Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.88 AVERAGE
3.88 AVERAGE
informative
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Basically did not finish but I did the main part the rest after seemed like waffle. Yes it well written and makes a lot of statements on class and academia, but it’s also boring and very telling not showing. How did this win a Nobel prize.
Much of this bored me but by the end, particularly the parts after the main story, it had me intrigued.
I liked Hesse's books: Sidharta and Steppenwolf are among my favourite books
But I just can't finish this one ... I tried, I really did (I still have like 100 pages to go and I'm amazed of myself that I got here in the first place)
The book is boring, I sometimes spaceout until something interesting gets me in, and it's not that much of interesting stuff in here ... I still don't get the praise that the novel got ... there were some interesting lines but I had to go through long boring texts to get to them ...
Maybe the novel isn't for me but I was disappointed in Hesse's so called masterpiece.
But I just can't finish this one ... I tried, I really did (I still have like 100 pages to go and I'm amazed of myself that I got here in the first place)
The book is boring, I sometimes spaceout until something interesting gets me in, and it's not that much of interesting stuff in here ... I still don't get the praise that the novel got ... there were some interesting lines but I had to go through long boring texts to get to them ...
Maybe the novel isn't for me but I was disappointed in Hesse's so called masterpiece.
Such beautiful prose. Classic Hesse. Did however find the last legends to be less interesting, hence 4/5
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
3.5 stars. I have read several books by Hermann Hesse, and although I may never really completely satisfied with the endings, I enjoy the journey.
The Glass Bead Game is really a biography of a fictional character set in a fictional country and according to Hesse set in the future (25th century), Although, he does not describe this future at all, except to say after the age of terrible wars. The province of Castalia was set up an order of men (no women) to bring about an aristocracy of intellectual pursuits. Elite schools are founded to 1. educate young men to be teachers and advisers to the rest of the country, 2 to play the Glass Bead Game. Although the Glass Bead Game is never really defined in the book fully. It seems to be paper and pencil game where multiple seemingly unconnected themes are brought together in harmony.
Only those students that have spent years studying can truly succeed at the game, sort of a Mensa Olympics.
The book focuses on Joseph Knecht, who thrives in this environment of the mind, and eventually because the master or Magister Ludi of the Game.
The Glass Bead Game is really a biography of a fictional character set in a fictional country and according to Hesse set in the future (25th century), Although, he does not describe this future at all, except to say after the age of terrible wars. The province of Castalia was set up an order of men (no women) to bring about an aristocracy of intellectual pursuits. Elite schools are founded to 1. educate young men to be teachers and advisers to the rest of the country, 2 to play the Glass Bead Game. Although the Glass Bead Game is never really defined in the book fully. It seems to be paper and pencil game where multiple seemingly unconnected themes are brought together in harmony.
Only those students that have spent years studying can truly succeed at the game, sort of a Mensa Olympics.
The book focuses on Joseph Knecht, who thrives in this environment of the mind, and eventually because the master or Magister Ludi of the Game.
emotional
reflective
slow-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
The book was very slow paced. At times I understood the philosophical and spiritual points the author was making through the characters actions, however some of these explorations went on for too long and took away from the story in my opinion. Perhaps doing analysis alongside reading would make the book and it's themes more enjoyable and thought provoking as it seems intended to be, but reading alone was sometimes tedious.
In the future world of The Glass Bead Game academia has become spiritualized through a game developed to showcase the players' interdisciplinary and artistic acumen. Overall it started out very promising, was too long and fusty in the middle section, and then the final section made it worthwhile. Good but not as good as Steppenwolf or Siddhartha in my opinion.
I would have liked more on the wider world outside the academy — the political situation with Rome and how the advancement of the Game was reflected in other societal developments, let alone anything outside Eurasia, but it doesn't really go there. The androcentrism and localism feel less like satire than a basic weakness of the book. (I should say this translation; the setting and tone strongly suggest a certain ambiance that may require the actual poetics to fully realize.) Not only is it limited in the diversity and originality of its characters, it's also limited to considering these characters in the context of monastic orders and devotional vocations, especially the dynamics of dedication and rejection within them, and the relationships between masters and disciples. But if you find those subjects appealing this book could be just the thing.
I would have liked more on the wider world outside the academy — the political situation with Rome and how the advancement of the Game was reflected in other societal developments, let alone anything outside Eurasia, but it doesn't really go there. The androcentrism and localism feel less like satire than a basic weakness of the book. (I should say this translation; the setting and tone strongly suggest a certain ambiance that may require the actual poetics to fully realize.) Not only is it limited in the diversity and originality of its characters, it's also limited to considering these characters in the context of monastic orders and devotional vocations, especially the dynamics of dedication and rejection within them, and the relationships between masters and disciples. But if you find those subjects appealing this book could be just the thing.