, a world existing in and of itself. “ ---------- We follow Siddhartha through a series of awakenings until he returns to the river and learns the power of love from the ferryman who loves the river. Siddhartha eventually himself becomes the ferryman and reaches enlightenment through the power of Bhakti, the yoga of love and devotion, by expanding his love to include all of life.

Hermann Hesse: The Exorcism of the Demon --- Oskar Seidlin
“His yearning for deliverance from the Ego, from the tyrannical dictate of temporality, has frequently led Hesse onto the road to India.” ---------- One of the abiding themes in Hesse’s novels is the Indian concept of Moksha, that is, release from bondage. Hesse’s protagonists refuse to be bound by walls of any sort. His novels speak to the spirit of yearning, the desire to continually transcend oneself and expand to greater beauty.

Person and Persona: The Magic Mirrors of Steppenwolf --- Ralph Freedman
“Psychoanalysis, which seeks to remold consciousness and explores various layers and levels of the self, fashioned many of Hesse’s artistic strategies in the early 1920s and most noticeably in Steppenwolf. Jung and others were undoubtedly right when they found the spirit of psychoanalysis pervading the basic substance of the novel. Harry Haller’s world is largely within – the Magic Theater and its strange protagonists are part of his psyche –and the novel constantly tests the internal against an external reality.” ---------- Hesse was undergoing Jungian psychoanalysis during the time he was writing Steppenwolf. Usually, applying a psychoanalytic interpretation to a novel, either Freudian or Jungian, can feel cramped and delimiting, but Steppenwolf is one novel where a psychoanalytic reading can potentially enlarge our understanding both of the novel and our own life.



As a great fan and a reader of the above books by Hemann Hesse, I wholeheartedly agree with these celebratory words of Martin Buber: “It is not only the Journeyers to the East and the Players of the Glass Bead Game all over the world who salute you, Hermann Hesse. All those who serve the spirit, throughout the entire world, unite in a great greeting of love. Wherever the spirit is served, you are loved.”

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Hermann Hesse (1877-1962) - “There is no reality except the one contained within us. That is why so many people live such an unreal life. They take the images outside of them for reality and never allow the world within to assert itself.” -- quote from the novel Steppenwolf

Hermann Hesse enjoyed a short-lived cult following among German youth after World War 1 and a second cult following among youth in the 1960s, this time in the United States. For the German youth, key novels were Peter Camenzind and Demian and for Americans primarily Siddhartha and Steppenwolf. This collection of eleven essays edited by Theodore Ziolkowski published back in 1979 provides a well-balanced overview of Hesse’s life and work, at the time a much needed literary and scholarly analysis since, although Hesse won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1946, for years his reputation had been something of a political and cultural hot potato. Here are quotes from five of the essays with my brief comments:

Introduction --- Theodore Ziolkowski
“There are now an increasing number of articles devoted to Hesse as a writer – to the interpretation of specific texts as aesthetic structures within a literary tradition rather than to the discussion of his ideas, taken out of the context of the works and their cultural background.” ---------- In terms of ideas ascribed to Hesse taken out of context, Ziolkowski notes one such example: Timothy Leary recommending The Magic Theater section of Steppenwolf as a user’s guide for psychedelic experience and LSD trips. Accordingly, Ziolkowski only includes essays for this book that evaluate Hesse as a man and Hesse’s novels as literature.

Introduction to Demian --- Thomas Mann
“I also love Hesse the man, his cheerfully thoughtful, roguishly kind ways, the beautiful, deep look of his, alas, ailing eyes, who blue illuminates the sharp-cut face of a Swabian peasant.” --------- One of the appeals of reading Hermann Hesse is knowing the author not only talked the talk but walked the walk of a spiritual pilgrim in his own life. When I myself look at photos of Hesse, I see a man who has internalized the wisdom traditions from both East and West. Hesse was not only a great novelist but also poet, artist, essayist, literary critic and creator of fairy tales.


Hermann Hesse in the Service of the Spirit --- Martin Buber
“In Siddhartha’s opinion no single teaching can do justice to the reality of being, for they all necessarily affirm one thing and deny the other. Siddhartha has no desire to probe and split the world by discrimination, by saying Yea or Nay. Instead, he wants only to love the world, love it as it is, a world existing in and of itself. “ ---------- We follow Siddhartha through a series of awakenings until he returns to the river and learns the power of love from the ferryman who loves the river. Siddhartha eventually himself becomes the ferryman and reaches enlightenment through the power of Bhakti, the yoga of love and devotion, by expanding his love to include all of life.

Hermann Hesse: The Exorcism of the Demon --- Oskar Seidlin
“His yearning for deliverance from the Ego, from the tyrannical dictate of temporality, has frequently led Hesse onto the road to India.” ---------- One of the abiding themes in Hesse’s novels is the Indian concept of Moksha, that is, release from bondage. Hesse’s protagonists refuse to be bound by walls of any sort. His novels speak to the spirit of yearning, the desire to continually transcend oneself and expand to greater beauty.

Person and Persona: The Magic Mirrors of Steppenwolf --- Ralph Freedman
“Psychoanalysis, which seeks to remold consciousness and explores various layers and levels of the self, fashioned many of Hesse’s artistic strategies in the early 1920s and most noticeably in Steppenwolf. Jung and others were undoubtedly right when they found the spirit of psychoanalysis pervading the basic substance of the novel. Harry Haller’s world is largely within – the Magic Theater and its strange protagonists are part of his psyche –and the novel constantly tests the internal against an external reality.” ---------- Hesse was undergoing Jungian psychoanalysis during the time he was writing Steppenwolf. Usually, applying a psychoanalytic interpretation to a novel, either Freudian or Jungian, can feel cramped and delimiting, but Steppenwolf is one novel where a psychoanalytic reading can potentially enlarge our understanding both of the novel and our own life.



As a great fan and a reader of the above books by Hemann Hesse, I wholeheartedly agree with these celebratory words of Martin Buber: “It is not only the Journeyers to the East and the Players of the Glass Bead Game all over the world who salute you, Hermann Hesse. All those who serve the spirit, throughout the entire world, unite in a great greeting of love. Wherever the spirit is served, you are loved.”

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