Life lessons with Siddhartha, written by Hermann Hesse

Learning from Siddhartha as he depicts the journey behind his own personal transfiguration from status quo to status celestial

Siddhartha: Review and Insights

A quick, easy and entertaining (and quite enlightening) read, Siddhartha immediately caught my eye as I saw the cover at a local bookstore in old town Chiang Mai a few years back. After reading over the description that was provided on the back cover, I knew that this was the book that I would buy on that particular visit. Herman Hesse, the author of Siddhartha, writes in such a unique way as he describes the tale of Siddhartha growing from young adult to wise old man. It amazes me how many of my personal friends and other people that I randomly meet who have read this book (and love it, too). Perhaps the best thing to note about this masterpiece of a book is that it can be read and re-read and re-read and then re-read some more as the messaging behind the words becomes more insightful and relevant with each re-read. Another book to buy and add to your reading bookshelf.

Siddhartha book description

A book―rare in our arid age―that takes root in the heart and grows there for a lifetime.

Here the spirituality of the East and the West have met in a novel that enfigures deep human wisdom with a rich and colorful imagination.

Written in a prose of almost biblical simplicity and beauty, it is the story of a soul's long quest in search of he ultimate answer to the enigma of man's role on this earth. As a youth, the young Indian Siddhartha meets the Buddha but cannot be content with a disciple's role: he must work out his own destiny and solve his own doubt―a tortuous road that carries him through the sensuality of a love affair with the beautiful courtesan Kamala, the temptation of success and riches, the heartache of struggle with his own son, to final renunciation and self-knowledge.

The name "Siddhartha" is one often given to the Buddha himself―perhaps a clue to Hesse's aims in contrasting the traditional legendary figure with his own conception, as a European (Hesse was Swiss), of a spiritual explorer.

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About the author, Hermann Hesse

Hermann Hesse (1877-1962) was a German-Swiss poet, novelist, and painter. In 1946, he received the Nobel Prize in Literature. His best-known works include Steppenwolf, Siddhartha, and Magister Ludi.

Hilda Rosner is an author and translator. See more →