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A review by lori85
The Journey to the East by Hermann Hesse
4.0
The Journey to the East is a short, meandering tale that is equal parts mystic and mundane. Narrator H.H. is lonely, unhappy man who used to be a choirmaster but who has since sold his beloved violin and abandoned music. He claims to have once been a member of "the League," a religious/philosophical sect whose members have included such luminaries as Mozart, Plato, Don Quixote, and Paul Klee. Some time ago, shortly following the Great War, H.H. and a small group of League members undertook a journey through time and space, attempting to reach "the East" in hopes of attaining spiritual enlightenment. Instead, the whole lofty enterprise collapsed into mindless squabbling following the mysterious departure of the much-loved servant Leo. A disillusioned H.H. left the Journey and the League shortly thereafter, and now struggles to recall the events that transpired during his time in the League and set them to paper.
Whether the League actually exists or not is left up for debate. The Journey to the East is describes as both a literal, geographic journey and a metaphysical exploration of the collective human experience of art, literature, music, science, philosophy, and the intellect. H.H. tells us that
Though the prose is simple and straightforward, H.H.'s brief descriptions of his time on the Journey, particularly the Bremgarten episode, are reminiscent of the hallucinatory fantasy sequences that characterize the climactic party and the Magic Theatre in [b:Steppenwolf|16631|Steppenwolf|Hermann Hesse|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1389332672s/16631.jpg|57612]. In Steppenwolf, Henry Haller's proto-psychedelic experiences come at the culmination of his evolution from bourgeoisie conformity to liberation and self-realization. H.H., in Journey to the East, similarly recalls that the "first principle of our great period" was to "never rely on and let myself be disconcerted by reason" and to "always know that faith is stronger than so-called reality." Taken together with Steppenwolf, Hesse seems to equate intellectual and psychological growth with looking "beyond the veil," so to speak - of breaking through the physical world to some higher plane.
Read more.
Whether the League actually exists or not is left up for debate. The Journey to the East is describes as both a literal, geographic journey and a metaphysical exploration of the collective human experience of art, literature, music, science, philosophy, and the intellect. H.H. tells us that
this expedition to the East was not only mine and now; this procession of believers and disciples had always and incessantly been moving towards the East, towards the Home of Light. Throughout the centuries it had been on the way, towards light and wonder, and each member, each group, indeed our whole host and great pilgrimage, was only a wave in the eternal stream of human beings, of the eternal strivings of the human spirit towards the East, towards Home.
Though the prose is simple and straightforward, H.H.'s brief descriptions of his time on the Journey, particularly the Bremgarten episode, are reminiscent of the hallucinatory fantasy sequences that characterize the climactic party and the Magic Theatre in [b:Steppenwolf|16631|Steppenwolf|Hermann Hesse|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1389332672s/16631.jpg|57612]. In Steppenwolf, Henry Haller's proto-psychedelic experiences come at the culmination of his evolution from bourgeoisie conformity to liberation and self-realization. H.H., in Journey to the East, similarly recalls that the "first principle of our great period" was to "never rely on and let myself be disconcerted by reason" and to "always know that faith is stronger than so-called reality." Taken together with Steppenwolf, Hesse seems to equate intellectual and psychological growth with looking "beyond the veil," so to speak - of breaking through the physical world to some higher plane.
Read more.