Hesse, Hermann. Siddharta,
Saarbrzcken, Germany : VDM Verlag Dr. Mueller e.K., 2010
Hermann Hesse worked with prisoners of war from 1914 to 1918.
His experience of life and death, and psychoanalysis
lead him to view life from a different perspective. His father’s folk tales of Estonia and his
mother’s birthplace of India must have influenced his writing. In “Siddhartha”,
he tells the story of an Indian teenager who leaves home with his friend,
Govinda, to join the Samarans, travelling monks. Later he meets Buddha, but by
this time he feels his religious teachers are not progressing towards a full
understanding of life. He still wonders why each of us is unique. He then
experiences life as a rich man, with a
beautiful wife and son. Not yet fulfilled he leaves to continue his search. 40
years after its first publication, in German, Hesse and “Siddhartha” developed
a cult following amongst the counter culture in the United States. A book not
to be missed by those searching for a new meaning in life. 
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