Demian

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Summary: If you've ever felt you were different you should read this
Review: This book is a literary masterpiece. Hesse touches upon so many questions and themes that are present in all of our lives. Sinclair's progress throughout the book is amazing. He goes fom being parting of the "herd" to being an Individual. If you ever thought that you didn't fit in or that you had a different way of seeing things this book will make a lot of sense. If you are interested in existentialism in any way you have to read this novel!!!!!

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Summary: A perfect little novel.
Review: Hesse is a writer's writer. Hesse lived writing and died a happy man. Through his life experience he opposed the National Socialist of his native country, while embracing his native country. Important to mention Hesse also grew along side his native brother Carl Jung. Hesse does Germany proud, as did Thomas Mann. 'Demain'is a wonderful little novel on the level of Camus' 'Stranger'. It is the story of growing and becoming, while not winning and dominating.

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Summary: A book that really finds everyone sooner or later...(I hope)
Review: Simply put, this is a masterwork that everyone finds or get found by sooner or later. One of those books that you hear about and then when you are finally ready to read it springs out at you... To say too much would be to ruin it... Just trust the fact that more than 50 people have given it rave reviews...

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Summary: Brilliant but often misunderstood
Review: Hermann Hesse is without a doubt one of the most intriguing writers I have ever read. However, when reading reviews and hearing other people's opinions, I usually feel that peopl misunderstood what he is like and what his character represents. This is particularly the case with Demian. This book is often described as a great insight into what it is like going from child to teenager and then entering the adult world. However, I believe that Sinclair, the main character, is not entering the normal world on any level. In fact he is leaving it. The first time he meets Demian, both know there is something different about him. As their friendship/relationship grows, it become smore and more clear that they should not be part of the normal world, where people to choose to be part of a group, to share a religion, to accept the truth as it is told to them. Demian shows sinclair a new world, where people of a higher intelligence, and by that I am referring to more than simply an academic intelligence, will find each other. Those who are different, who choose to be individuals instead of be part of the the main stream mass meet, are Hesse's version of the ubermensch. Where Nietzsche claims that all men can let go of the standards and morals of our society, their religion, their need to be part of a group, can focus on themselves and become better, become the ubermensch, someone who is above all others, someone who is not alone in his existence, but who is alone in his own life, Hesse contradicts this with an ubermensch who is born different, someone who will find others like him, someone who will has a clear vision of what people are like and who he is, an individual, an ubermensch. Hermann Hesse's Demian is not at all about growing up, or understanding "how the world works", Hesse is not for the average reader, but he will only be understood by those who understand themselves and can see themselves as individuals instead of part of the mass. On a more personal note: The very strong homosexual tendencies in this book intensify the emotional appeal of the book and are also simply satisfying.

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Summary: It didn't impress me
Review: I read this book because I liked Siddharta even after losing my interest in Eastern religions. This book is different in that it is about a guy whose best friend is a complete know-it-all and more or less a guide into the Nietzchean world of modern society versus the old prep school mentality. Demian is either a gifted youth or the narrator's highly evolved alterego.

The puzzle over what makes Demian tick distracts from this book. As there is no Fight Club revelation, the reader is left guessing at that. If they are friends, why is Demian so odd. If Demian is the alter ego, does his appearance in WWI mirror the narrator's own end.

THis is a good book because of the writing style and the speeches of Demian but the relationship between the boys doesn't ring true and the overall point of the book if there is a point eludes me.

One thing that redeems this book is that it isn't just a rehash of the Eastern religion texts. Authors in this genre (especially Richard Bach and Starhawk) tend to write the same crap over and over again because the audience inhales it with vigor. Hesse is actually giving us a challenging work and if it is ultimately a failure it's not mediocre.

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Summary: A classic
Review: This book is one hesse's best works amazing

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Summary: Fascinating story of frustrated adolescence...
Review: It would be inappropriate to start this review without stating that this book is an absolute timeless classic, and will most likely remain that way. Herman Hesse was a frustrated genius, constantly questioning purpose and meaning to life, and incessantly seeking the "right" religion. This book is the byproduct of this experimentation in theology. Despite the deep philosophical questions this book addresses, it also establishes very unique characters that support each other's individuality remarkably. Max Demian, the mystical character of the novel, takes in Emil Sinclair as his friend. Through his maturation, Emil is constantly seeking a higher level of consciousness, and his experiences in the discovery of such a mindset and periodic association with Max make this book extremely engaging. At times the book may seem difficult to understand if one is not familiar with certain biblical references, which are quickly remedied with short reads yielding absolute clarity on such subjects. If accompanied by "Pictor's Metamorphoses" one can see the foundation of fantasy Hesse worked with and held a great interest in. It deserves to be read, because you also bear the sign.

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Summary: Forbidden Treasures and Mysterious Tales
Review: In Hermann Hesse's Demian, Emil Sinclair develops into a self-cognizant man after experiencing true friendship and the purity of life. Immaturity and innocence surround him as a child until a confidant by the name of Max Demian places him on the path to understanding, opening Sinclair's eyes to the feebleness of life and helping him to recognize his true purpose.

Beginning life in the "realm of light," Sinclair passes through life scorned as an outcast. After telling a small lie in order to gain peer approval, an inner destruction begins to take place.

Not until Demian, whose "manner and bearing was that of a prince disguised among farm boys," enters Sinclair's life, do things begin to brighten. Demian seems to be able to look past the lonely and depressed appearance of Sinclair directly into his soul.

After much conversing, Sinclair realizes the vastness of Demian's intelligence and that Demian's magnificent mental strength can overpower anyone or anything. As he begins to develop more understanding, Sinclair, himself enters the dark realm of forbidden treasures and mysterious tales; nothing matters to him anymore except his inner being, much in the "way leaves fall around a tree in autumn, a tree unaware of the rain running down its sides, of the sun or the frost, and of life gradually retreating inward. The tree does not die. It waits."

Once separated from Demian, however, Sinclair's life begins to deteriorate and "once again he belonged entirely to the world of darkness and to the devil," until another great power enters his life in the form of the woman, Beatrice, who is able to resurrect the image of Demian, profoundly affecting Sinclair's deepest emotions. It is, however, when a man named Pistorius enters Sinclair's life that he comes to a new understanding and progresses in discovering himself through his own dreams, thoughts and intimations.

Sinclair does reunite with Demian and also develops a relationship with Demian's mother, Frau Eva, but when war breaks out in Russia the three are once again separated. Sinclair and Demian, however, are destined to meet again. But in the meantime Sinclair always carried the image of Demian with him, remarking, "Sometimes when I find the key and climb deep into myself I need only bend over that dark mirror to behold my own image, now completely resembling him, my brother, my master."

While not as dark as Steppenwolf nor as dense as The Glass Bead Game, Demian does explore the darker regions of human nature and many of Hesse's profound thoughts will linger long after readers have finished this book.

Demian is truly Hesse at his finest and his writing is not only powerful, it is also simple and direct. The characters come alive and we feel connected to Sinclair from the first sentence.

A powerful exploration of both "separateness" and "connectedness," Demian is one of those rare books with the ability to enter one's soul and alter one's life.

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Summary: A Gnostic Parable
Review: Yes, this novel is wonderful, but it is not as brilliantly original as everyone is saying. The idea of a virtuous "Mark of Cain" comes from Gnosticism--the Judeo-Christian variation that believed Yahweh (the old test. god) was evil and imprisoned Adam and Eve in the Garden. The serpant with his knowledge saved the day. Gnosticism was wiped off the Earth (almost) in the 4th C. when it was declared a heracy. Luckily for us, some egyptians discovered a burried library containing gnostic texts at Nag Hammadi in the 1950s (or around then). The link is that one of the gnostic scriptures was purchased by Jung who was very close to Hesse. Hence the genesis of the plot. Like other HH books, this will be enjoyed by spiritual seekers who are thoughtful. This book could possibly change your entire perspective on Genesis and your cultural upbringing. Not for the fundamental Christian types or those who don't love to have their minds blown wide open by the power of a new idea.

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Summary: Disturbing.
Review: If you hate yourself and if you hate the world, if you want everything to end and nothing last except for one thing that is doomed anyways, you must read this book. It will uphold your beliefs that the world is a bad place and then it will reinstate it as the world is not a bad place. But you will not believe it, you will seek a friend. Your friend will not betray you, maybe it's just you. It is all you, you hate the world, the world is you, you hate yourself. The world dies when you die. You die when the world dies. And more importantly, it's just a figment of your imagination?