#18: Pictor’s Metamorphoses by Hermann Hesse

Tags

100 books, book review, books, Hesse, literature, Nobel Prize, short stories

For my eighteenth book of the year I decided to go with Pictor’s Metamorphoses and Other Fantasies by Hermann Hesse, marking my fourteenth book by the German-Swiss Nobel laureate.  Hesse is an author who never seems to disappoint, and Pictor’s Metamorphoses is no exception.  It is a collection of short stories from throughout Hesse’s life (including one from his childhood).  Although the subject matter is diverse, they are united by certain magical or fantastic characteristics.  Most of the stories are only a few pages long, and the longest are only a few dozen pages in length.  This makes for a quick and relaxing read that is highly enjoyable.

My favorite story in the collection was “Bird”.  This story is about a unique bird that lives in a Swiss town and becomes something of a symbol for the area.  Eventually he becomes a legend and attracts the attention of a curious noblemen from the North.  A bounty is placed on the bird’s head, and the townspeople struggle with their desire to earn the easy money and their respect and love for their mascot.  One citizen in particular has had a special bond with Bird over the years, and decides to capture him.  He readies a gun with the finest birdshot to be found and waits.  Eventually Bird appears to him and the man shoots.  Bird disappears, without leaving so much as a feather behind.  He is never seen again.  Hesse’s descriptions of the communal spirit and the relationship between tradition and modern issues are poignant and thought-provoking.  His ability to create an authentic and enchanting atmosphere is unrivalled.  I would recommend any book  by Hesse, including Pictor’s Metamorphoses.

The Current Count

18 Read, 82 To Go

#65: Gertrude by Hermann Hesse

Tags

100 books, book review, books, Hesse, literature

Despite the build-up to a debate tournament this weekend, I managed to knock out another book today.  For number sixty-five I returned to an old friend, Hermann Hesse.  Hesse’s 1910 novel Gertrude is presented as the memoir of famous composer Kuhn.  Kuhn recounts his early discovery of his musical gift and his earliest experiences with love.  A sledding accident leaves him with a crippled leg, which he believes will confine him to a life of loneliness.  His music writing improves with the tumult of emotions surrounding his leg driving it and Kuhn is befriended by a well-known and robust opera singer, Heinrich Muoth.  Muoth is a tormented and passionate soul, gifted but undisciplined.  He encourages Kuhn’s artistic efforts and introduces him to several notable figures in the city’s music scene.  As a result, Kuhn is invited to perform one of his works at the house of Herr Imthor.  Kuhn is captivated by Imthor’s beautiful and reserved daughter, Gertrude.  Gertrude befriends Kuhn and serves as his confidant in his first attempts at writing an opera.  Kuhn falls deeply in love with Gertrude but is afraid of rejection or arousing pity on account of his handicap.  As the opera progresses, he also seeks Muoth’s assistance.  Through their mutual work on the opera, Muoth and Gertrude meet.  Gertrude falls in love with Muoth despite their extreme unsuitability for one another.  Kuhn is devastated as Gertrude and Muoth are engaged.  He channels his emotional turmoil into the growing opera, with the passionate Kuhn and the level-headed Gertrude serving as dual inspirations.  Upon the completion of the opera, Muoth presents it to the conductor of the Munich Opera House, who agrees to stage it.  The opera is a huge success, making Kuhn a celebrity.  Meanwhile, the marriage of Gertrude and Muoth is unraveling.  The constant struggle to adapt themselves to each other proves too much for them.  Gertrude returns home for rest away from Muoth, who spirals into depression.  Muoth invites Kuhn to visit for one last night of fraternity.  After a pleasant night of reminiscing, Kuhn retires to bed.  He is awakened by Muoth’s panicked servant.  The opera singer committed suicide in the night.  Kuhn concludes his narrative with a reflection on the conflicting spirits present in man and the lost innocence of blissful youth.

I will admit that this book did not impress me at first.  I was restless in my reading and couldn’t seem to engage with the text.  I forced myself through this stage and ultimately found the book to be excellent.  The influence of Nietzsche’s concept of the conflicting Apollonian and Dionysian spirits is readily apparent in Gertrude.  I have always had a bit of Germanophilia in my literary and philosophical tastes, and the union of Hesse and Nietzsche is irresistible.  Hesse writes with an honesty and sincerity that survives the translation process intact.  He is a master of presenting emotions in a way that is instantly relatable to his readers.  There are some authors that just seem to connect with a particular individual, and Hesse is one of them for me.  His writing often seems like my thoughts on the page.  That feeling of kinship is a large part of his appeal to me, and Gertrude was no exception.

The Current Count:

65 Read, 35 To Go

#55: Klingsor’s Last Summer by Hermann Hesse

Tags

100 books, book review, books, Hesse, literature

After wrestling with a book of stories from Thomas Mann without much success, I decided to return to one of my favorite authors, Hermann Hesse.  I chose one of his few works that I have not yet read, Klingsor’s Last Summer.  This book is actually a collection of three novellas: A Child’s Heart, Klein and Wagner, and the titular story of Klingsor.  Each story is excellent. 

A Child’s Heart recounts a young boy’s theft of some candies from his father’s room and his subsequent tormenting guilt leading up to being confronted by his father.  This story does a wonderful job of capturing the deep and powerful emotions of which a child is capable, and the uncertainty that accompanies these often new sensations.  It reminded me of Augustine’s story of stealing from the pear tree, but Hesse presents the feelings through the eyes of a child, whereas Augustine is a grown man looking back.  The power of Hesse’s story is how instantly recognizable and relatable the feelings of the main character are to all readers.

Klein and Wagner was my favorite story in the book.  In it, a man flees from his middle-class life after embezzling a large sum of money in his position as a minor government official.  He struggles with the causes of his abrupt resort to crime and with the strange new world that confronts him in the absence of his former principles of right and wrong.  The struggle between individual desires and the rules of society drive the narrator to despair and ultimately to suicide.  Again, Hesse’s ability to put the reader in the shoes of the narrator is remarkable.

The final story tells about a famous painter named Klingsor as he experiences a final burst of creativity in his last summer of life.  He grabs the cup of life with both hands and drinks until he simply cannot take any more.  The reader feels transported to Klingsor’s side as he attempts to embrace the wonders of life and nature with his entire being, only to accept that his time is nearly up. 

Hesse is an author who writes in a language that is both emotional and spiritual.  His characters and their crises have a sincerity that can only come from the author’s own experiences.  The thing I love most about his work is the feeling of spiritual connectedness that all of his writings seem to exude.  To Hesse, all of us are linked through the divine spark within, regardless of race, religion, or social standing.  The key to happiness, for his characters and for his readers, is the recognition of the divinity within and the acceptance of the transitory nature of the physical world.

The Current Count:

55 Read, 45 To Go

#45: Knulp by Hermann Hesse

Tags

100 books, book review, books, Hesse, literature

The second of my vacation books was Knulp by Hermann Hesse.  This book is made up of three short stories about a wanderer named Knulp.  Each story presents a single episode in Knulp’s life, with the first two set in the prime of his life and the last set at the end of it.  The first two show Knulp happy in his vagabond life.  The last finds him dying of tuberculosis and angry at God for not allowing him to accomplish anything of consequence in his life.  Knulp meets God in a forest during a snowstorm and demands an explanation.  God replies that Knulp’s purpose in life was to bring joy to others and give them a longing for freedom.

I have said numerous times on this blog that Hermann Hesse is one of my favorite authors, and this novel is the perfect example of why.  Hesse is a storyteller with an incredible knack for illuminating the lives of his characters with a minimum of explanation.  Three isolated incidents in Knulp’s life, spanning only 114 pages, make him completely relatable to the reader.  I got the sense I was hearing stories about an old friend that I hadn’t seen in a long time.  Hesse’s ability to create people rather than characters make his works truly remarkable.

The Current Count:

45 Read, 55 To Go

#35: Peter Camenzind by Hermann Hesse

Tags

100 books, book review, books, Hesse, literature

I returned to one of my favorite authors today with Peter Camenzind by Hermann Hesse.  This novel was Hesse’s first, published in 1904.  It traces the life of the titular Peter Camenzind as he grows from a child in a remote Swiss mountain village into a respected and well-travelled writer.  In typical Hesse fashion, Camenzind is haunted by a melancholy heightened by the frivolity of modern culture.  His eventual return to his village and recognition of the superiority of a simple life brings Camenzind full circle.  Along the way, he experiences love, friendship, loss, and grief.  Camenzind realizes that the painful side of life is a necessary part of being alive.

I enjoyed this novel very much.  It hints at many of the themes that would characterize Hesse’s later works.  His examination of modern life is insightful and moving.  The most remarkable part of this novel is the language.  Hesse’s writing is crisp and refreshing, despite being written more than 100 years ago.  This is my ninth Hesse book to read over the past few years, and I recommend any of them.  Peter Camenzind is a great place to start.

The Current Count:

35 Read, 65 To Go

#20: Beneath the Wheel by Hermann Hesse

Tags

100 books, book review, books, Hesse, literature

Twenty books down!  Today I read Hermann Hesse’s Beneath the Wheel.  Hesse is one of my favorite authors, and Beneath the Wheel  did not disappoint.  It tells the story of Hans Giebenrath, a gifted student who struggles to find his purpose in life despite his tremendous intellectual ability.  His struggles are exacerbated by the number of people expecting greatness from him, including his father, pastor, principal, and teachers.  Hans cannot handle the pressure and is sent home from his prestigious academy due to mental health issues.  He has no more success finding his way at home, where his first experiences with love and physical labor offer hope but ultimately disappoint.  The ending was not what I expected but was excellent.  Despite being written over a century ago (in 1906), Hesse’s book remains vibrant and fresh.  The characters are endowed with a depth that makes them easily accessible to modern audiences.  As far as coming-of-age stories go, Beneath the Wheel is near the top of my list.  I enjoyed it more than Catcher in the Rye (which borders on blasphemy for an American English teacher).

The Current Count:

20 Read, 80 To Go

#6: Rosshalde by Hermann Hesse

Tags

100 books, book review, books, Hesse, literature, Nobel Prize

The sixth book selected for my challenge was Rosshalde by Hermann Hesse.  Hesse is one of my favorite authors of all time.  His novels are always insightful, poignant, and deeply moving.  That being said, Rosshalde is probably my least favorite Hesse work.  It has all of the same qualities as his other books, but is simply too predictable.  It tells the story of world-famous painter Johann Veraguth at his idyllic estate, Rosshalde.  Veraguth is trapped in a loveless marriage out of devotion to his young son Pierre.  The painter yearns for a life of freedom, away from the daily disappointment that life at Rosshalde has become for him.  The only thing that keeps him from packing up and going to live with his best friend in India is his son.  Veraguth finally decides that he must surrender his son to his wife for all of their sakes.  Tragedy strikes and the boy dies, freeing Veraguth from both the facade of his life in Rosshalde and the pain of leaving behind the one person he truly loves.

Hesse- 1946 Nobel Prize Winner for Literature

Don’t get me wrong, Rosshalde  is a very moving book.  Hesse evokes the pain of a conflicted soul as well as (if not better than) any other writer.  The plot is simply very predictable.  I had a pretty good idea of what was coming after only a few pages.  It is a beautifully written book well worth a read, but do not expect something as original as Steppenwolf or Das Glasperlenspiel.

The Current Count:

6 Read, 94 To Go