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4.05 AVERAGE
4.05 AVERAGE
While the narrative seems promising at certain early points, it soon devolves into the standard Hesse mish-mash of barely meaningful philosophy, confusing oedipal fantasies disguised as deep thoughts about the self and the like, the ending being particularly disappointing. Despite this, it's not too bad.
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
woah. what was that last chapter.
4.5 stars but lets see how i feel about that rating after i read a few chapters again... i still cannot believe it took me so long to read this book, especially since i had it sitting on my shelf for 5 years.
4.5 stars but lets see how i feel about that rating after i read a few chapters again... i still cannot believe it took me so long to read this book, especially since i had it sitting on my shelf for 5 years.
“At this point a sharp realization burned within me: each man has his “function” but none which he can choose himself, define, or perform as he pleases. It was wrong to desire new gods, completely wrong to want to provide the world with something. An enlightened man had but one duty—to seek the way to himself, to reach inner certainty, to grope his way forward, no matter where it led.”
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
As interesting as Hesse's idea may be, Demian ultimately falls short of expectations.
In all fairness, I am mostly comparing this book to Siddhartha, which I think is a great book, but alas, Demian lacks any sense of personal significance and individualism.
Hesse ultimately muddles the message of individual discovery and the necessity of unique, personal experiences with Sinclair's various interactions. Between his three main "teachers," so to speak, none of them feel as though Sinclair is actually learning for himself, as compared to Siddhartha. Siddhartha feels like an individual, one with his own thoughts and goals; this much is very clear in the beginning. In contrast, Sinclair feels secondary to his own story because he never seems to do anything, but simply floating along in the story.
And in some ways, Hesse does point to this, but that does not fix the problem of Sinclair's personal enlightenment in the end.
And while one may appreciate the themes of brotherly love and the need for self-discovery, everything just feels thrown together. The dreams, the Freudian sort of experience in the end, even just the various encounters Sinclair has with Demian, none of it feels like it's driven by Sinclair or carries weight.
Strachan's translation is serviceable; nothing special, but definitely reads naturally and nicely. No complaints here.
In the end, a disappointing read, but not terrible.
In all fairness, I am mostly comparing this book to Siddhartha, which I think is a great book, but alas, Demian lacks any sense of personal significance and individualism.
Hesse ultimately muddles the message of individual discovery and the necessity of unique, personal experiences with Sinclair's various interactions. Between his three main "teachers," so to speak, none of them feel as though Sinclair is actually learning for himself, as compared to Siddhartha. Siddhartha feels like an individual, one with his own thoughts and goals; this much is very clear in the beginning. In contrast, Sinclair feels secondary to his own story because he never seems to do anything, but simply floating along in the story.
And in some ways, Hesse does point to this, but that does not fix the problem of Sinclair's personal enlightenment in the end.
And while one may appreciate the themes of brotherly love and the need for self-discovery, everything just feels thrown together. The dreams, the Freudian sort of experience in the end, even just the various encounters Sinclair has with Demian, none of it feels like it's driven by Sinclair or carries weight.
Strachan's translation is serviceable; nothing special, but definitely reads naturally and nicely. No complaints here.
In the end, a disappointing read, but not terrible.
Un libro muy bueno y mi primer libro de Hermann Hesse. La forma de escribir de Hesse es extraordinaria igual que otros autores escribir en determinada época deja huella pero lo hermoso de éste libro es que es atemporal y para nada es un libro juvenil, creo que puede dar buenas enseñanzas a un adolescente y aun adulto sin problema.
Todo el tema de estos dos mundos (claro & oscuro) es sin duda algo que pensamos pero no decimos, el como nos vemos influenciados por la moral y las costumbres familiares tanto que dejan huella en nosotros como personas. Y es tan sublime que sea tan enfático en aceptar los detalles que nos hacen únicos y diferentes. Y que mejor enseñanza que la búsqueda de si mismo genera Felicidad.
A medio libro llegué como a pensar que Demian no es real o mejor dicho ¡no existe! si no que es una parte de Emil Sinclair o que esta enamorado de Demian hasta que apresé Frau Eva. El final bueno me quedó a deber pero el libro es muy bueno, sí un libro hace llorar es buenísimo.
“Vivo en mis sueños, eso es lo que sientes. Otras personas viven en sueños, pero no en los suyos propios. Esa es la diferencia"
“Hoy me doy cuenta de que nada en el mundo es más desagradable para un hombre que tomar el camino que lo lleva a sí mismo”
“Por primera vez en mi vida probé la muerte, y la muerte me supo amarga, porque la muerte es nacimiento, es miedo y espanto de una terrible renovación”
Todo el tema de estos dos mundos (claro & oscuro) es sin duda algo que pensamos pero no decimos, el como nos vemos influenciados por la moral y las costumbres familiares tanto que dejan huella en nosotros como personas. Y es tan sublime que sea tan enfático en aceptar los detalles que nos hacen únicos y diferentes. Y que mejor enseñanza que la búsqueda de si mismo genera Felicidad.
A medio libro llegué como a pensar que Demian no es real o mejor dicho ¡no existe! si no que es una parte de Emil Sinclair o que esta enamorado de Demian hasta que apresé Frau Eva. El final bueno me quedó a deber pero el libro es muy bueno, sí un libro hace llorar es buenísimo.
“Vivo en mis sueños, eso es lo que sientes. Otras personas viven en sueños, pero no en los suyos propios. Esa es la diferencia"
“Hoy me doy cuenta de que nada en el mundo es más desagradable para un hombre que tomar el camino que lo lleva a sí mismo”
“Por primera vez en mi vida probé la muerte, y la muerte me supo amarga, porque la muerte es nacimiento, es miedo y espanto de una terrible renovación”
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Existential coming of age stories get me every time. Enjoyed the writing, the philosophy, the story and love between Sinclair and Demian. I didn't know how the story would wrap up, but the last two chapters surprised and satisfied me.
Favorite Quotes:
“One never reaches home,' she said. 'But where paths that have an affinity for each other intersect, the whole world looks like home, for a time.”
"All i wanted to do was try to live the life that was inside me, trying to get out. Why was that so hard?"
“Every man is more than just himself; he also represents the unique, the very special and always significant and remarkable point at which the world's phenomena intersect, only once in this way, and never again. That is why every man's story is important, eternal, sacred; that is why every man, as long as he lives and fulfills the will of nature, is wondrous, and worthy of consideration. In each individual the spirit has become flesh, in each man the creation suffers, within each one a redeemer is nailed to the cross.”
“The things we see are the same things that are within us. There is no reality except the one contained within us. That is why so many people live such an unreal life. They take the images outside them for reality and never allow the world within to assert itself.”
" Many people experience the dying and rebirth - which is our fate - only this once during their entire life. Their childhood becomes hollow and gradually collapses, everything they love abandons them and they suddenly feel surrounded by the loneliness and mortal cold of the universe. Very many are caught forever in this impasse, and for the rest of their lives cling painfully to an irrevocable past, the dream of the lost paradise - which is the worst and most ruthless of dreams.”
“(We) consist of everything the world consists of, each of us, and just as our body contains the genealogical table of evolution as far back as the fish and even much further, so we bear everything in our soul that once was alive in the soul of men. Every god and devil that ever existed, be it among the Greeks, Chinese, or Zulus, are within us, exist as latent possibilities, as wishes, as alternatives. If the human race were to vanish from the face of the earth save for one halfway talented child that had received no education, this child would rediscover the entire course of evolution, it would be capable of producing everything once more, gods and demons, paradises, commandments, the Old and New Testament.”
Favorite Quotes:
“One never reaches home,' she said. 'But where paths that have an affinity for each other intersect, the whole world looks like home, for a time.”
"All i wanted to do was try to live the life that was inside me, trying to get out. Why was that so hard?"
“Every man is more than just himself; he also represents the unique, the very special and always significant and remarkable point at which the world's phenomena intersect, only once in this way, and never again. That is why every man's story is important, eternal, sacred; that is why every man, as long as he lives and fulfills the will of nature, is wondrous, and worthy of consideration. In each individual the spirit has become flesh, in each man the creation suffers, within each one a redeemer is nailed to the cross.”
“The things we see are the same things that are within us. There is no reality except the one contained within us. That is why so many people live such an unreal life. They take the images outside them for reality and never allow the world within to assert itself.”
" Many people experience the dying and rebirth - which is our fate - only this once during their entire life. Their childhood becomes hollow and gradually collapses, everything they love abandons them and they suddenly feel surrounded by the loneliness and mortal cold of the universe. Very many are caught forever in this impasse, and for the rest of their lives cling painfully to an irrevocable past, the dream of the lost paradise - which is the worst and most ruthless of dreams.”
“(We) consist of everything the world consists of, each of us, and just as our body contains the genealogical table of evolution as far back as the fish and even much further, so we bear everything in our soul that once was alive in the soul of men. Every god and devil that ever existed, be it among the Greeks, Chinese, or Zulus, are within us, exist as latent possibilities, as wishes, as alternatives. If the human race were to vanish from the face of the earth save for one halfway talented child that had received no education, this child would rediscover the entire course of evolution, it would be capable of producing everything once more, gods and demons, paradises, commandments, the Old and New Testament.”