07-20-2016, 01:29 PM
I was thinking about rereading Hesse (not all of it, mainly Narcissus and Goldmund and The Glass Bead Game) and I discovered that there are two recent translations of Siddhartha. This one is the 2006 version by Susan Bernofsky. Back when I took German I read part of it in German, and translated the first couple of pages. The old translation (that blue paperback that you always see at book sales and the flea market) was pretty good, but this one is a little bit closer to the German and it gets the really poetic feel of it. (Note that Hesse's subtitle for the book was An Indian Poem.)
As literature, I think the main enjoyment comes from the flow of the language. I don't think there's some great message. He does almost in passing make the point that the Buddha's experience of enlightenment is beyond words, and therefore must be beyond the capability of the teachings to communicate or teach. Later there are several passages about listening to the river that I found a little hokey, and the very end I felt dragged on a bit. Interestingly, I found a midlife crisis is pivotal to the plot, which didn't really register when I first read it.
Enjoyable, but really just a trifle.
As literature, I think the main enjoyment comes from the flow of the language. I don't think there's some great message. He does almost in passing make the point that the Buddha's experience of enlightenment is beyond words, and therefore must be beyond the capability of the teachings to communicate or teach. Later there are several passages about listening to the river that I found a little hokey, and the very end I felt dragged on a bit. Interestingly, I found a midlife crisis is pivotal to the plot, which didn't really register when I first read it.
Enjoyable, but really just a trifle.
the hands that guide me are invisible
