Reviews

Gertrude by Hermann Hesse

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amarquezf02's review against another edition

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reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character

5.0

aurora3's review

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emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? N/A
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Such a lovely surprise this book!!! To me, this was an honest and uncomplicated look at surpassing youthful egoism and figuring out how to develop a fulfilling practice of mature love (for all people, not just romantically).
The main character is uplifting in the way he is able to do this, even with the difficulty of first learning how to live for others when he can’t manage to satisfy his own void of happiness.
And then Muoth illustrates the path of someone who is never able to transcend that childish selfishness. He only can see or know love as it distracts from his intense loneliness which eventually consumes him.
Simply yet stunningly written!! A quick breezy read too.

angha9d's review

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5.0

This is more than just a story or a novel, it manages to incapsulate the agony and beauty of life in all its colours and it was a true delight to read. True poetic and philopshical brilliance

jlilia's review against another edition

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dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.25

samirasbt's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

orin's review against another edition

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5.0

The themes of love, passion, music, solitude, finding your path in life, family, friendship all speak deeply to me. There are so many wise quotes throughout that seemed aimed at me. A sullen story but it felt like it gives me hope. Its ideas on wisdom and truth were very apropos to what I want to become. The idea that idleness can have worth if you make it so. Youth and old age, how you view things as your perspective grows and changes. Suicide and what leads people to that point. Believing and finding a way out. The end is not always the end you think it is. It was written in 1910 but so much of it, the internal descriptions seems really honed in to the current world, a century later.

manelradhia's review

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4.0

Iam proude to say this is not my first time reading a hermann hesse, wich makes this experience more beautiful and musical.
So here we havr a fictional memoir of the music composer kuhn, who was led to this career by an unfortunate accident an accident that opened his eyes to his real potentials and desires, you can almost feel that this story was written by fate himself, kuhn had to influential relationships, a frirndship with a self-destructive singer Muoth and a infatuation with a self-composed lady Gertrude who end up married and you can guess what kinf of marriage that can be. I liked the friendship better, it was more meaningful and expressing and it has Hesse wriuten all over it .
What i enjoyed the most was the youth/old dilemma philosophy, it was quite an opinion make you see things in a nice angle no matter how old you are . my favourite quote " Youth ends when egoism does; maturity begins when one lives for others. That is what i mean. Young people have many pleasures and many sorrows, because they have only themselves to think of, so every wish and every notion assumes importance; every pleasure is tasted to the full but also every sorrow, and many who find that their wishes cannoy be fulfilled, put an end immediately to their lives.".