Hermann Hesse – författare

Siddhartha, en indisk brahmanpojke, lämnar sin faders gård och de gamla gudarna för att leva i självövervinnelse och askes. Men inte heller förnekelsen tillfredsställer hans längtan efter fulländning, och han ger sig ut i världen för att söka livets mening. Han blir framgångsrik och förmögen, en livsnjutare som lär sig den sinnliga kärlekens alla möjligheter hos kurtisanen Kamala. Men ledan, och smärtan när en älskad son glider ifrån honom, driver återigen Siddhartha ut på vandring, mot en tillvaro som rymmer verklig kunskap och kärlek till världen som den är.

'A subtle distillation of wisdom, stylistic grace and symmetry of form' Sunday Times

'It's hard to think of a more recent novel that has sung so eloquently the joys of being alone' Guardian

An inspirational classic from Nobel Prize-winner Hermann Hesse, Siddhartha is a beautiful tale of self-discovery

Dissatisfied with the ways of life he has experienced, Siddhartha, the handsome son of a Brahmin, leaves his family and his friend, Govinda, in search of a higher state of being. Having experienced the myriad forms of existence, from immense wealth and luxury to the pleasures of sensual and paternal love, Siddhartha finally settles down beside a river, where a humble ferryman teaches him his most valuable lesson yet.

Hermann Hesse's short, elegant novel, echoing the life of the Buddha, has been cherished by readers for decades as an unforgettable spiritual primer. A tender and unforgettable moral allegory, it is an undeniable classic of modern literature.

Part of the Pushkin Press Classics series: timeless storytelling by icons of literature, hand-picked from around the globe

Translated by Hilda Rosner

Hermann Hesse (1877-1963) is counted among the leading novelists and thinkers of the twentieth century. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1946 for a body of literature renowned for its humanist, philosophical and spiritual insight. His most famous works include Siddhartha, Journey to the East, Demian, Steppenwolf, and Narcissus and Goldmund.

Nobel Prize winner Hermann Hesse's iconic countercultural novel about the search for authenticity in an inauthentic world, in a new translation

A Penguin Classic

At first glance, Harry Haller seems like a respectable, educated man. In reality, he is the Steppenwolf: wild, strange, alienated from society, and repulsed by the modern age. But as he is drawn into a series of dreamlike and sometimes savage encounters-accompanied by, among others, Mozart, Goethe, and the bewitching Hermione-the misanthropic Haller undergoes a spiritual, even psychedelic, journey, and ultimately discovers a higher truth and the possibility of happiness.

This blistering portrait of a man who feels himself to be half human and half wolf was the bible of the 1960s counterculture, capturing the mood of a disaffected generation. It continues to resonate as a haunting story of estrangement, redemption, and the search for one's place in the world.