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4.05 AVERAGE
4.05 AVERAGE
I've never thought that I'll see someone who gets the conflict and the struggle that I always go through. Demian is such a unique character. I really love his mindset and how outstanding he is.
But Sinkler...He was quite shocking to me. Because I felt like I was reading about my own thoughts and struggles. Even the dark thoughts were the same. It felt like...as If I'm looking at my reflection. Which is really unique, cause I thought that I'm alone in this world.
The only person who has those thoughts. But it seems that thir are others who just like me...
That was quite reassuring and comforting.
I know I'll be spending a very very long time after this book doing nothing but thinking.
This is one of these books that you need to read several times throughout your life, because everytime you read it it'll feel like the first time and it'll make you see the life from different perspectives.
I'm really glad that I read it and I think Mr.Hessa is going to own a shelf in my library soon.
But Sinkler...He was quite shocking to me. Because I felt like I was reading about my own thoughts and struggles. Even the dark thoughts were the same. It felt like...as If I'm looking at my reflection. Which is really unique, cause I thought that I'm alone in this world.
The only person who has those thoughts. But it seems that thir are others who just like me...
That was quite reassuring and comforting.
I know I'll be spending a very very long time after this book doing nothing but thinking.
This is one of these books that you need to read several times throughout your life, because everytime you read it it'll feel like the first time and it'll make you see the life from different perspectives.
I'm really glad that I read it and I think Mr.Hessa is going to own a shelf in my library soon.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
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
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
"Darum muss jeder von uns für sich selber finden, was erlaubt und was verboten - ihm verboten ist."Demian is set almost entirely in the narrator's psyche. Dreams are of crucial importance, as seemingly they are giving him guidance; the prose itself is similarly dreamy. It's not easy to tell what—or who—is real in the sense of having an external existence. Maybe this approach mirrors Sinclair's own disorientation.
Yet, the motifs are tangible enough to not feel lost. Finding your individuality is presented as core ideal in growing up. Maybe the character of Demian is the part of Sinclair's soul that leads him there.
"Wie im Traum unterlag ich seiner Stimme, seinem Einfluss. Ich nickte nur. Sprach da nicht eine Stimme, die nur aus mir selber kommen konnte? Die alles wußte? Die alles besser, klarer wusste als ich selber?"
What he knows is that you have to set your own goals and ideals. Morality is changeable—it did change through the ages, and one culture's ideas differ from another's. So, Demian preaches, your guiding principles have to come from within. He even expresses the Nietzschean twist to Kantean ethics, the idea that a firm will may determine actions condemned by society but necessary for your own ascent.
There is a revolutionary spirit of departure underlying Demian's sermons, and assembled under the mark of Cain appears to be a group pivotal to these developments. The free-spirited readings of the biblical story of Kain and Abel, as well as the God of and evil (Abraxas), were incredibly pictoresque symbols to mystify the outsiders. In the end, the uproar turns out to be war. Things don't quite add up. There seems to be something inconsistent about a group united in their individualism, and Demian turns out to be a military lieutenant to hide his being different (isn't that a form of weakness to the hitherto perfect representation of virtue?). Revolutionary tales often think in black and white; Sinclair's account refreshingly does not.
I think the theme that had the most lasting impression on me was the dichotomy of two worlds, one the comfortable home with, the world of light and clear-cut dogma; the other the world of darkness, the evils to avoid. I myself thought of the parental home as a safe haven that offered protection from things I would rather avoid. Smoking, drinking, girls, stealing, drugs—we were not religious, but strangely I steadily (or timidly, in the case of girls) avoided what I thought were vices. For this reason I did strongly feel young Sinclair's pains.
Likewise, I felt very invested in the episode with Franz Kromer. To hide his innocence, Sinclair claimed he stole apples from a local farmer; Kromer threatens to give him away would he not pay him a certain amount of money. Tragically, Sinclair becomes a real thief to fulfill the treacherous blackmail. Fallen from grace it seems as if he doesn't anymore belong to the world of light. All his thoughts revolved around Kromer, and if you had to deal with a bully yourself you will be able to empathize. Demian emerges as a knight in shining armor and it makes you gasp in relief when the weight was taken off Sinclair's mind.
Of course, he cannot remain a child forever, and it's during his adolescence that he really gets into trouble. Again his first careful excursion into bars are written with understanding and empathy. Initially, he is truly disgusted by his own drunkness. I liked the slippery-slope course the events take during these years, and soon he flares up to alcohol and gambling and his school threatens to expel him. It's the paradoxically caring indifference that is particularly well captured.
In fact, the real loss of his childhood home comes earlier and from within. He seems embarrassed about his emerging sexuality. Though I myself never quite understood the idea of sin surrounding this aspect of human nature, I thought it was interesting how it was pursued during the story. As far as I see he never actually sleeps with a woman (his virginity is explicitly mentioned at a point or two). There certainly are clues for his homosexuality. For instance, when he begins to draw a painting of his love interest, it turns out to have facial features of his childhood friend. When earlier he seat behind Demian in class, it's said that he indulged in his smell of soap. I think his sexuality is mostly oppressed, but I still thought it was an interesting aspect of the story.
I have to admit, I'm not sure what the plot really is about towards the end. Maybe it's about the upcoming war that was already signified at earlier times. Much is said about the importance of dreams and of alternative religions.
"Aber ich habe seit mehreren Jahren Träume, aus denen ich schließe, oder fühle, oder wie du willst - aus denen ich also fühle, dass der Zusammenbruch einer alten Welt näher rückt."
I have to admit, these broodings didn't resonate much with me. Again much is about the personal and freely chosen ideals versus ones shared and handed down, but at that point these ideas were familiar and didn't really further the plot. Demian's mother, Frau Eva, seems to play a crucial role in the last act, but I struggled to interpret the symbolism. Maybe that's the point, that the inner turmoils came to an end and now it's the external subversions he has to react to. Maybe the end of his development is indicated by the reassuring final words:
"Aber wenn ich manchmal den Schlüssel finde und ganz in mich selbst hinuntersteige, da wo im dunkeln Spiegel die Schicksalsbilder schlummern, dann brauche ich mich nur über den schwarzen Spiegel zu neigen und sehe mein eigenes Bild, das nun ganz ihm gleicht, Ihm, meinem Freund und Führer."
When I was in my late teens I wasn't much of a reader; Demian was the first book I've read in years. It was also the first book that thought me about the depths of literature. I guess it didn't resonate with as much anymore as it did back then, but it opened up a world completely new to me. I don't want to sound too pathetic, but it may have been an important step in my own coming-of-age.
Rating: 4/5
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
fast-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
Hermann hesse books are always the same, but somehow they have always made me feel seen and heard
Es una lectura existencial. Mi experiencia leyéndolo fue parecida al camino que recorre Sinclair (el narrador) durante su vida: al principio confuso, distante y con muchas ideas simultáneas pero no tan unidas. Poco a poco empieza a tener más sentido y las ideas comienzan a encajar. Para el final se ha convertido en una obra de arte. Profunda, a veces sin sentido, a veces con mucho. Cuestiona y pregunta. Muy recomendado.
Asi es como me gustaria leer siempre la filosofía, aunque sigue siendo meh. es mas entretenido que el tipico ensayo filosofico que hasta ahora habia leido.