Description

‘The classic literal-metaphorical journey’ Guardian

A classic meditation on artistic creation and the quest for spiritual transcendence from the Nobel Prize-winning author of Siddhartha

In the aftermath of the Great War, a band of artists embarks on a journey traversing space and time. Each is on a different quest, but all are united in a vow of secrecy. Years later, a writer tries to set down an account of the voyage, thereby breaking his vow – only to find words, memories, and his very sense of self beginning to slip from his grasp.

A kaleidoscopic narrative reeling between despair and elation, Hermann Hesse’s novel is a profound meditation on creativity and spiritual transcendence.

Part of the Pushkin Press Classics series: timeless storytelling by icons of literature, hand-picked from around the globe.

Translated by Hilda Rosner.

Hermann Hesse (1877-1962) was born in was born in Wurttemberg, Germany. He resented his pious and repressive upbringing, and was determined to be ‘a writer or nothing else’. His writing was greatly influenced by his travels to Asia and his friendship with psychoanalyst Carl Jung. In 1946 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. Several of his novels are available or forthcoming from Pushkin Press Classics, including Siddhartha, Narcissus and Goldmund and Demian.

Publisher Review

‘A great writer… complex, subtle, allusive.’ – The New York Times

‘The classic literal-metaphorical journey.’ – The Guardian

‘[Hesses] simplicity belies galaxies of knowledge in motion–history, theology, psychology, philosophy. Rilke, T. S. Eliot, Gide, Thomas Mann rightly called Hesse a master.’ – Life