Siddhartha

Warning: These are my unfiltered, unedited thoughts on the book as I set a 5 minute timer and wrote without stopping.

At a core, what I take from Siddharta is that everything is transitory. While something Hesse brings up in the book is the idea that there is no such thing as good and evil, no such thing as time, I also take the idea that you have to live hell before you can truly appreciate what you have. You have to learn to live with both the things that you might consider bad and the things you consider good and see them as one and the same. Destruction leading to construction. Basically, you only truly learn to live once you've had these "worldly" things. If you grew up following some sort of doctrine that claimed there's a right or wrong way to go about life, and you followed it closely, you might feel in some way or another superior to those who live going against your beliefs, those who do things you would consider unpure, usually things that relate to the human instincts of greed and lust. But these things are human, and by denying them and repressing them you risk becoming prideful and falling into the same pitfalls these people would have. It's through experiencing greed and lust than a person can fully understand the human condition. Living your worst times so that when you finally find peace, it's not peace out of believing you're richeous but because you've gone through all these things, you've learnt from them, know you would rather stay away from them and therefore you don't feel that temptation anymore, which can bring peace. There's also the concept of time denial, which relates to how he talks about life as an endless, repeating cycle. The son leaves his father, when Siddharta left his he did not feel remorse. Yet when his own son left him, only then did he understand that's the natural cycle of life. That everyone will eventually follow their own path, whether they wish to or not. That by learning how to follow and listen to your own will you can truly master yourself. By the end, Siddharta realizes that doctrines require at least some kind of black and white thinking, and for that reason alone, he dismisses them and instead preaches for people to follow their will and path. Instead of following what other wise people do, he talks about learning from them while still doing what you believe you should. While thematically similar to Demian, I think both books have dramatically different conclusions. While Demian relates more to the finding, and nurturing of the Self, Siddharta talks about accepting that the Self, and everything else in the world are one and the same.

Kind of fine, and of course a classic in its genre.

But I definitely didn't enjoy the reading with a very slow, nonchalant style, that I recognize in literature following spiritual mentors in their different endeavors.

What was definitely off for me was being plunged into this close world of wise men, whose majority of interactions and evocation of women are systematically related to their beauty (or a wisdom related to beauty), attractive physical appearance, wish for kisses and astonishment at their nice breasts/symbols of fertility or femininity. Nothing wrong with appreciating this in people but come on...

Life is short and there are definitely other books I want to get inspired by in 2024.

I can see many people enjoyed the book, and that is good for them. But if you can expect to be bothered by the same things as me, and you haven't started the book yet, I advice you to read something else.

As part of my "classic a month" reading goal, I picked something a little shorter than the tomes I tackled in the first quarter. Now I wish this book were a bit longer. I can't imagine what this must read like in the original German but the English translation sings.

In a nutshell, Siddhartha - son of a Brahman, raised on spiritualism - leaves home on the journey of his lifetime. The language feels like a Buddhist sutta - spun out with evocative language, overflowing with symbolism, and carrying lessons for the ages. In this case, all of Siddhartha's ages from callow youth to old man. At every turn he thinks, "At last, this is enlightenment." At each turning, he discovers that one thing still eludes him.

The story swept me along, recognizing myself in so many of his mis-steps and mis-conceptions. I'll be thinking about this book for a very long time.

Highly recommended.

[Note: I read the Project Gutenberg. Credited Translators: Gunther Olesch, Anke Dreher, Amy Coulter, Stefan Langer and Semyon Chaichenets]

L'intrigue de Siddharta est volontairement assez évasive sur l'époque, mais se déroule en Inde où l'on suit le parcours initiatique du personnage éponyme, un fils de brahmane, soit un membre de la caste des religieux et/ou érudits. En quête de sagesse, Siddharta s'oppose à son père et se met à voyager pour atteindre son but. S'ensuivront plusieurs époques, pendant lesquelles il sera tour à tour mendiant, commerçant, passeur, avant que ses expériences anciennes le rattrapent.

Tout l'intérêt de suivre la route de Siddharta n'est pas dans l'histoire qu'il raconte mais dans le but qu'il cherche à atteindre. Très tôt dans le roman, il s'oppose à son meilleur ami qui lui, a décidé d'accéder à la sagesse en suivant les préceptes d'un autre. Siddharta, au contraire, pense que la sagesse ne peut s'acquérir qu'en suivant sa propre voie. Chemin faisant, ce sont mes propres buts qui m'ont sauté aux yeux puisque j'aspire à la même sagesse et que je pense, comme lui, qu'elle ne s'apprend pas mais est le fruit d'un cheminement intérieur, alimenté par les rencontres et expériences vécues. C'est donc avec grand intérêt et beaucoup d'insomnies que je me suis nourrie de Siddharta, enrichissant beaucoup mes propres réflexions, m'aidant à faire un pas de plus sur ce chemin si tortueux. Cela ne m'a d'ailleurs pas empêchée de m'attacher au personnage en lui-même et de m'intéresser à une intrigue qui reste prenante.

Je n'en dirai pas plus car ce fut une lecture très intime et spirituelle et qu'il est difficile de poser des mots sur toutes les questions qu'elle a soulevées. Siddhartha est de ces romans qui fait se prolonger longtemps l'expérience de lecture. Je ne peux que vous encourager beaucoup à tenter l'expérience.

First of all this review is going to start in perhaps in an unusual and unexpected place; a good portion of the pleasure I derived from reading this book was due to the physical attributes of the book itself because this edition, from Shambhala, had a pleasing size and shape, and the quality of the (recycled) paper and print made the physical object of the book a very tactile and pleasing thing to hold in one's hands.

If you're still reading this review, I'm glad that you haven't written me off as some sensory obsessed lunatic, and I'm glad you're still with me. Now, to the book's content. This is the first Hesse novel I've read, and I have obviously read it in translation. I found the book an engaging enough read, and I felt reading the preface from the translator, Sherab Chodzin Kohn, and the Introduction from Paul W. Morris really added something to the book, and go some way to setting the context of the creation of this book and of some of the "imprecisions" it contains about India, and some aspects of the cultures the book engages with.

Did I enjoy this book? Yes, I did. Did this book convert me to Buddhism, or otherwise change my life? No, it did not as its conclusion (SPOILER IF YOU WISH TO AVOID IT!!) is basically that all you need is love, and I don't think that that central belief is the preserve of any single religion or philosophy.

So, by all means read this book. And in the words of the late, great, Dave Allen "Goodnight, thank you, and may your god go with you".

نسخه‌ای که بنده مطالعه کردم، از انتشارات اساطیر و ترجمه آقای پرویز داریوش بود.
ترجمه کمی سنگین بود، پر از لغات و عبارات ناآشنا که البته باعث شد که کمی جو رازآلود بیشتری پیدا کنه کتاب.
این اولین اثری از هرمان هسه و ادبیات آلمان هستش که کامل مطالعه میکنم، لذت بردم و قطعا پیگیر باقی کتاب‌های هرمان هسه میشم.
برداشت شخصی من از کتاب اینه که، توی بیرونی‌ترین سطح معنایی، کتاب ماجراجویی و زندگی فردی است به نام سیذارتاست که به دنبال حقیقت و رهایی از خویشتن خویش هستش و طی این ماجراجویی مفاهیم جالبی رو نویسنده به طور خیلی واضح مطرح میکنه.
اما گذشته از سطح معنایی اولیه، با اینکه کامل موفق به درکش نشدم اما به نظرم یک سطح عمیق‌تر هم داره این داستان برمبنای نماد‌های مختلفی که داخل داستان بود.
پدر سیذارتا، دوست سیذارتا، بودا، زن روسپی، تاجر، قایق‌ران و ... به نظرم هر کدام بیشتر از اینکه یک شخصیت در داستان باشند، نماد هستند.
امیدوارم از مطالعه‌اش لذت ببرید و اگر توی رمزگشایی این نماد‌ها موفق بودید با من هم به اشتراک بگذارید

This is one of those books you need to return to, because it speaks in different voices at different times. The story of Siddharta's life and road to enlightenment deserves to be heard several times, and, as his life goes through several stages, so I have learned different things every time.
It is a beautiful parable about self discovery and growth, about Oneness and the ultimate love. It can be read as a religious story or just as a spiritual personal one.
This time, I have re read it because I have finally been close to Buddhism, Buddhist temples and people and lands.. and wanted to understand a little bit better their view of the world. If this is the best approach, being written by a german, is debatable. But it has worked for me: it has given me a feeling of what Buddhism means, and what the people of that faith seek to find.
It has, most importantly, given me peace and spoken directly to some of my most burning questions.
What else could you want from a story?