Reviews

I really enjoyed a decent amount of it, probably about 4 stars worth, but there was absolutely no way in hell this book needed to drag on this long. Just, why? How interesting could a dude who sits in an intellectual monastic order playing a game somewhere between trivia and chess actually be? For all the superlatives given him, Knecht is mostly pretty boring, and really, REALLY not worth this many pages of fictional biography. I still struggle to figure out how Hesse even filled this many pages? When I think back on what happened, I can't figure out what all that space was even used for.

Not a terrible book, but I was ready for it to make a graceful end and exit about halfway through. No idea why it didn't, other than Hesse liking the sound of his own voice, so to speak. And to have a ton of material after the character's death feels like flogging an already half-decomposed corpse. I do NOT care about his poetry unless it was relevant *during* the story. I don't care about his infantile ideas of other lives he could have lived - they could have easily been summarized to get the point across, rather than torturing an already exhausted reader with of this guy's sheltered life and ideas.

dima2800's review against another edition

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challenging inspiring reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

sonitus's review against another edition

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reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

annamarni_'s review against another edition

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Honestly this book is too dense and challenging for me to read atm whilst still studying full time
Hope to revisit it later in life ! 😅 just don’t have the time or brain power rn

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