Siddhartha

Even a great writer can overreach. The story this tells of a holy man who starts a search for enlightenment, sort of finds it, is seduced by wealth, leaves it, etc. etc. The book is certainly readable. The characters (except Siddhartha) are not well developed or simple walk-ons. But at the beginning, middle and end I find myself wondering exactly what religion is described. I am no expert in eastern religion but feel as if the book mixes Buddhism and certain Hindu sects... but thats just me. Maybe I dont understand what he was getting at when this book was published, in German, 92 years ago. But it is readable, doesnt take long to read and is sort of a feel good book.

This book was recommended to me by a friend of mine. I was hesitant at first, but Im glad I gave it a chance. Many life lessons to be learned on human nature. From our desires to learn and explore the world at a young age and seek knowledge, to getting lost in the pleasure of power, material things and sex, this book covers it all. It also shows the many levels of changes we go through as we learn about ourselves and the world. And finally finding your true purpose and fully embarrassing it. It was a great read and I would recommend Siddhartha to anyone looking to seek a deeper meaning of life.

I first read it as a college in the 60s, when my age group was first exploring Eastern philosophy. Next, I read it as a householder and parent. It seemed like a different book. Reading it again as a senior, it has a whole different meaning. As the boatman told Siddhartha, The river is always the same, yet it is different each time we experience it.

I came across this book by accident. Glad I bought it for kindle. Its a quick read with some good gems. You wont be enlighten if thats what you searching for , however finding it will change that...

I find myself often bored with books. With no result or meaning to them, but this book I could not put down. As it was relatable and beautiful to read. Every chapter of Siddharthas journey gave insight for anyone to benefit from. I reccomend this book to anyone who would like to reach deeper understanding of the self.

Wonderful book. Five stars, but I have to dock one star because of the way Amazon is handling the translations. If choosing the right translation matters to you, be aware that the Kindle version on Amazon is the Susan Bernofsky translation, no matter what the cover image shows or (seemingly) what the author information says on Amazon. After initially downloading a Kindle version (reasonable at 99¢) I found the translation to be awkward in places and wanted to compare others. The translator is not listed anywhere in the actual Kindle book. I determined, by searching on other websites, that I probably was reading the Susan Bernofsky translation. After doing some investigating, I decided I wanted to read the Hilda Rosner translation and looked for a Kindle version of that translation. Twice I thought Id downloaded the preferred edition--once going by the cover, which matched the Rosner paperback, and once going by the fact that Rosner was listed along with Hesse as the author. Both times the downloaded copy turned out to be the Bernofsky. Caveat emptor.

The layout and cover are beautifully done. Hesses book is a masterpiece. The translation also has a kind of poetry that I suspect is close to the German, however there are a fair number grammatical errors or typos in this edition - it seems they used spell check so the typos arent obvious, but I cant go more than a few paragraphs without having to read a sentence a few times to figure out which word was left out or spell-checked into the wrong word. Learned becomes Leaned, that becomes That, ice becomes icy, breaths becomes breathes, commas break sentences in ways that unintentionally change meaning, etc... These are just some examples from a few pages chosen at random. This problem is consistent throughout the book. There is even an instance where a question left by the translator, in German, is sitting IN THE TEXT in a sentence, which is just absurd.

Based on the ratings, I know I am in the minority opinion. I originally read this about 40 years ago when I was in high school. What I mostly recall about it was saying “Om” to my friends and all of us cracking up. You could say that my path to spiritual enlightenment has not matured much since then, if at all. I reread it currently for a reading challenge to “read a book in which a character of color goes on a spiritual journey.” It was the first book that popped into my head. I think I should have done some research. I cannot remember if I enjoyed the book in high school, but I did not enjoy it as an adult. The story is about a young Brahmin named Siddhartha and his life long journey to find enlightenment. He and his friend Govinda leave behind the comfort of home and walk, pray, and fast. They meet a group of Buddhists and try this for awhile. Govinda believes that this is the true path and he stays with the Buddhists. Siddhartha wonders off on his own and eventually meets a beautiful prostitute. She will not entertain him until he can bring her gifts. She helps him to get a job with a businessman. For a time, Siddhartha makes money for the businessman and has a lot of sex with the prostitute. He ultimately leaves this life and goes to live and work with a ferryman. People from the past cross his path again and Siddhartha eventually reaches self-realization. On the plus side, the book is short! Hermann Hesse’s book was originally published in Germany in 1922. I can see where this was a remarkable work in its time. It is a classic, just a piece of classic literature that I do not enjoy. I did not care for the story itself or for the writing style. Some readers were critical of the translation; I have no opinion about that. I found the writing and the story pretty stilted and austere, not lyrical as some reviews suggest. I don’t regret revisiting this book a second time, but there will not be a third time.

I bought a few copies of this book because I love it so much and my opinion will always stay the same because this is like my number one favorite book I read it more times than I can even count lol The words in it are amazing like and can actually picture in my head what Hermann Hesse is trying to explain it so vivid you can actually feel the emotions in this book !!! I have actually laughed out loud and cried while reading it it gives you a connection to another person living a completely different life I feel as though I was actually standing there with him as his knees were shaking I would recommend this book to anybody whos looking to further Enlighten themselves or feel new feelings if youre needing to feel a connection with somebody this is definitely the book for that if youre needing to break away from your own mind in the confines of your everyday life I would definitely say that you should read this book its not hard to read or to understand its broken down into very simple terms and easily understood words I think any kid could actually read this or even understand that if a parent have to read it to them also I think it could be a good family lesson overall I can say this is probably the best book Ive ever read if my review helped you please hit the yes button so that I know I did a really good job

I really love this book so much. The only true way for me to review Siddhartha is to write about how this beautiful book leaves me feeling. Heres what I have gleaned. When we look deeply into something, we are no longer really looking, we are experiencing. It is the experiencing that is us, not us experiencing. We are simply bearers of light bearing the light of awareness. Looking through the veil, through the thin mist of mind, we gaze upon the unseen. In that moment of blissful gaze, there lies eternity. All appearances have their source in pure awareness. At the moment of our birth, we have no mind, no concept of self. Yet we are already complete, before thought or word. We are entirely without possession. Yet everything is in us. Being without the all, we contain the all, the whole universe in us. Just as the cup is the container for water, so life flows from us and is us. Life is, in all its entirety and splendor, occupying our emptiness, filling our cup, our holy grail, and evermore filling. When mind is formed through conditioning of other minds, everyone takes and everyone gives and such is life. It is a game, but the content on which we play this game does not enter our heart because we are already the openness upon which we pretend to be. Look right now, more deeply at the world...and there you will see everything but your face. There is space where your face is. We are looking out from a clear, boundless openness, and it is because of no-face that we pretend there is one, and we create a mask to wear, and we call this mask our being, being a person (and person of course, means persona, a mask). And so we are constantly seeking our true self wearing a mask, not knowing we are already what we are seeking! When we remove the mask, when we stop the game, we see clearly again. Light fills the void. We are the river of life. We see everything stays the same, yet constantly everything is changing and renewing. Everything is flowing...as an aspect of everything else; A tree, a bird, a stone, a cloud... all flowing...all life simply experiencing itself. Enlightenment is simply the art of being. The art of pure awareness. The art of love. There is no I. No face. Only openness, where everything and nothing are one. The cup and the water, though not together, they are one. And in this openness, we are open to all life. The boundless all. The clear state of being awake. The invisible source of being. Inside you and me, there is peace and refuge. The nameless. The faceless. The perfected. It is our home we never left. Robin Craig Clark peliguin.com