Amazon.com 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 Gotama 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 Brahmin, 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 Hermann 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. In this translation Sherab Chodzin Kohn captures the slow, spare lyricism of Siddhartha's search, putting her version on par with Hilda Rosner's standard edition. --Brian Bruya
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Good Philosophy classSeptember 8, 2010 WordSmith(San Marcos, CA) I just finished reading this book for my philosophy class and I would recommend it for someone who either has a strong understanding of Hindu/Buddhist beliefs or reading it with a group of people in which to discuss said novel. It is a deep work about the soul, the nature of suffering and the journey of self exploration. Do not read it if you do not like to think a night because the ideas will keep you up at times.
ommmmm, stream of events, music of lifeSeptember 8, 2010 whj In our modern culture where most of things in life are categorized, judged, and people are forced to take sides, this book brings more harmonious and contiuous perspectives on life. In this short, poetic, and simple stories of Siddhartha, Vasudeva, and Govinda, streams of their life events, just like the teachings of the river, bring them to realization of interconnections of all things, experiences, thoughts and feelings, both Samsara and Nirvana in the music of life. A wonderful and insightful read.
Dang English Teachers!!!August 26, 2010 Delawanna(Florida) 0 out of 6 found this review helpful
A pox on every English department and English Instructor that pushed this book on me every year in High School and in College and withheld GK Chesterton from me only to discover him years after my academic career ended. A POX ON ALL OF YOU!!!!
Valuable work well worth your time.August 14, 2010 Davit Potoyan(USA) In a nutshell the "Siddhartha" is a story of man's eternal quest for ultimate happiness and tranquility. Like with many other books that I have liked, at first the story seemed to me somewhat corny and not so thrilling, but I hopefully kept on going and after a little while found myself deeply immersed with the plot and ideas that are elaborated with much elegance and clarity. A central idea to which Hesse is leading(or so it seems to me), is that of unity or oneness of the world. According to main hero our world is conveniently separated into pieces, people are stratified as good or evil, young or old etc, etc. But the underlying reality is that of one indestructible, undeniable, ever-flowing, self-repeating, timeless world, a wold of change and stability at the same time. For instance the idea of unity is nicely demonstrated by main hero Siddhartha by telling his old friend that everything that happens is predetermined, that there is no free will, that we are not shaping our destiny with our actions and paving way for the future by leaving present in the shadow of past. The sinner who becomes a holly priest through hardships and long suffering is merely a deceiving illusion, a convenient picture, a way to break things into pieces for our easy comprehension. While in reality the holly priest has always lived inside the thief and existed ever since the birth and inevitably awaiting for revelation through necessary life experience. With the same token he goes on to further explain that all his life including past, present and the coming future has always been present in him at any moment. Inextricability of the world and time is the reason for loving everything surrounding us, be it a tree a piece of rock or a human being, since after all everything is a part of everything and it always goes on in a life circle and constantly transforms into all sorts of forms and hence everything you perceive is part of you and thus should be loved the same way as you love yourself.
But as Siddartha says it is difficult to describe the wisdom by words, and it frequently sounds foolish when someone attempts to do it, instead it is best gained through experience, so I think one needs to experience Hesse's masterpiece to taste a bite of his wisdom.
Very Accessable WisdomJuly 30, 2010 Thomas J. Kapostasy(Carmel, IN United States) Hesse poses and answers the great philosophical and religious questions for everyman in a mere 100 pages. He fairly outlines the various paths to knowledge, wisdom and salvation in the life of Siddhartha and his friend Govinda, a classic pair of seekers. Eastern and Western, classic and modern answers are considered and lived. There is no simple answer to the question "what is the meaning of life?" or "how do I lead a good life?" Simple asceticism and hedonism don't work. Escapism does not work. Following a religious tradition or leader are only partial answers. The path for one person is different from the path for others. Random and unexplained events are inherent in life. Wisdom is learned through experience rather than from texts. We often don't know what we don't know. Appearances may be deceiving, but the underlying form or soul is not everything. The solitary individual can not learn meaning or control his own life. The community, friends and family are necessary for understanding and living. Love is a cardinal virtue and experience. Sharing and giving are a good practices. Life is a journey and new learning is possible throughout. Individuals should not try to control the world. Hesse's main conclusion is Eastern, but stated in a way that can be used by religious and secular Western thinkers. The individual is part of the community. The individual experience is part of a more global experience. Current experience is linked to the past and the future. Hesse writes that life has meaning for individuals living in time because that experience is integrally connected with all of time and reality. This can be partially known and embraced. In a post-rational, existential world, Hesse's story provides some comfort and hope in a time where wisdom is elusive.
