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Summary: Must Re-read as I Grow
Review: As a young man, Siddhartha tells his father that he wants to go live among the samanas (wandering ascetics) to learn from them. His father objects, but Siddhartha refuses to move from the spot he is standing on until his father allows him to go or he dies (whichever comes first). With a sad heart, his father, seeing Siddhartha's determination, allows him to go. Siddhartha's friend and "disciple", Govinda, follows him to live with the samanas in the forest, fasting or begging for alms from the people. From the samanas, Siddhartha learns how to empty himself of worldly desires and to lose himself to become one with the world around him. However, this does not satisfy him. When the Buddha comes to their area, Govinda convinces Siddhartha to go hear what he has to say. Although, the Buddha speaks truth, Siddhartha says, "'But one thing this doctrine, so clear, so venerable, does not contain: it does not contain the secret of what the Sublime One himself experienced, he alone among the hundreds of thousands.'" Siddhartha says that "'This is why I am continuing my wanderings -- not to seek another, better doctrine, because I know there is none, but to leave behind all teachings & all teachers, and either to attain my goal alone or to die.'" Govinda stays to become a disciple of the Buddha while Siddhartha sets out to attain enlightenment on his own terms. Finally, he comes to the realization that he has spent his life trying to escape the world and himself. Now, he seeks to find himself. He says, "'I shall no longer be instructed by the YOGA VEDA or the ATHARVA VEDA, or the ascetics, or any other doctrine whatsoever. I shall learn from myself, be a pupil of myself, the mystery of Siddhartha.'" At this point "[h]e look[s] around as if he [is] seeing the world for the first time." And, although, he leaves all formal teachings & teachers behind, the people and experiences he encounters on his journey through life continue to teach him. The story of Siddhartha is the story that many of us live. We follow after various teachings and doctrines. And, eventually, we open our mind to "see the world for the first time" through our own eyes. I could relate to Siddhartha's spiritual journey up to a certain point; this could be the story of my own spiritual journey. But I'd like to read it again and again as the years progress to see just how much more of it I'm able to relate to as I mature. So much of it seems to be the type of wisdom I'll have to learn for myself and can't quite yet absorb. As the aging Siddhartha says upon becoming reacquainted with Govinda, "'Wisdom cannot be imparted. Wisdom that a wise man attempts to impart always sounds like foolishness.'"
Rating:
Summary: Fenomenal
Review: Hesse transforma esta maravillosa e imponente historia de un hombre que sigue su propio camino para llegar a su verdad. Es un balsamo espiritual de existencialismo que toda persona debe leer como un clasico, para comprender los dilemas de nuestro dolor y destino...que al final de cuentas, segun Siddharta...todo se compensa en esta vida.
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Summary: A simple, affecting parable of life...Spiritually enriching
Review: Hesse's tale of a young Brahmin's son about to embark on the adventure of life is a wonderfully simple and concise story - it is a parable about the struggle of life, and has a wonderfully optimistic message. Hesse's strengths as an author lie in the way he imbues a strong narrative with a dual meaning - one comes away with the impression of having read a good book, but at the same time with the realisation that the story was merely a framework on which Hesse has hung a touching spiritual tract.
Rating: 
Summary: 5 Sentence Review
Review: Honestly, I did not like this story. Thier is not much wrong with the general theme of the story, but plenty, I feel, in the way it is told. Its a tell-all-book that refuses to show anything to the reader. This book falls into the very bland and dragging read category, or vbadrc for short :). But what do I know.
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Summary: Seeking without seeking
Review: I was a little disappointed with Demian. It was recommended to me by someone who's literary taste has never been wrong before, but it left me wanting. Hesse is obviously a brilliant thinking but the book came across as a dry academic essay thinly veiled in a novel, the life of Emil Siclair never taking root as a fine piece of fiction about a solid person. Siddartha has addressed those areas I felt lacking, and is a more engaging spiritual conversation as well. I won't retread the story here, but the chracter of Siddartha is at once so removed from humanity to act as a mirror and yet so human himself. It is perhaps as perfect a blend of philosophical treatise and narrative I've come across. Those interested in existentialism, eastern religious or most important personal journeys of enlightenment and discovery would do well to pick this book up. I read it all today and I'm still turning it over in my mind to see what my final impression is, but one thing is certain. It hasn't left me as soon as I put down the book, as most books do.
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Summary: What's there to say?
Review: I won't write much on the novel. It is obviously a classic piece of literature dealing with spiritual evolution. I do want to say that the Shambala Library hardcover edition (translated by Chodzin Kohn) is a really nice printing (complete with integral chapter mark) if you care about the look of your books.
Also, the translator's preface contains a great quote, written by Hesse around 1920, the message of which is so current it could easily have been written last year or last month.
Buy it.
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Summary: WOW
Review: if you think this is great, read steppenwolf
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Summary: Metaphysics CAN make you cry!
Review: In Siddharta, Hesse manages something that the greatest metaphysicians could not: he concretizes a metaphysical system into a life lived. In other words, he presents the possibility of LIVING a metaphysical position. It's the story of one man's encounter with Being, his experiments with beings, and his eventual return to the One- represented by the Heraclitean image of a river, which always remains but is always changing, and into which you can step but once.
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Summary: A book that must be read more than once.
Review: Siddharta is a sort of story which one finds very close to heart. One feels the same passions and temptations which were faced by the Barhimans son. Hermann Hesse really excels when Siddharta is cofronted with Buddha and that portion is the high light of this masterpiece.
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Summary: Siddhartha - A Role Model for the 21st Century
Review: Steps for enlightenment: Forsake the love of your family and abandon them in pursuit of an intangible goal. Abandon teachers and friends and all who seek to help you. Invest all of your money and emotion into a prostitute. Abandon unborn child to be raised fatherless in the home and place of business of said harlot. Disappear without warning, abandoning business obligations and personal relationships. Go live in a shack down by the river. When burdened with the appearance of your emotionally distraught child, employ mind games to drive child to run away from home. If child is successfully driven off, do not give chase. Follow these simple rules, and you will be the Buddha.
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