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Books by Hermann Hesse

In the 1960s, especially in the United States, the novels of Hermann Hesse were widely embraced by young readers who found in his protagonists a reflection of their own search for meaning in a troubled world. Hesse's rich allusions to world mythologies, especially those of Asia, and his persistent theme of the individual striving for integrity in opposition to received opinions and mass culture appealed to a generation in upheaval and in search of renewed values.

Born in southern Germany in 1877, Hesse came from a family of missionaries, scholars, and writers with strong ties to India. This early exposure to the philosophies and religions of Asia--filtered and interpreted by thinkers thoroughly steeped in the intellectual traditions and currents of modern Europe--provided Hesse with some of the most pervasive elements in his short stories and novels, especially Siddhartha (1922) and Journey to the East (1932).

Hesse concentrated on writing poetry as a young man, but his first successful book was a novel, Peter Camenzind (1904). The income it brought permitted him to settle with his wife in rural Switzerland and write full-time. By the start of World War I in 1914, Hesse had produced several more novels and had begun to write the considerable number of book reviews and articles that made him a strong influence on the literary culture of his time.

During the war, Hesse was actively involved in relief efforts. Depression, criticism for his pacifist views, and a series of personal crises--combined with what he referred to as the "war psychosis" of his times--led Hesse to undergo psychoanalysis with J. B. Lang, a student of Carl Jung. Out of these years came Demian (1919), a novel whose main character is torn between the orderliness of bourgeois existence and the turbulent and enticing world of sensual experience. This dichotomy is prominent in Hesse's subsequent novels, including Siddhartha (1922), Steppenwolf (1927), and Narcissus and Goldmund (1930). Hesse worked on his magnum opus, The Glass Bead Game (1943), for twelve years. This novel was specifically cited when he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1946. Hesse died at his home in Switzerland in 1962.

Calling his life a series of "crises and new beginnings," Hesse clearly saw his writing as a direct reflection of his personal development and his protagonists as representing stages in his own evolution. In the 1950s, Hesse described the dominant theme of his work: "From Camenzind to Steppenwolf and Josef Knecht [protagonist of The Glass Bead Game], they can all be interpreted as a defense (sometimes also as an SOS) of the personality, of the individual self."

Joachim Neugroschel (translator) has won three PEN translation awards and the French-American translation prize. He has also translated Thomas Mann's Death in Venice and Sacher-Masoch's Venus in Furs, both for Penguin Classics. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Ralph Freedman (introducer), Professor Emeritus of Comparative Literature at Princeton University, is acclaimed for his biographies Hermann Hesse: Pilgrim of Crisis, and Life of a Poet: Rainer Maria Rilke.

Siddharta By Hermann Hesse
Siddhartaby Hermann Hesse
Good
$17.99
inc. GST
Knulp By Hermann Hesse
Knulpby Hermann Hesse
Well Read
$12.99
inc. GST
Il canto degli alberi By Hermann Hesse
Il canto degli alberiby Hermann Hesse
Very Good
$18.99
inc. GST
Narciso e Boccadoro By Hermann Hesse
Narciso e Boccadoroby Hermann Hesse
Very Good
$53.99
inc. GST
Siddhartha By Hermann Hesse
Siddharthaby Hermann Hesse
New
$24.49
inc. GST
Siddhartha By Hermann Hesse
Siddharthaby Hermann Hesse
New
$21.79
inc. GST
The Glass Bead Game By Hermann Hesse
The Glass Bead Gameby Hermann Hesse
Good
$15.49
inc. GST
Siddhartha By Hermann Hesse
Siddharthaby Hermann Hesse
New
$20.89
inc. GST
Rosshalde By Hermann Hesse
Rosshaldeby Hermann Hesse
Very Good
$23.99
inc. GST
Siddhartha By Hermann Hesse
Siddharthaby Hermann Hesse
New
$39.39
inc. GST
Siddhartha By Hermann Hesse
Siddharthaby Hermann Hesse
Very Good
$69.99
inc. GST
Prodigy By Hermann Hesse
Prodigyby Hermann Hesse
Very Good
$14.99
inc. GST
Demian By Hermann Hesse
Demianby Hermann Hesse
Very Good
$29.99
inc. GST
Rosshalde By Hermann Hesse
Rosshaldeby Hermann Hesse
Very Good
$11.99
inc. GST
Steppenwolf By Hermann Hesse
Steppenwolfby Hermann Hesse
Very Good
$21.99
inc. GST
Siddhartha By Hermann Hesse
Siddharthaby Hermann Hesse
New
$29.49
inc. GST
Demian By Hermann Hesse
Demianby Hermann Hesse
New
$34.19
inc. GST
Demian By Hermann Hesse
Demianby Hermann Hesse
Very Good
$15.99
inc. GST
Sidharth By Hermann Hesse
Sidharthby Hermann Hesse
New
$29.79
inc. GST
Narcissus and Goldmund By Hermann Hesse
Narcissus and Goldmundby Hermann Hesse
Very Good
$20.49
inc. GST
The Journey to the East By Hermann Hesse
The Journey to the Eastby Hermann Hesse
Very Good
$48.99
inc. GST
El Lobo Estepario By Hermann Hesse
El Lobo Esteparioby Hermann Hesse
Well Read
$22.99
inc. GST
Siddhartha: Hermann Hesse By Hermann Hesse
Siddhartha: Hermann Hesseby Hermann Hesse
Like New
$212.99
inc. GST
Siddhartha an Indian Tale By Hermann Hesse
Siddhartha an Indian Taleby Hermann Hesse
New
$33.39
inc. GST
Demian By Hermann Hesse
Demianby Hermann Hesse
Very Good
$25.99
inc. GST
Siddhartha By Hermann Hesse
Siddharthaby Hermann Hesse
Very Good
$22.99
inc. GST
Demian By Hermann Hesse
Demianby Hermann Hesse
New
$29.19
inc. GST
Demian By Hermann Hesse
Demianby Hermann Hesse
New
$34.49
inc. GST
The Seasons of the Soul By Hermann Hesse
The Seasons of the Soulby Hermann Hesse
New
$62.99
inc. GST
Siddhartha By Hermann Hesse
Siddharthaby Hermann Hesse
New
$37.49
inc. GST
In the Old Sun By Hermann Hesse
In the Old Sunby Hermann Hesse
New
$31.09
inc. GST
Demian By Hermann Hesse
Demianby Hermann Hesse
Very Good
$31.99
inc. GST
Unterm Rad By Hermann Hesse
Unterm Radby Hermann Hesse
New
$27.49
inc. GST
Histoires d'amour: Nouvelles By Hermann Hesse
Histoires d'amour: Nouvellesby Hermann Hesse
Very Good
$21.99
inc. GST
Gertrude By Hermann Hesse
Gertrudeby Hermann Hesse
Good
$14.49
inc. GST
Siddharatha By Hermann Hesse
Siddharathaby Hermann Hesse
New
$34.89
inc. GST
Gertrude By Hermann Hesse
Gertrudeby Hermann Hesse
Very Good
$23.99
inc. GST
Siddhartha By Hermann Hesse
Siddharthaby Hermann Hesse
New
$38.49
inc. GST
Le Curiste By Hermann Hesse
Le Curisteby Hermann Hesse
Very Good
$57.99
inc. GST
Die Heimkehr By Hermann Hesse
Die Heimkehrby Hermann Hesse
Very Good
$11.99
inc. GST
Siddhartha By Hermann Hesse
Siddharthaby Hermann Hesse
Very Good
$18.99
inc. GST