Hesse Gunnar Decker

Hesse by Gunnar Decker

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Against Nazi dictatorship,the disillusionment of Weimar, and Christian austerity, Hermann Hesses stories inspired a nonconformist yearning for universal values to supplant fanaticism in all its guises. He reenters our world through Gunnar Deckers biographya champion of spiritual searching in the face of mass culture and the disenchanted life.

Hesse: The Wanderer and His Shadow by Gunnar Decker

A deftly crafted biography of the author of Siddhartha, whose critique of consumer culture continues to inspire millions of readers.

Against the horrors of Nazi dictatorship and widespread disillusionment with the forces of mass culture and consumerism, Hermann Hesses stories inspired nonconformity and a yearning for universal values. Few today would doubt Hesses artistry or his importance to millions of devoted readers. But just who was the author of Siddhartha, Steppenwolf, and Demian?

Gunnar Decker weaves together previously unavailable sources to offer a unique interpretation of the life and work of Hermann Hesse. Drawing on recently discovered correspondence between Hesse and his psychoanalyst Josef Lang, Decker shows how Hesse reversed the traditional roles of therapist and client, and rethinks the relationship between Hesses novels and Jungian psychoanalysis. He also explores Hesses correspondence with Stefan Zweigrecently unearthedto find the source of Hesses profound sense of alienation from his contemporaries.

Deckers biography brings to life this icon of spiritual searching and disenchantment who galvanized the counterculture in the 1960s and feels newly relevant today.

Shows that Hesses life was an uneasy compromise between his spiritual absolutism, which pushed him in the direction of irascible isolation, and his human needs, which encumbered him with wives, children, and houses that he never quite wanted or accepted. -- Adam Kirsch * New Yorker *
Deckers wonderfully rich, insightful biography is a welcome reminder of Hesses painfully honest exploration of selfhood and is destined to become the standard work on this difficult, reclusive and often self-destructive writer. -- P. D. Smith * The Guardian *
Gunnar Deckers smartly written biography of Hermann Hesse captures the turbulent inner life and stubborn individuality which gave rise to such innovative and widely read novels as Demian, Steppenwolf, and The Glass Bead Game. Weaving in a wealth of sources, Decker unfolds the story of Hesse as the self-styled outsider and his engagement with the great conflicts of his age. In Peter Lewiss sprightly translation, this outstanding biography will surely rekindle the enthusiasm of readers who witnessed the so-called Hesse boom of the sixties and seventies while also attracting new admirers. -- Mark Harman, translator of The Castle by Franz Kafka and of Soul of the Age: Selected Letters of Hermann Hesse, 18911962
Will likely be the definitive biographyDecker restores depth and context to an author much maligned in his own time and much misinterpreted by later eras. * Publishers Weekly *
Top-notchA masterful, penetrating biographythat deserves the accolade definitive.Decker lays bare Hesses complex, contradictory personality, his all-consuming dedication to the creative life, his tormented relationships with women, and the cultural and political forces that found their ways into his worksA richly detailed and supremely sensitive portrayal of an artist obsessed with the terrible and magnificent act of creation. * Kirkus Reviews (starred review) *
Will not be superseded for some time. * Library Journal *
The definitive English-language account of Hesses lifeDecker makes clear that Hesses restless soul was the basis of his books, which spoke to many people around the world. * Choice *

Hesse Gunnar Decker

Hesse by Gunnar Decker

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Hesse: The Wanderer and His Shadow by Gunnar Decker

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