This was my introduction to Hesse. Since I know little about both Buddhism and Hinduism I had difficulty deciding which religion this book is based on. These religions share so much I couldn't decide. After researching Hesse I saw his attachment to India so I felt this book must be based on Hinduism.

Siddhartha is born into the Brahmin class and excels as a student. He questions everything. He decides that becoming a priest is a questionable goal in life and decides to try another path, asceticism. His friend Govinda goes along. They give up all material goods, lived in and off the forest and what food they could get by begging. He had all he needed or wanted. Life was great. After several years they seek out The Illustrious One, Buddha. They attend a lecture. Govinda decides to become a monk and follow Buddha. Siddhartha has a reservation and decides to go his own way, sadly leaving Govinda behind.

Buddha has opened Siddhartha's eyes, he appreciates everything around him. Nature feels more alive than ever. He wanders from the forest to explore nearby villages and is amazed by the beauty he finds there. As a handsome male he is approached by a young woman who is interested in him despite his dirty appearance but something makes him resist. He senses something still inappropriate even though he sees life differently. As he wanders further he encounters Kamala, a courtesan of outstanding beauty. She sees his beauty but lets him know she must reject anyone with dirt on his skin, wearing clothing only a poor person would wear and someone with no means to give her expensive gifts. She points him to a rich merchant would could mentor him to become the type of person would might be acceptable to the beautiful Kamala. The merchant hires him and teaches him the ways of commerce, things totally foreign to how his has been taught to interact with people. It takes several years. He becomes a different person, very rich, owns several houses, has much material wealth and becomes Kamala's lover. A total transformation. But eventually it didn't matter. More was no longer better. It was time to move on and even leave Kamala. Unbeknownst to him, he leaves Kamala with child.

He disappears, leaving all behind. He is despondent. He sees no purpose to his life. He returns to the forest and encounters a river where a ferryman helped him across twenty years ago. The same ferryman is there. The ferryman takes people across regardless of whether they can pay him. And yet he still survives and lives simply. Doing a small thing for others is sufficient. The river speaks to him. Siddhartha has no money but still wears the fine clothes he wore in his former life. He offers to trade his fine clothes for passage. The riverman remembers him from twenty years ago when Siddhartha was a Samana who slept in his hut. He offers Siddhartha space in his hut again. Siddhartha wants nothing more than to stay with the ferryman and learn from the river. He does this for the next twenty years. Eventually a young rich boy arrives from the city after his mother, Kamala has died. This is when Siddhartha learns he has a son. He takes the son into the hut and tries to show him the simple ways. The son rebels even though his father has been patient and never demanding. He runs back to the city taking the small amount of money that Siddhartha had earned as a ferryman. Siddhartha realizes he must let his son go to discover these things for himself.

Life is transitory. Enjoy what's around you. ( )

Transformative. ( )

Revolutionary in regards to my perception of living. ( )

El mejor libro que he leído en años ( )

I may not have read this at the right time and appreciate that this kind of novel (albeit short novel) requires some more focus than maybe other literature.

That being said, it still felt like a compromise to what Buddhism truly is and this is coming from someone with a cursory knowledge of Buddhism. It's a little weird having a white German write a book about an Indian Buddhist in the early 1900s at the height (or collapse depending on where you were) of British Colonialism. It feels a little....superficial.

There are some golden nuggets of wisdom here though, especially the idea that we "do" and believe a lot of things because that is the path life has taken us done, but how can you truly believe something if you have not lived it?

Interesting book, but definitely not my favorite in terms of philosophy. ( )