Product Description

This new edition tells the story of Siddhartha, a Brahmin on a quest for self-discovery through suffering trials of temptation of luxury, wealth and sensuality, and adventures. It also combines Hesse's biography with the writing and meaning of Siddhartha.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #74312 in Books
• Published on: 1998-03-06
• Original language: German
• Binding: Paperback
• 224 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
In the shade of a banyan tree, a grizzled ferryman sits listening to the river. Some say he's a sage. He was once a wandering shramana and, briefly, like thousands of others, he followed Gautama the Buddha, enraptured by his sermons. But this man, Siddhartha, was not a follower of any but his own soul. Born the son of a Brahman, Siddhartha was blessed in appearance, intelligence, and charisma. In order to find meaning in life, he discarded his promising future for the life of a wandering ascetic. Still, true happiness evaded him. Then a life of pleasure and titillation merely eroded away his spiritual gains until he was just like all the other "child people," dragged around by his desires. Like Hesse's other creations of struggling young men, Siddhartha has a good dose of European angst and stubborn individualism. His final epiphany challenges both the Buddhist and the Hindu ideals of enlightenment. Neither a practitioner nor a devotee, neither meditating nor reciting, Siddhartha comes to blend in with the world, resonating with the rhythms of nature, bending the reader's ear down to hear answers from the river. --Brian Bruya

Customer Reviews

Amazing!
This book was bought for me by a friend of mine, and I can never say enough thank you's for it. It is the most amazing read. Once I started it, I truely found I could not put it down, I was compelled to read it, and I will again. From the very first page, it makes you sit up and examine your own life. Do I really know who I am? Before your search of knowledge begins, do you know who you are?

a must read.
Of Hesse's works, this particular book stands out. A story about a boy who searches for inner-happiness, it is written in an almost biblical tone, and reveals to us a very holy, self-satisfying way of way of life. Indeed, one of the more important themes of the book is that for true happiness we have to search within ourselves. This theme can be traced throughout Hesse's ouvre, yet in Siddhartha it is shown in its most simple, and positive form.
One could say the book induces selfishness, yet I would argue this point. The river, a major focus of the book, represents the circle of life. It shows Siddhartha that life, though in constant flux, is essentially still the same, and encourages Siddhartha to become at one with that flux. Though Siddhartha had to look to himself to find happiness, its physical manifestation was exemplified in the Ferryman's dissappearance into the forest. He too ardently studied the river, but he departed, that he might embrace the whole of nature. This acceptance of nature's spectrum, this unparralled act of love for the world, tells us also that it is Siddhartha's ultimate aim.

Perfection in Letters
'Siddhartha' is without question one of the best books ever written. I was lucky enough to find it again when I was unpacking after moving flat. The book made me sit back and take a deep breath, made me realise that all the changes around me had little to do with my inner self. It put both the negative and the positive feelings I had about myself and others back into perspective. If anyone can read through the wonderful parable of the river and not keep thinking about it for a few days, then they're either dead, or have passed on into nirvana. Unlikely, but good luck!