Herman Hesse - The Glass Bead Game

[I, Brian]

No, not a Nazi, just an common German surname for a Nobel prize winning author who also penned "Steppenwolf". This novel is long-winded and the translation from German is atrocious - you really do need a dictionary for this. But the content is quality, as you follow the protagonist - the incredibly humble Joseph Knecht - during his personal struggles in a somewhat vague future.


The book itself is less a story, as much as a fictional biography filled with philosophical dialogues, that retain enough character and life to prevent the words reading as an essay.


Always this work remains intriguing, and always it draws me in. And the humility of the main character is superbly crafted.


Aside from the translation, there is little to cricise this work - excepting, perhaps, its single major failing: the ending, which is rushed and pointless and threatens to spoil the work. Simply rip out the final chapter and you have a most excellent books.


This is the only book I have ever read that made me feel spiritual - long before I even knew what that meant, despite also having read the Bible, al Qur'an, and a number of other religious texts. It's certainly recommended.