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Title: Narcissus and Goldmund by Hermann Hesse ISBN: 0-553-27586-0 Publisher: Bantam Pub. Date: 01 February, 1984 Format: Mass Market Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.79 (61 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: A voyage of re-discovery
Comment: I first read Narcissus and Goldmund when I was about 20. The conflicts between mind/heart, reason/passion, intellect/emotion were the fulcrum around which my personal voyage of self-discovery turned - at that age.
Now, at 42, I have reread this book. I never appreciated the first time 'round that Hess was describing a completed life. I was too fixated on Goldmund's emancipation through travel. But in the end, after his return to the cloister to create true art, Goldmund hit the road again. He tried in vain to recapture youth only to be spurned by Agnes, the woman he considered to be the most beautiful - and the most like himself. This was a classic description of what we now call the "mid-life crisis".
Neither Narcissus nor Goldmund ended up truly happy, I believe. But that is not the point at all. There was a mutual recognition of the richness in their separate lives. And there was a love and a respect for those differences.
As we all grow up it is these deeper lessons that Hess seeks to impart to us. I'm glad I picked up this excellent book once again and am not surprised to see other reviewers who have done the same with similar results.
A book for living dangerously, and fully.
DH
Rating: 5
Summary: The Beauty that Aches
Comment: _Narcissus and Goldmund_ by Hermann Hesse is the story of two men: one an ascetic scholar, the other a passionate student of life. The book chronicles their fateful meeting, Goldmund's pursuit of truth and beauty, and a final reunion of the two friends late in life. It is quite simply the best book I've read thus far. In it, I find artfully and poignantly demonstrated the central conflict of my life, perhaps of all life: the struggle between the intellect and the emotions. The book is best read as a juxtaposition of both of these motivators in our lives. Narcissus represents pure intellect and reason, while Goldmund represents pure emotion and passion. Neither one could truly exist in the world, but Hesse creates them as archetypes of these two motivators in all humans. The struggles they encounter in understanding each other, and the struggles Goldmund encounters in making sense of the world, help us to better understand these two sides of our own character. The struggle teaches us of the beauty that aches, and friendship that knows no bounds. In this conflict one can ultimately find the beauty of truth, and the truth of beauty.
Rating: 5
Summary: ALL TIME FAVORITE BOOK - WAS A PROFOUND EPIPHANY
Comment: I was first introduced to Hermann Hesse through "Demian" which I enjoyed immensely - I felt as though he understood the mind of the artist. Then one day, I recalled a friend mentioning "Narcissus and Goldmund" in the past - not knowing what it was about, I bought it. Call it impulse or instinct - regardless of how I came across this novel...it made a tremendous impact on my life...how I perceived myself as well as those around me. It made me question what my artistic and physical approach to life was.
That was five years ago and to this day, there hasn't been a book that's touched me as deeply nor have I experienced an epiphany as huge as the one I was struck with when I finished the book. The theme that comes across all of Hesse's novels is the road to self-discovery and frankly, having read other popular books by Hesse, none seem to match the profoundness of "Narcissus and Goldmund" or as eloquently written. This book epitomizes the struggle between the mind and the heart. Hesse forces the reader to come to terms with this inevitable conflict and realize that neither is above the other. Actually, both need each other to survive. I will admit that Narcissus and Goldmund are presented as two types of characters - literally. BUT the dimensionality that comes to define the two types as two individuals, are their journeys which, leads to their eventual reunion. It's what wasn't said between Narcissus and Goldmund that allows the reader to analyze and interpret accordingly.
Some reviewers have stated that they found this book disappointing because Hesse didn't delve further in defining the essence of life or that it's didactically written. I strongly disagree with both notions - with this novel Hesse points out the subtleties we often miss and poignantly defines how our creative passion needs to be feed...how the love we develop for those we come across in our lives needs to be nurtured...as well as the necessity to be loved by another human being...but more importantly, the certitude in ourselves - to feed the very passion that drives us and ultimately defines us. In this novel, he punctuates things that most are aware of but don't fully recognize. And as simple as it sounds, I truly believe that that, is the philosophy he is trying to convey - nothing less, nothing more. He executes this theory throughout the book with a delicately intricate voice, but one with a deafening roar that will linger in your mind.
As much as I loved "Demian", I think "Narcissus and Goldmund" surpasses "Demian" mainly because it has the ability to relate to almost every individual, instead of the exclusiveness or isolation that can arise through one's road to self-discovery. This novel manages to juxtapose the intellectual thinker with the instinctual spirit in the simplest manner while evoking myriad thoughts, forcing you to question and engage yourself to your present surroundings.
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Title: Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse ISBN: 0553208845 Publisher: Bantam Pub. Date: 01 December, 1981 List Price(USD): $5.99 |
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Title: Demian by Hermann Hesse ISBN: 0060931914 Publisher: Perennial Pub. Date: 01 July, 1999 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
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Title: Steppenwolf: A Novel by Hermann Hesse, Basil Creighton ISBN: 0312278675 Publisher: Picador USA Pub. Date: 01 December, 2002 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: The Glass Bead Game: (Magister Ludi) by Hermann Hesse, Richard Winston, Clara Winston ISBN: 0312278497 Publisher: Picador USA Pub. Date: 01 December, 2002 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: The Journey to the East by Hermann Hesse, Hilda Rosner ISBN: 0312421680 Publisher: Picador USA Pub. Date: 01 February, 2003 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
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