August 28

Siddhartha

Siddhartha, by Hermann Hesse, was published in 1922. The story follows the journey of Siddhartha as he seeks a road to enlightenment, taking the reader on their own journey.

“The word Siddhartha is made up of two words in the Sanskrit language, siddha (achieved) + artha (meaning or wealth), which together means “he who has found meaning (of existence)” or “he who has attained his goals”. (Wikipedia)

11-hesse-wallpaper Image used under Creative Commons license from Belinda Witzenhausen http://bwitzenhausen.wordpress.com/tag/hermann-hesse/

 

 

The following quotes from the novel give us an insight into its philosophical nature:

“This riddle, that I live, that I am one and am separated and different from everybody else . . . and about nothing in the world do I know less than about myself.” (p.31).

“Writing is good, thinking is better. Cleverness is good, patience is better.” (p.53).

“I am not going anywhere. I am only on the way.” (p.75).

Aquinas College Library resources:

DVD 0564 – Siddhartha (motion picture)

F HES – Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse

830.9 HES Hesse’s Steppenwolf and Siddhartha (Cliffnotes)

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The full audiobook can be viewed on YouTube with synchronized text displayed on the screen. Audio courtesy of Librivox. Read by Adrian Praetzellis (5 hours + in total over 3 clips):

Part 1, Ch 1 – 5

Part 2, Ch. 6 – 9

Part 3 Ch. 10 – 12

The free eBook can also be downloaded here, or from the Gutenberg Project. Choose a format which suits your device.

The video below presents a short reflection on Siddhartha using quotes from the novel:

 

Here are two summaries of the novel’s plot:

Summary of the novel – The Guardian (Digested classics)

Siddhartha (Wikipedia)

About the author:  Hermann Hesse Biography

So, what is the novel about? Let’s look at some literary analysis!

The following six sites contain an analysis of the plot, summary, themes, characters etc.

Sparknotes

Shmoop

Book Rags

Cliffs Notes

Penguin Reading Guide – introduction, biography and discussion questions

Myeboga

The following sites contain essays on more specific topics:

Siddhartha: An analysis – Meditations on Hermann Hesse’s Buddhism

A spiritual journey, Siddhartha (blog post)

Solitude in Siddhartha (blog post)

Siddhartha – an essay

 

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