Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.05 AVERAGE
4.05 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Reading up on little biographical blurbs on Hermann Hesse unveils a most interesting life. What caught my attention most was his decision to be psychoanalyzed by the great Carl Jung. The book he penned in those years is Demian. The Jungian influence is unmistakable, almost overly obvious, for example, "our soul contains everything that has dwelt in human souls." The novel follows the painstaking individuation journey of Emil Sinclair. He has sheltered himself in a sharply dualistic world of two contrasts: his comfortable home-life and the "second, violent world" out there. He realizes the faultiness of the division as he reckons with a world that is both good and evil. As expected, this conflict spills over into the realm of moral conduct, and he later wrestles with amoral transcendence.
I enjoyed Hesse's writing style. It sounds very naturally flowing as might be expected to come from a mind cultivated by books all his life. Hesse had access to his grandfather's vast theological library as a child and always seemed to be working in bookstores. I've read that some think he or his character in Demian was overly dramatic. The accounts of inward emotions and spiritual conflict will always be more dramatic and ascendant than descriptions of outward physical actions. I didn't find any of it excessive. I'd hate to see what those same reviewers would think of someone like Marcel Proust who can go on for paragraphs writing about a single smell.
Pleasing read in general. It definitely took me back to those days I spent reading Carl Jung.
I enjoyed Hesse's writing style. It sounds very naturally flowing as might be expected to come from a mind cultivated by books all his life. Hesse had access to his grandfather's vast theological library as a child and always seemed to be working in bookstores. I've read that some think he or his character in Demian was overly dramatic. The accounts of inward emotions and spiritual conflict will always be more dramatic and ascendant than descriptions of outward physical actions. I didn't find any of it excessive. I'd hate to see what those same reviewers would think of someone like Marcel Proust who can go on for paragraphs writing about a single smell.
Pleasing read in general. It definitely took me back to those days I spent reading Carl Jung.
informative
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
informative
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Will get back to it. Just not feeling classical literature atm. A separate Peace was too good and I keep comparing that reading experience to this one.
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes