Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse

The book is introduced by the landlady’s nephew but in reality it’s pretty much about what Hermann Hesse himself went through. And what a book it is… you feel like you’re reading about yourself if you’re the lone wolf type of course.

The main man in the book has 2 personalities – the posh high-class spiritual philosopher and the down and dirty animal. I loved the way both his personalities were so sick of things around them. If one nature approved, the other nature condemned. He had lost the psyche of life… and was going to commit suicide one night, but then he met a ho. Not any ho, someone that told him what to do and he liked it. She introduced him to dance and eventually/indirectly to drugs. And he felt that spark in life again.

#ads

He started changing and didn’t recognize the old him. She was going to make him fall in love with him and vice versa and after that his last command to obey of hers was to kill her. The symbolism in her death was perfect as it showed he was still holding on to his old self.

Note: His previous book (Siddharta) had pretty much the same format… living and travelling alone, meeting a prostitute, self discovery, etc… so that was a bummer. To add to the bummer Mr. Hesse was superfluous with his descriptions, verbose and repetition made it hard to read but identifying with the book kept me going. Keep in mind it was translated from German.

So yeah, the book takes you on a journey of a loner’s life and why he lives it that way. Critics find it a very pessimistic book, I do too but he does show some self-healing/discover. The beauty he spots, especially his love for Mozart and his love for a lady of the night. One last bummer though… the book had such a sharp ending I started looking for follow-ups… and no, there is none but what a book. Big up Ali for the recommendation.