Hesse
Having just finished Herman Hesse's Siddhartha I can now say with certainty what I always thought due to an educated guess. I had always heard that Hesse was a great existentialist, and that Siddhartha was a superb place to find the "gospel" presentation of existentialism. On that general understanding of the work I had assumed, based on my knowledge of existentialism in general, and perhaps on my knowledge of the characters of those inidviduals who recommended the book, that the book would reveal existentialism in no better manner than the humanistic philosophy would allow. In short, having read Sarte and Camus, I thought that I knew existentialism well enough to dismiss it as having little credence.
Well, whomever they were from whom I had always heard the praise of Siddhartha, they were right: I did find existentialism in all its naked glory.
The funny thing is, I found myself no more persuaded by the ideas than I had been after reading Camus' The Stranger, or Jean Paul's The Wall. In fact, it seemed to me that Hesse, unwittingly, reaveals just how simplistic, sophomoric, and self-indulgent existentialism really is. I saw that existentialism offers no explanation of the world, or our beginnings, or our future. It offers nothing by way of salvation from sin, nor even an acknowledgment that sin is a reality. There is no fear of God, and as a result there is anything but an attatched ethic.
Certainly these considerations do not logically dismiss existentialism from coherence, but in my mind they help demonstrate what is a dismal commentary on the depth of existentialism: a small puddle after a light rain, soon dried in the blistering sun of True Religion. Though I found the short book adequately amusing, I was far from impressed (even from a purely literary perspective); a second read does not seem likely to reveal anything more, which is a criteria met, it seems, by all great literature.
Didn't Herman win the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in Siddhartha? Gosh, let's raise the bar.
Posted by jeremy stock at December 6, 2001 08:08 PMHerman Hesse did not win a nobel prize for Siddhartha, he won it for Majister Ludi or The Glass Bead Game as is the more common english translation.
Posted by: at November 25, 2002 10:08 AMHesse did win the Nobel Prize in 1946 but you aren't awarded the prize based on one book but, rather, the volume of your works. Here is what the Academy had to say about Hesse at the time he was given the award.
In 1946 the Swedish Academy awarded to him the Nobel Prize for Literature "for his inspired writings which while growing in boldness and penetration exemplify the classical humanitarian ideals and high qualities of style"
Posted by: Ken H at March 9, 2003 12:38 PMTo define existentialism in one line.. I would have to quote Hesse
"Truth is lived, not taught."
A passage from The Glassbead game,
"Oh, if only it were possible to find understanding," Joseph exclaimed. "If only there were a dogma to believe in. Everything is contradictory, everything tangential; there are no certainties anywhere. Everything can be interpreted one way and then again interpreted in the opposite sense. The whole of world history can be explained as development and progress and can also be seen as nothing but decadence and meaninglessness. Isn't there any truth? Is there no real and valid doctrine?" The Master had never heard him speak so fervently. He walked on in silence for a little, then said: "There is truth, my boy. But the doctrine you desire, absolute, perfect dogma that alone provides wisdom, does not exist. Nor should you long for a perfect doctrine, my friend. Rather, you should long for the perfection of yourself. The deity is within you, not in ideas and books. Truth is lived, not taught. Be prepared for conflicts, Joseph Knecht. I can see they have already begun."
Posted by: AC at September 18, 2004 11:38 PM