Discuss.

>>8348626
something liberal cucks read

>>8348634
You aren't happy with anything are you?

Good book; disdained by plebs.

>>8348638
how can you be when western civilization is being destroyed?

>>8348647
Societies come and go. Why hold on to the old when you can be part of the new?

>>8348626
>da river was like sooo chill, the water mumbling sweet nothings
>n da tress were like chill too, as the wind made their leaves dance with exuberance
>n dat boatman stared serenely, at peace with all, and said OHH SHHIII--HERE COME DAT BOY
>i replied AYYYO WHADDUP
>and that's when it was clear I had become a real siddhartha

>>8348647
bitching on the internet like a woman is part of the problem. you are not changing anything.

>>8348654
>>8348659
the white race is being genocided and you don't even care.

>>8348664
Lol, back to /pol/ redpilled faggot. You realise you are disillusioned, right?

>>8348664
if the white race allows itself to be genocided then it deserves its fate. natural selection. maybe you are not the superior being you thought you wear. maybe you are weak.

Well eastern "philosophy" and spirituality is considered cool right now as most of this site thinks western civilization has failed us, a line taken from our rehashed 19th century far right philosophers and a general revulsion of what is all around us, so yeah this mediocre 6thgrade summer reading book is GOAT.

GAYS ARE GETTING MARRIED

ISIS IS KILLING CHRISTIANS

WHITE BABIES ARE BEENING PUNTED INTO THE STREETS BY TYRONES

CULTURAL MARXISM IS TURNING WHITE MEN INTO PSEUDO BOHEMIAN SISSY LOVING EFFEMINATE BOIPUSSIES SUITED FOR BLACK DICK

WOMEN ARE ALL WHORES AND ARE SPAWNING MUDCHILDREN

PC IS CONTROLLING MY BODY

S I D D H A R T H A
I W H Y ?
D H
D Y
H ?
A
R
T
H
A

I didn't hate it, it had quite a few parts I thought were really nice, even beautiful, but I didn't enjoy it that much. I did like it enough to plan to read Hesse's other works though.

I felt like I was missing something when reading it. I have a bit of a grasp on the Hindu/Buddist context(had to read parts of the Bhagavad-Gita, The Ramayana, and have read a bit about Buddism), so I don't think that was the issue. What did others get out of the book and why?

Though I'm not sure if I should expect discussion anymore since this thread seems to have gone off the rails

it's meh

short and entertaining prose to read, but the story is just boring buddhism-fetishism for westerners

>>8348718
>>8348711
I couldn't disagre more. I find the reading easy, relaxing and intoxicating.

>>8348770
that's what I said, it's entertaining to read

but it has little substance

>>8348788
I guess that varies depending on your own worldview.

It's a great book. Without the renewed interest in Buddhism in the early 20th century, writers like Yeats, Eliot, and Joyce wouldn't have developed quite as beautifully as they did. People were just as critical of them back then for being "budding buddhists" as the people itt are right now. Buddhism and Christianity are the most advanced and personal religions produced by mankind.

I'm interested in Hesse's other work. Demian, Steppenwolf, Narcissus and Goldmund, Glass Bead Game, etc. Anyone have some suggestions?

>>8348797
I would say those all fall somewhere between pretty good and terrific, as does Beneath the Wheel.

>>8348856
Terrific in the good or bad sense?

>>8348797
read in chronological order

add journey to the east before glass bead game

>>8348797
>suggestions?
yea, they're all way better than pajeets enlightenment

>>8348626

siddharta is a really good book

was going to read narcissus and goldmund next, any tips? should i read steppenwolf?

>>8348942
yes

>>8348892

all of hesse's works just lead up to magister ludi/glass bead game. it's like a perfect synthesis of everything he wrote.

>>8348946
>all of hesse's works just lead up to magister ludi/glass bead game. it's like a perfect synthesis of everything he wrote.
funny, it's the one I read first

>>8348875
Um, the good?

>>8348942
I woukd personally recommend you read Steppenwolf next, followed by Demian, Narcissus and Goldmund, Beneath the Wheel, Journey to the East, and then
Magister Ludi.

Some, like an earlier poster, recommend reading his works in chronological order, and it's not a horrible idea, either. I stand by my suggestion though, which is based on how I see the ideas in his works developing.

Reading Siddhartha now, and the fact that some say it is the worst of Hesse's works is exciting. This is the first book I've genuinely enjoyed reading in a long time. I'm excited to go and buy the next Hesse book. I guess this is the real start of my literature journey.

>>8348788
This is 100% how I feel about it. I went into it thinking it would at least give me new, interesting ideas and a new level of introspection but that simply didn't happen.


Perhaps one needs to be at a certain stage in life to appreciate it. Regardless, it had little to no impact on me

>>8349127
Helluva mistake to go in expecting anything, let alone that many things

>>8348626
Load of rhetorical and sophistical bullshit, like a circumlocutory version of Enchiridion

>>8349022
While I would recommend reading everything you can get your hands on by Hesse, I wouldn't suggest reading too much of him back-to-back. I read Siddhartha, Steppenwolf, and Demian in rapid succession and ended up far more depressed than I usually am by the end of Demian, and I'm already diagnosed with major depression. I've heard similar things from others who read more than one or two of his works without taking a good break in between.

>>8349179
Thanks for the advice, but I am immune to depression. What would somebody who enjoys Hesse read next?

>>8349179
Opposite for me. I read Demian, Steppenwolf and Siddhartha in a binge and it literally made me change my life to the positive. Don't know why people would grow depressed over these 3 books. Steppenwolf i could understand but only if one would fall into the same trap that Harry would fall into though.

>>8349278
Steppenwolf and Demian. If you are still in the mood and Goldmund&Narciss to this. Glassbead game is Hesse's final boss. One could easily say it's his best novel but it also stands out as something very different and more difficult to find an access to than his other works

>>8349294
Thanks, but I meant authors.

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>>8348680
>Complains about people who want to save Western civilization
>Says it's Western civilization's fault for not fighting back
You're a real piece of shit

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>>8348680
>natural selection. maybe you are not the superior being you thought you wear. maybe you are weak.

kekito

>>8348946
>>8348994

thank you both

>>8348797
narcissus n goldmund sucks
steppenwolf is fuckin hot

>>8349278
I can't think of anyone I've read that would be a logical next step, but from what little I know about them, maybe Thomas Mann or Goethe? Hopefully other anons can help out more with this one.

I would suggest maybe the Tao Te Ching as well as Buddhist texts like the Lotus Sutra, The Diamond Sutra, The Heart Sutra and The Rhino Sutra. I am in no position to offer you "good" translations/translators for these, but I'll tell you I choose to read several different translations of each to try and synthesize them all.

>>8349769
I'll add I feel confident that Goethe is a good answer. There is a significant scene in Demian that is all about Goethe, pretty sure he was a major influence on Hesse. Although, he also was so incredibly important in German literature and culture in general, it might just be an homage to him because of that. Again, hopefully there are other anons here that can offer more insight on this.

>>8349790
Thanks a lot.

>>8349790
by Demian I of course meant Steppenwolf

Steppenwolf is Hesse's best work. Siddhartha is pretty beautifully written but the portrayal of Eastern philosophy comes across as a bit too simple.
Steppenwolf on the other hand is about Hesse's depression, and how he overcame it. It seems impossible, when reading the last third of the book, to think Hesse never tried psychedelics.

>>8351100
>the portrayal of Eastern philosophy comes across as a bit too simple.
What the book portrays is Hesse's own understanding of it actually, and it's really imperfect, or was at that point.

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>>8348647
stop these false flags

>>8351100
t. only read hesse's early-mid work

>>8351868
I'm waiting on Das Glasperlespiel atm and that looks like it has a clearer interpretation of eastern thinking, albeit much narrower and focused.

>>8348664
And why would you care about something that isn't likely to happen before the end of your lifetime?

>>8351100
>Steppenwolf is Hesse's best work

Serious question: what all have you read of his? I love Steppenwolf, but there are at least four other works (based on what all I've read of his) that are clearly superior.

>>8348942
>narcissus and goldmund
It was shit, put me off reading his other stuff.

>>8352020
pleb and/or virgin

>>8348634
Isn't that a good thing? it, along with Suzuki pretty much condemned Buddhism in the West to campuses.

>>8351946
>And why would you care about something that isn't likely to happen ever?

This is more like it. People equating not being at the top of some social hierarchy with genocide are seriously warped

>>8351982

Demian and Siddartha

It's like no one's read Spengler's Decline of the West and then Gebser's The Ever-Present Origin after that

Calm your balls down men, if you could even call yourself that anymore. You're so fucking scared of losing what's comfortable that you jump straight into the fear of death. We're just in a transition, it is honestly not the end of things. Be men goddamn it, not bitter cowards

>>8352602
white diversity will get seriously diminished.
in my opinion it's a shame since whtie women are the most beautiful.

>>8352607
I seriously hope this is another poster making a joke that the anon I responded to has only read the "meme" Hesse works. Even still, Demian blows Steppenwolf out of the water, and as I said, Iove Steppenwolf.

>>8352627
>white diversity will get seriously diminished.

So, white people will still exist globally, hundreds of millions of them. I don't see why that's so scary?

>white women are the most beautiful
This is why God invented Asian women.

>>8348656
Lol

Underrated

>>8351982
Not that anon but what are these four works? I'm interested.

>>8354938
not him but

glass bead game
narcissus and goldmund
probably journey to the east
arguably demian and siddhartha though i personally think all three are around the same level

>>8354373
samefag