Hermann Hesse is Still My Favorite Novelist

Although I was first introduced to him as a child, twenty years later I still love the novelist Hermann
Hesse for some very strange reasons.

When you are younger, there are plenty of recommended reading lists that address your level of literacy. Like every other kid, I was given this kind of list, but took it seriously. Each year, I was in a competition to finish the entire list for each level.

Through these methods, in sixth grade, I was introduced to Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse. It was at that point that I realized that there were people that thought like I did. 25 years later, I am still finding new meaning each time I read through the collection written by my favorite novelist.

Siddhartha Was a Good Start

In many ways, I found the history and culture of Siddhartha interesting and that is what lured me to Hesse's other works. In seventh grade, I read Steppenwolf and Demian on my own. When I attempted to read The Glass Bead Game in middle school, I found I was simply in over my head.

Later on, I would realize that you needed more life experience to really enjoy a book of that kind. Of course, I found Steppenwolf readable, but it was with Hesse's description of the relationship between Sinclair and Demian that I found the inner tickings of my clock.

Hermann Hesse and Are a Lot Alike

Of all books, it will always be Demian that still holds my rapt attention. For this reason, I wanted to learn more about the life of my favorite writer. The details I found made me realize why I would like Hesse so much. When I read Hesse's autobiography at the Nobel Prize website, I was astounded to learn of our similarities.

Like mine, his family was composed of different nationalities and he was raised with a strong religious background. There were also silly coincidences such as the fact that he was born in 1877 and I was born in 1977.

In addition, when we were children, we were expected to live with a monastic element in our home life that comes from being a child of religious leaders. However, one other strange similarity happened to both Hesse and I that still sends chills up my spine.

One Major Similarity Becomes the Difference

Like Hesse, as an adult I succumbed to a disorder that affected my vision. However, this meant the end of a writing career for Hesse and the beginning of mine. Unfortunately, during Hesse's lifetime (1877 to 1962), low-vision assisting computer technology did not exist.

For this reason, I feel inspired by the loss Hesse had that I will never experience. When it is difficult for me to clear my head from writer's block, I think about the frustration that he must have felt as he went blind and think to myself, "you can do it for Hermann!"

If I am lucky, I will follow his example and become an award winning freelance writer just like the novelist that has inspired and entertained me all of these years. In the meantime, I am getting to know some his lesser works, poems, and reading more literary criticism on the esoteric themes in his career.