michaelhargreaves 's review for:

Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse
3.75
dark hopeful fast-paced

Multi-faceted fast-paced existential bildungsroman that combines Western canon with Eastern philosophy and elements of magical realism to tell a journey from nihilism to hope. In parts direct to the point philosophy/psychology (as in the Steppenwolf tract), other parts dreamlike and allegorical (as in the magical theatre). A scene where Steppenwolf relives all his past loves I found quite moving and another where Steppenwolf finds himself in a war against machines wouldn't be out of place in a collection of stories by Calvino.