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Narcissus and Goldmundby Hermann Hesse
One of the most beautiful books I've read. The QUEST of Life.
Rating ***** 5 stars out of 5.
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Absorbing, exciting, touching, meaningful; Hesse's greatest work.In my college years, Hermann Hesse was one author that was considered required reading with my peers. I read and reread all of his better known novels including Demian, Steppenwolf, Siddhartha (to me, the lesser of the group), Journey to the East, The Glass Bead Game: (Magister Ludi) and others. These are great novels and well worth the read, but of all of Hesse's work, it is Narcissus and Goldmund that moved me most deeply (I read it in one sitting, unable to put it down) and it is the novel (of Hesse's) to which I have returned to most often to reread.
Like all of Hesse's novels, it is about the very meaning of life (more directly, about the pursuit of the meaning of life), but here the writing is less self-conscious, simpler in some ways (very linear story lines), but much more complex in the exploring the depths of the human experience, and this book ultimately strikes me most deeply of everything he wrote. It has more insight, more poetry, an honest acceptance of being human, and is the most touching. It the most Existential in some ways, but touches on the mystical in the artistic in a more profound effect, than the more "metaphysical" manner of the earlier novels.
This novel is about two medieval men with a very deep friendship but with very different temperaments. The meet in a monastery (after the death of Goldmund's mother). They appear to be complete opposites each seeks to bring meaning to their existence; Narcissus (representing the Masculine) seeks peace and salvation (purity of mind) within a quiet religious life in a monastery, while Goldmund (representing the Feminine) is burning with the desire to experience life and throws himself into the world. The men separate to following their own paths. We follow the lives of both of these men, and in their contrasting experiences, Hesse is able to bring out the conflict between flesh and spirit, emotion and control, ambition and modesty.
Hesse writes powerfully and beautifully on the conflict between the Apollonian (understanding; form, order, restraint, conforming, the world of the intellect/mind) and the Dionysian (experience; passion, frivolity, lust, expression, the world of images/symbol/beauty).
The story is about finding one's way, and being true to one's inner nature. Narcissus lives a life of constraint but has purpose for him. Goldmund is unhappy in the monastery, and Narcissus tells him "be yourself, try to realize yourself" and encourages him to find his own way.
Goldmund then wanders the world in search of adventure, love and ultimately self-discovery . He has fantastic adventures, experiences the good and bad of humanity, murder, love, prison, friendship, is surrounded by the Black Plague, and in the mist of all these hardships, he finds meaning and beauty (at one point he sees a woman giving birth and observes in the expression on her face, a profound connection with the expression he has seen on the face's of the woman when he's made love to them at the point when they experience ecstasy). He carries this imagine within for many year. Later he discovers (after being profoundly touched by the beauty of wooden statue of the Madonna) the artist within himself and a new purpose and direction for his life. He becomes an apprenticed artist and works with a great artist who becomes his mentor.
Then when he develops his own skills (sacrificing the wild experiences and settling down to work) he creates a sculpture of the Madonna that encases the expression of the woman's face that he carried in his memory for all those years. Finally in this creation, Goldmund finds purpose, and contentment (or satisfaction); in it he is able to fully express the loss of his mother and at the same time he is able to capture the beauty of the feminine (drawn from the memories of all the woman he has loved).
In their old age, the two friends are reunited, in a profoundly meaningful and touching conclusion.
Augustine said" Only the passionate heart is pure" and "Revelation is not revelation unless it reveals a man to himself."
Ultimately this is a novel about each of us, the dilemma of life, and the paths that we choose as either spiritual pilgrims or artistic souls on the road of life (can one harmonize and join both paths?). This was perfectly timed for me, in my early twenties, this book seems to express artistically and poignantly the central conflict of my life.
When I was younger (and idealistically "spiritual"), I definitely believed in Goldmund's view that beauty and life itself are ultimately transitory (I am Buddhist). However, I burned with passion and was totally absorbed in the joy and adoration for the beauty and meaning of music; Then, as I grew wiser (certainly open to debate) I came to realize that the transitory nature of life itself is one of the reasons that it is so precious, and so important to live every moment, and that a great creation of art (music, literature) lives forever, for all eternity the symphonies of Mozart will resound though the Eternal Being that is eternally singing them. But that's another conversation (see my writing on The Tantric Path: As the Path best suited for the Western mind). (((I find it unbelievable that this has not been made into a movie))
In Tarot: Narcissus is Wand and Sword; Fire and Air (mind, intellect, control, direction),
Goldmund is Cup and Pentacle; Water and Earth (feelings, inspiration, intuition, beauty, earth)
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The Brothers KaramazovFyodor Dostoevsky, Richard Pevear (a great translation)Rating ***** 4.5 stars out of 5.
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intense, penetrating, introspective, questioning, provocative,
profound, despairing, intriguing, dark, philosophical
diverse, effervescent, archetypical (symbolic), exciting, surprising, tragic,
very intellectual but also passionate
A profoundly moving human drama, a meditation on the human condition. Dostoevsky's last novel is his masterpiece. This book has so much (in it's 800 pages), an Existential murder mystery, an examination and questioning of the purpose of faith and the value and intentions of religious organizations, humor and satire. It is filled with burning emotion, insanity, evil and good; profound contemplations on the meaning of life.
It's is a story about the struggles of the human soul in its quest to find God and redemption; it suggests that redemption is only possible through suffering which is the path to the self-knowledge that is necessary before one can truly love God and others.
"Where there is no God, all is permitted." - Dostoevsky
This quote says it all: this novel explores the consequences of man's denial of God in his life.
The circumstances of the story presents it's intriguing characters mired deeply in the human condition (in this book, perhaps predicament is more accurate). This touches so squarely on the dilemmas of life that the story is truly a classic and timeless and will be meaningful as long as humans are human.
Many years ago, I spend a winter reading all the "great" Russian
novels. This was easily my favorite and the one that have reread several times.
This is the story of a despicable, bitter (but rich) old man and his
three sons. Each son is unique in character and seeking to find their way
individually and in different directions. Obviously these characters portray
aspects of each human personality: Mitya worldly, sensual; Ivan intellectual,
practical; and Alyosha kindly, spiritually. (And the "4th brother", Smerdyakov,
is the worse truly evil, sly, interfering, and cruel)
A woman seeks to win the father (for his fortune), there is distrust, a love-triangle, a murder and a mystery. Near the end, there is a surprising psychological plot twist that was completely innovative then, and has been copied a hundred times in recent movies.
Alyosha (the spiritual seeker) stands heroically (apparently) for the virtuous life (through a connection with the Divine) though surrounded by deception, violence, greed, depravity, indolence and corruption (that is sin and denial of God or Higher Purpose).
In the end, through all the dust and struggle, the story becomes
a testament to the goodness and bravery of those humans that choose to embody
those virtues. Most people (in this story) sink into the mire, unaware of the
truth, unaware of their potential, unaware that they have the power to choose
their "way of being"; instead they wallow in greed, sloth and (therefore) are
consumed in the resulting suffering.
The novel is very historical and nationalistic in the political/social/religious
picture that it paints (mid 19th Century Russia) and it judges religion in complete skepticism,
culminating in the famous chapter 'The Grand Inquisitor' which is a devastating
critique of organized religion. (which can be read on it's own). It is also the
earliest deeply "psychological" novel that I know (maybe outside of the Gothic
writers).
Through reading this novel, one can only be awakened to the import of being lucid enough to freely choose and decide one's "way of being" in life, rather than inheriting, and accepting (or even worse being driven) without questioning (and choosing) the role and part we play in life. This is truly a work of art than can change a person's view and perception of life.
Why 4.5 stars instead of 5? The book does have excess wordiness and too much repetition (I think it was a serial publication, he's was paid for length) and the 800 pages could easily be edited down by 100 or more pages and would only gain in the reduction. But still a masterpiece.
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Atlas Shrugged
The Magus
Copyright 1997-2008 David McClanahan
email: dba2@dmcclanahan.com
Last modified:
September 03, 2007
Updated: December 12, 2007 03:22:11 AM