thisisasongaboutpain's review against another edition
adventurous
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
4.0
awilderm23's review against another edition
4.0
'I asked the servant Leo why it was that artists sometimes appeared to be only half-alive, while their creations seemed so irrefutably alive. Leo looked at me, surprised at my question. The he released the poodle he was holding in his arms and said: "It is the same with mothers. When they have borne their children and given them their milk and beauty and strength, they themselves become invisible, and no one asks about them anymore." "But that is sad," I said, without really thinking very much about it. "I do not think it is sadder than all other things. Perhaps it is sad and also beautiful."'
strawberrydream's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
3.5
interesting, a little unsettling, but mostly a book about how by searching for truth you can easily become blinded. the account in the final chapter of Leo’s disappearance struck me- having that vitality of life sucked out of you. short and sweet, Hesse’s prose is beautiful and a dream to read. definitely worth a go.
chairmanbernanke's review against another edition
3.0
Mostly about journeying, recognition, and understanding.
beak's review against another edition
3.0
Certainly didn't wow me, but it does seem like the kind of book that needs (and likely deserves) a second read.
tsenteme's review against another edition
5.0
Κάθε φορά που διαβάζω Hesse, διαπιστώνω πόσο μεγάλος συγγραφέας είναι.
lookhome's review against another edition
4.0
Hesse's The Journey To The East is arguably a precursor to Olga Tokarczuk's Flights.
Unlike Kafka or Pessoa, this work is intentionally and purposefully constructed as a fragment
and it is as a fragment that The Journey To The East crafts a sort of rhythmic inner experience.
This experience is more comparable to Narcissus and Golmund and Siddhartha than Steppenwolf.
It consists of a journey best described as set or series of philosophical fragments that present the reader with situations that allow for and arguably demand self-reflection.
While the narrative is relatively straightforward, the conclusion transforms the text into a sort of prayer or ritual.
By its end, it become an entity unto itself, think House of Leaves or Invisible Cities.
The text's events serve as a sort of ritual documentation towards seeing things as they are.
To most readers, the journey provides a metamorphosis allows its observer to discover how to prepare for a meaningful personal transformation.
If this sounds a little hoity toity it isn't.
This is a grounded text that creates a sort of mental space where this process seems inevitable.
Read it and find out for yourselves.
I read it because it was on Patti Smith's recommended reading list.
Unlike Kafka or Pessoa, this work is intentionally and purposefully constructed as a fragment
and it is as a fragment that The Journey To The East crafts a sort of rhythmic inner experience.
This experience is more comparable to Narcissus and Golmund and Siddhartha than Steppenwolf.
It consists of a journey best described as set or series of philosophical fragments that present the reader with situations that allow for and arguably demand self-reflection.
While the narrative is relatively straightforward, the conclusion transforms the text into a sort of prayer or ritual.
By its end, it become an entity unto itself, think House of Leaves or Invisible Cities.
The text's events serve as a sort of ritual documentation towards seeing things as they are.
To most readers, the journey provides a metamorphosis allows its observer to discover how to prepare for a meaningful personal transformation.
If this sounds a little hoity toity it isn't.
This is a grounded text that creates a sort of mental space where this process seems inevitable.
Read it and find out for yourselves.
I read it because it was on Patti Smith's recommended reading list.