Rating:  Summary: Think, Fast, Wait and Learn Lots! Review: Although at times I found myself falling asleep, I could pick up the book again and continue. The book reminds me of the film "Little Buddha," with Keanu Reeves sitting under a tree. Siddhartha does the same. There is more to this book than meets the eye. We can learn footsteps of a young man growing up--leaving home, discovering wealth, love, and then being alone. The magic of the river intrigued me with its sounds and the everlasting "Om." In the end, I found myself almost in meditation and wanting to walk to the nearest river... to listen.
- Mr. Lem, BDHS English 12 Teacher
Rating:  Summary: A human beings quest of the meaning of life Review: One of the few books i have read twice in succession. The author tries to put the mystic truth of the Eastern in layman language. That a German could do this so successfully is astonishing. Siddhartha is an ordinary man in search of the meaning of life. He begins as a samana and then goes into the mundane world and then comes back to the world of nature
Rating:  Summary: Not a bad book at all Review: Siddhartha was required reading for my 11th grade honors English class. I usually hate required reading. For one, there is usually some deep meaning that I never catch, and two they are usually long, drawn out and boring. Siddhartha was different. Due to its "time does not exist" theme, I read the book very fast. Siddhartha doesn't have any hidden meanings. The meaning of the novel is spelled out, in black and white. There is no need for guessing or searching for hidden meanings
Rating:  Summary: this book was not the greatest but it keep me awake Review: SIDDHARTHA by HERMAN HESS
Rating:  Summary: can words have so much meaning! Review: speaking as an indian , I have seldom read a book which conveys the essence of hinduism more succintly than Siddartha ,shows the entire connection of the universal spirit of life ,the unity of all things and maybe you could find the answer to existence itself here ,if you read carefully enough!
Rating:  Summary: Siddhartha: Life Beyond Words Review: Siddhartha is a rare novel. It has always been there, at least since the twenties; or seventies and eighties, if I were to equate the youth and life of the world with my own formative years. Yet, in spite of this reality, Siddhartha will not really be "there" until you are ready for it. It sure wasn't for me all these years, until a freak recommendation and fortuitous gift from an insighful friend jolted me and my mind wide awake.
Today, I say this with conviction of rare purity: Siddhartha ranks as one of the seminal events of my life.
And having said that, my own attempt at reviewing the book stops in its tracks, somewhat reverentially, somewhat abashedly: it is like I have come upon a mountain spring at thousands of feet above sea level, and the water looks so pure that I don't have the heart to put my own hands in the stream for fear of contaminating it permanently.
However, the following passages from the novel itself come very close to approximating what I have understood--or is it intuited--from this gem of literature:
"Yes, I have had thoughts and knowledge here and there. Sometimes, for an hour or for a day, I have become aware of knowledge, just as one feels life in one's heart. I have had many thoughts, but it would be difficult for me to tell you about them. But this is one thought that has impressed me, Govinda. Wisdom is not communicable. The wisdom which a wise man tries to communicate always sounds foolish.
" ... Knowledge can be communicated, but not wisdom. One can find it, live it, be fortified by it, do wonders through it, but one cannot communicate and teach it.
" ... But I will say no more about it. Words do not express thoughts very well. They always become a little different immediately they are expressed, a little distorted, a little foolish. And yet it also pleases me and seems right that what is of value and wisdom to one man seems nonsense to another."
Rating:  Summary: A life long struggle for peace Review: Siddhartha, one of my favorite books of all time, is the story of a young Brahmin (Siddhartha) who is the best and brightest among his social peers. His entire life is spent in an attempt, which is eventually successful, to find inner peace. His plight is one that many people can relate to in that it begins with a classic struggle between a parent and a rebellious child who is ready to throw off the yoke of his father's and teachers' ideologies and move on to find his place in the world.
Through many wrong turns and re-starts, all of which eventually lead him to his understanding of life, Siddhartha makes his way successfully.
Some friends of mine consider the book on a lesser level than those books that are considered "classics" of literature. This is due to the obvious story and lack of hidden meaning and sub-plot. I, however, feel that what the book lacks in complexity it more than makes up for in applicability and comparability to most people's lives. It is a book that makes you think. The ironic thing is that the friend of mine that holds it in the least esteem is a person I consider very Siddhartha-like.
Hesse's topics of exploration of religion and self are nowhere more present than in this novel. It is a book worth reading
Rating:  Summary: A must read guide to life, love and harmony Review: Hesse's Siddhartha is a captivating tale of one man's quest to find meaning in his life. The author weaves a tapestry of life experience that only becomes visible to the reader upon completion... if you are ready for its lessons. The only book with more life lessons is the Bible
Rating:  Summary: 'Finding your destiny can bring the greatest PEACE of all' Review: Imagine, if you will, setting out one morning from the safety of your parents lavish home to go in search of the TRUTH of your life.
You wander with your dearest friend looking in all the wrong places for an answer that can only be found within yourself. Along the
way, you make mistakes, you lose your friend to a prophet who just doesn't sound as right to you as he does to your friend. Your search
becomes more like a curse than a purpose in your life. You lose your focus; you begin to drink; you begin to find pleasure in members of
the opposite sex; you suddenly find yourself living a NORMAL life. What happened to your quest? What happened to the answers
that you sought? Are they not still what you truly want? You don't want this false life, you want a TRUE life that you know can only
be spiritual.
Unexpectedly, you arrive one day at a place you have visited before. It is a common place, a place of everyday manual tasks. You
make these tasks your own. These tasks become your world, and one day you realize that the answers for which you have always been
looking are right there before your eyes. Your spiritual enlightenment has arrived at a time when you weren't really expecting to find
any answers--just as it is with all great spiritualists, the TRUTH comes when you don't expect it, from a source that you never thought
would hold any answers.
If you have ever, or think that you will ever, seek that spiritual TRUTH that binds each of us to the other, then read this tale of
fulfillment. Perhaps your TRUTH lies in such an unexpected place.
Rating:  Summary: Hesse's brilliant little novel about the Buddha. Excellent. Review: Many of us found Hesse when we were searching youngsters, filled with a longing that Western thought failed to fill
(yes, this was before the Reagan years, before crass materialism seemed to fill the spiritual void for so many waylaid Americans)
Go back and reread this marvellous story of the Buddha, told
in loving and respectful prose by this German master. It
stands the test of time well, and opens up the door to a different way of viewing reality, as told in lyrical and loving language. There's a reason this book speaks to youth
who are longing: it's elegant, simple, and rings with truth.
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