Siddhartha

Rating:
Summary: Buddhism revealed
Review: This is an account of Buddhism by the famous German writer Hesse. Siddhartha was Brahmin's son. He practiced meditation with his friend, Govinda. He sought permission from his father to become an ascetic. One of Siddhartha's goals was to conquer the self. Siddhartha and his friend Govinda went in search of Gotama's abode. They saw the Buddha. He seemed to be smiling inwardly. Govinda elected to follow Gotama. After Siddhartha's encounter with the Buddha he ceased to be his father's son. Govinda became a monk. Siddhartha was alone.

Siddhartha found he was separated from people because he had been an ascetic. For a long time he lived the life of the world without belonging to it. With the exception of a woman, Kamala, he had no close friends. Gradually Siddhartha acquired the characteristics of ordinary people. He talked about Gotama. Finally the vice of acquisitiveness caught him. He experienced terrible and expressive anxiety during games of dice. He became hard and mean in business. He became nauseated with himself. He came to understand that passion was related to death.

Siddhartha left the garden and town and never returned. Siddhartha wished for oblivion. He sank back murmuring Om on his lips. He met Govinda, the friend of his youth, who was dressed in a yellow gown. Govinda was on a pilgrimage. Siddhartha said he was making a pilgrimage, too, notwithstanding his worldly appearance. (The wheel of appearances moves quickly.) In his youth he had learned fasting, waiting, and thinking. Too much knowledge, too many holy verses had hindered Siddhartha in the struggle with the self. He felt that he had been full of arrogance.

He resolved to go to the ferryman who had taken him to the town. He gave the man his clothes and wanted to remain there as his assistant. The ferryman invited him to his hut. A lesson to be learned from the river is that there is no such thing as time. For many years there were two ferrymen. Kamala and her son, little Siddhartha, were making a pilgrimage to the dying Gotama. Kamala collapsed at the ferry. Seeing her son, Siddhartha realized it was his son. Kamal died. She had found peace.

The boy was eleven and spoiled. Siddhartha had blind love for his son. The boy ran away. The wound of his son's departure lasted a long time. He thought yearningly and bitterly about his son. Vasudeva, the ferryman, listened to his troubles. Govinda, although a monk, was still restless in his heart. He ran into Siddhartha in his role as a ferryman who told him he was seeking too much. Siddhartha had found out that knowledge could be communicated but not wisdom. Govinda kissed Siddhartha's mask, his smiling face.

Rating:
Summary: I had to read it twice
Review: I have to say, the first time I read this book, I really hated it. It might have been because it was required reading for school, or maybe because I was also reading "Life of Pi" at the same time, which deals with similar issues in a much more palpable and tangible way.

However, then I failed a quiz on the book at school, and I realized that I hadn't actually READ the book. So the next week, I went back and started reading it again. Let me say, it was MUCH better this time! I started to get into the rhythm of the writing, into the subtleties and ethereal quality of the narration.

It helps to have a basic understanding of the actual Gotama Buddha (whose name is really Siddhartha Gotama) because you begin to see the parallelisms between Buddha and Siddhartha (of the book). In a way, this whole book is one giant exercise in symbolism - with elements such as the songbird, Kamala, the river, and Govinda representing various parts of the Spiritual and Material worlds.

Essentially, this is a novel about spiritualism - the conflict between these Spiritual and Material worlds. It's a novel about Buddhism. The book's outerlying story (Siddhartha tries to find himself) is like a metaphor for a person's journey towards spiritual enlightenment.

Rating:
Summary: Finding One's Self
Review: Siddhartha is about a theme that interests me greatly--the relationship between spirituality and sexuality.

It's about a young man in Indian trying to find "his way" to the truth, to discover his role on this earth, to become the person he should be. This search leads him off the spiritual path to a failed love affair with a courtesan, and other worldly temptations and struggles, and finally, to spiritual enlightenment when he learns that that is where true happiness lies.

This story is full of Eastern ideas, yet the guy who wrote it was a white man from Switzerland. Interesting.

David Rehak
author of "Love and Madness"

Rating:
Summary: Finding One's Self
Review: Siddhartha is about a theme that interests me greatly--the relationship and contrast between spirituality and sexuality.

It's about a young man in India looking to find "his way" to the truth, to discover his role on this earth, to become the person he should be. This search leads him away from the spiritual path and into a failed love affair with a courtesan and other worldly temptations and struggles, and finally, to spiritual enlightenment when he realizes that that is where true happiness lies.

This story is full of Eastern ideas, yet the guy who wrote it was a white man from Switzerland. Very interesting.

Rating:
Summary: Classic?
Review: Having read Hesse's "Demian", I knew full well I would absolutely despise this novel if and when I read it. However, I could not have predicted the extent to which I would hate it. Often considered a literary classic, I half expected to find at least one redeeming quality within this novel's pages. I was mistaken. Hesse's contrived anecdote does nothing to justify the worldview contained, in that sense being very similar to "Demian". The concepts regarding the searching of the soul are abstract and only appeal to emotion or repressed desires, as opposed to intellect - the novel offers no practical or applicable consul or theme. Perhaps, I am simply unable to understand the novel's "Eastern" context, but I would suppose I am at least as familiar with it as a middle-aged, reclusive German author from the middle of the 20th century. The novel demands empathy from the reader with the protagonist's soul searching in order to be successful or have impact - a quality I don't consider indicative of good literature. Moreso, Hesse's style seems elementary, akin to a young adult novel, though such may be a result of the translation. Even so, when compared to his contemporaries of the era, I fail to understand how Hesse's "Siddhartha" can be so revered - failing dreadfully in comparison to the works of J.R.R. Tolkein, C.S. Lewis, George Orwell, Joseph Heller or William Golding. To conclude, I do not recommend this novel as a classic or ground-breaking revelation in any sense. Perhaps, I had expected too much. Many other authors, not the least of which include the aforementioned, have related the path of maturity of the individual in much more impactful and meaningful literary works than Hesse, and therefore, the redeeming qualities of "Siddhartha" are diminished, if not non-existant. Honestly, I would like to meet someone who genuinely likes this novel and finds it valuable in order to discover its worth. Insofar as I see it, there is none.

Rating:
Summary: Not a novel about Buddhism
Review: Sometimes this material is assigned in high school classes as a "novel about Buddhism," which it is not. But it is other things.

A story like this doesn't function like a novel, or a film. Some might feel that the book is "slow," or that they didn't get enough character development, enough action, and so forth. These concepts are the unfortunate result of a century or two of a mass entertainment mindset. It's not a movie, it's a parable. Let's not ask Hesse to compete with John Grisham and Steven Spielberg. And personally, I could use more "slow" in my life, you probably could too.

I would suggest reading this story like you would the story of David in the Bible, or the epic of Gilgamesh, or Voltaire's Candide - it's an investigation into our role as humans in the Big Picture. The reason that people return to this book and re-read it twenty years later is that the story of Siddhartha reflects the course of a person's life during all the stages of adulthood. It's a testament to Herman Hesse's considerable abilities that a high school student will be able to appreciate and identifiy with Siddhartha through young eyes, and an older person will engage the book in entirely another way, in accordance with his age.

As far as Buddhism goes, the book is sort of tangential in two ways. First, you're seeing Eastern thought through the eyes of an early 20th century Modernist. Second, the title character himself politely refuses the Buddha in favor of following his own path, not a system received from another, outside source.

I have found myself returning to this story every seven years or so, with each new stage of my life, seeking to unlock some of the grace and beauty that is encapsulated within. I recommend it only to people who are willing to read slowly and deliberately, with an open mind.

Rating:
Summary: Wow...better than I expected
Review: This is my first encounter with Hesse, and quite frankly, I'm impressed. Having studied some Buddhism, I initially thought that this book would about the Buddha (his first name was Siddhartha; Hesse took the name and created a new character). But no, it involves a young Brahmin whose life begins ambitiously as a wandering mendicant, falls into ruin and sin, but finds peace in the end. The young Siddhartha is a talented spiritual aspirant, but finds that he cannot accept the teachings of any master; he must seek enlightenment for himself. In the process, he looses himself amidst the temptations of a worldly life. Caught up in the cycle of Samsara for some twenty years, Siddhartha grows to be a rich, lonely, and spiritually empty old man. I won't give any more away, but I will say that the last chapter was extremely touching, not to mention a real tour de force by Hesse. I have looked a long time for a piece of fictional writing like that last chapter, a piece that can convey the most abstract and inconceivable spiritual truths with the simplest and most grounded prose. There's no two ways about it, Hesse is brilliant here.

The plot is short and simple. But the book is a gem, written with an unflinching transparency and a sense of deep spiritual insight. There are relatively long periods in the text that serve as monologues for Hesse, but far from being boring, they are interesting and critical to the mood that Hesse seeks to develop. And the mood, as in any novel, is critical. Here it sways, with remarkable fluidity, among the extremes of optimism, uncertainty, lustfulness, indifference, depression, hopefulness, serenity, compassion, and finally, into the penultimate state of spiritual bliss. That such a small and seemingly simple book could have such emotional range speaks to Hesse's literary abilities. In fact, I read the book over the course of two days and, during the intervening night, I had a pretty weird dream that was definitely the result of my reading. I dreamt that I, like Siddhartha, had fallen into a sinful life...but I didn't even know that I was being held in the clutches of Samsara until I awoke. It was actually a fairly disturbing experience, and one that probably contributed to (as well as resulted from) my connection with the story. I will undoubtedly keep this one around and read it often...it is well worth the small amount of time it takes to get through it. I'll also be checking out many more of Hesse's works.

Rating:
Summary: A Gentle Message of Epic Proportions.
Review: Being a little boy at the time, I surmise that the work of
Hermann Hesse was possibly one of the cornerstones of
the counter-culture found in the 1960's. His Siddhartha
is a gentle tale about a very learned boy who goes
through the various stages of life's illusions and the
subsequent disillusionment. As always, Hesse
paints a colorful and warm picture of the searching
spirit in transition, the need to be an individual,
as well the impact of friendship and attainable goals.
Such a short book, such a fine story.

Rating:
Summary: Meditation
Review: The book was a mandatory read for English II honors. The book was slow paced, a different view with Buddasim. I can't say the book was exciting, and it was hard to finish. The book did have good points to it. The end was good.

Rating:
Summary: happiness
Review: I admit I did not like this book. I finished it unsatisfied, like I'd missed something. Usually I read books for the characters, and this book was not character driven in any kind of intimate way. The language is sparse, and it failed to draw me in with its heavily didactic tone. It really isn't so much of a novel as it is a parable designed to outline the author's basic philosophy. And it's message is a rather simple one: "Wisdom cannot be taught."

One reviewer wrote that the book is "definitely for those new to spiritual self-examination," and I'd have to agree with that statement. It is an interesting view of Buddhism, but it's very European and can't be taken too authentically as it is an outsider's view looking in on Buddhist/Indian culture.

For me, the book was almost painful in the way that Siddhartha could not deal with happiness. Any time he acheived a modicum of happiness with his life, he became unhappy because he was happy. I could not deal with his ungrateful attitude. It quite literally left me with a frustrated feeling. Since the book was meant to be a parable (or a recitation of a belief), the reader never really gets to know Siddhartha, so he ends up coming across as a self-centered [man]. He liked to listen to himself talk; he used people and was never grateful for their affection for him. He was a seeker, and he simply could not stop seeking no matter what it meant for anyone. He didn't care about people; he cared about his search.

I will admit, however, that there were bits and pieces of the book that I did appreciate. I liked Siddhartha's appreciation of the river, and I enjoyed reading the part where he and the ferryman talked about listening to the river. This is exactly the sort of thing that I was hoping to find in this book. But it was a brief passage and gave way to the cliched doctrine that filled the rest of the book.

The book seemed to be about being true to one's self above all others, that this is the path of wisdom. This message did not speak to me in any way.