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sarahetc's review against another edition
Life's too short. I'm sure this would have been mind-boggling as a teeanger, but I am old and over this sort of nonsense.
kartofffel's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
theuncultured's review against another edition
4.0
Brilliant, brilliant Hesse! He hits the exact chords for me in this book. Books, intellect, solitude, relationships, obsession with dead authors, Mozart in the most unusual dialogue, dancing, insane women, and so much more! The ending felt like a whole different book but was just as delightful (and sad) as the rest of it. It's intriguing how people are able to relate to certain authors more than others - and honestly, excessively relieving as well. Recommend to anyone with a wild oppressed heart.
NEW REVIEW (2023)
“An easy life, an easy love, an easy death - these were not for me.”
It’s been weeks since I put the book down but it remains cracked open in my head, despite having moved on to other reads. Who can forgive Hesse for entering their dreams and implanting himself in the center of it, demanding a loss of control and an enrichment of sensitivity in the senses? Every time I read one of his books I’m transported to another world, one that surely and definitely (and last time I checked) doesn’t exist, couldn’t possibly exist. And yet I wish it wasn’t so, I wish we could distort reality however we wanted to and be as fantastical and unrigid as we can.
The idea behind losing all of your senses and simply being a part of whatever nature comes at you is so freeing and so terrifyingly good. And this is Steppenwolf. I can’t tell you what the book is about - you have to find that out for yourself - but I will tell you this.
In Steppenwolf, we’re confronted with the idea that man is half human and half wolf—a line in the middle of his soul that materializes to separate the two beings into simple suggestions of good and evil. As soon as we learn and believe so, we’re confronted with another idea that denies it; a man can’t possibly be two things alone. As Walt Whitman famously wrote in his poem Song of Myself,
Do I contradict myself?
Very well then I contradict myself,
(I am large, I contain multitudes.)
Therefore a man is made up of hundreds and hundreds of souls and can’t possibly confine himself to either man (respectful, polite, adhering to normal society) or wolf (bestial, savage, and refuses to find joy in the mundane.) At this realization, our main character Harry, a misanthrope and hater of entertainment, spirals out of control. He meets many characters on his philosophical quests and loathes every single one of them and the very being that they contain. We find Harry constantly suicidal and depressive, declaring the world a nuisance filled with inanities and foolishness that he wants no part of.
Until he meets Hermine, the androgynous mystery woman, who introduces him to the very frivolities that he once declared to be the downfall of society. Although hesitant at first, Harry manages to accept the idea that another world can possibly be as important as his. Something changes his tune, perhaps a good sleep in the middle of dancing club one night, or the curiosity as to how these people can manage to find joy in this absolute horror of a state of mind, or who really knows? Except Harry himself. He foxtrots to the other side, all while battling the wolf inside his soul and his journey takes him to a series of magical existences and conversations with Mozart and Goethe, two dead souls that he previously esteemed so highly during his lonesome existence. He is faced with the images of his previous, snobbishly dressed self and the new self that Hermine delivers into him—a fondness of the real world, with all its uncouth and bourgeois tendencies.
The last part of the book is very different from the rest of it. It will take you on a very trippy, half-philosophical, half-melancholic ride that you might find it hard to differentiate between what is reality and what is made up. When we at last come to the end of it (for it is a very dense part of the book) where Harry is liberated from his anger and lack of sympathy, after having immersed himself into the worlds of others, we can’t help but ask ourselves—was it worth it, is he finally happy?
Nonetheless the experience of the book is something very crucial, especially to those who find themselves on the outskirts of society, and can’t fathom the ideologies that common people are sprinting after (and even glorifying to some extent.) It also remains important to those on the other side, who find it hard to understand people who feel lonely all the time, despite the massive interference of society around them. In their minds, that to be included and happy, one only had to succumb and be with the rest and what fool would choose to do otherwise?
NEW REVIEW (2023)
“An easy life, an easy love, an easy death - these were not for me.”
It’s been weeks since I put the book down but it remains cracked open in my head, despite having moved on to other reads. Who can forgive Hesse for entering their dreams and implanting himself in the center of it, demanding a loss of control and an enrichment of sensitivity in the senses? Every time I read one of his books I’m transported to another world, one that surely and definitely (and last time I checked) doesn’t exist, couldn’t possibly exist. And yet I wish it wasn’t so, I wish we could distort reality however we wanted to and be as fantastical and unrigid as we can.
The idea behind losing all of your senses and simply being a part of whatever nature comes at you is so freeing and so terrifyingly good. And this is Steppenwolf. I can’t tell you what the book is about - you have to find that out for yourself - but I will tell you this.
In Steppenwolf, we’re confronted with the idea that man is half human and half wolf—a line in the middle of his soul that materializes to separate the two beings into simple suggestions of good and evil. As soon as we learn and believe so, we’re confronted with another idea that denies it; a man can’t possibly be two things alone. As Walt Whitman famously wrote in his poem Song of Myself,
Do I contradict myself?
Very well then I contradict myself,
(I am large, I contain multitudes.)
Therefore a man is made up of hundreds and hundreds of souls and can’t possibly confine himself to either man (respectful, polite, adhering to normal society) or wolf (bestial, savage, and refuses to find joy in the mundane.) At this realization, our main character Harry, a misanthrope and hater of entertainment, spirals out of control. He meets many characters on his philosophical quests and loathes every single one of them and the very being that they contain. We find Harry constantly suicidal and depressive, declaring the world a nuisance filled with inanities and foolishness that he wants no part of.
Until he meets Hermine, the androgynous mystery woman, who introduces him to the very frivolities that he once declared to be the downfall of society. Although hesitant at first, Harry manages to accept the idea that another world can possibly be as important as his. Something changes his tune, perhaps a good sleep in the middle of dancing club one night, or the curiosity as to how these people can manage to find joy in this absolute horror of a state of mind, or who really knows? Except Harry himself. He foxtrots to the other side, all while battling the wolf inside his soul and his journey takes him to a series of magical existences and conversations with Mozart and Goethe, two dead souls that he previously esteemed so highly during his lonesome existence. He is faced with the images of his previous, snobbishly dressed self and the new self that Hermine delivers into him—a fondness of the real world, with all its uncouth and bourgeois tendencies.
The last part of the book is very different from the rest of it. It will take you on a very trippy, half-philosophical, half-melancholic ride that you might find it hard to differentiate between what is reality and what is made up. When we at last come to the end of it (for it is a very dense part of the book) where Harry is liberated from his anger and lack of sympathy, after having immersed himself into the worlds of others, we can’t help but ask ourselves—was it worth it, is he finally happy?
Nonetheless the experience of the book is something very crucial, especially to those who find themselves on the outskirts of society, and can’t fathom the ideologies that common people are sprinting after (and even glorifying to some extent.) It also remains important to those on the other side, who find it hard to understand people who feel lonely all the time, despite the massive interference of society around them. In their minds, that to be included and happy, one only had to succumb and be with the rest and what fool would choose to do otherwise?
indium's review against another edition
3.0
Surprisingly engaging and less enigmatic than I would expect from a book with inspirations such as Niche. Deep and emotive, though a little bit too "self-sorry" in a way for my own liking.
yaggayagga's review against another edition
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? No
2.0
lucjaaa's review against another edition
3.0
Może jestem za głupia, ale jakaś słaba była ta książka.
heatherfeii's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
kamilkah's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5