Demian by Hermann Hesse - Book Chat

Demian by Hermann Hesse (originally published under the pseudonym Emil Sinclair). The edition that I read was the 2012 electronic edition of the 1948 publication by Henry Holt and Company with a forward by Thomas Mann.

Other Works Mentioned:
Definitely, Maybe by Boris and Arkady Strugatsky
The Last Temptation of Christ by Nikos Kazantzakis
By Steppe, Desert, and Ocean: The Birth of Eurasia by Barry Cunliffe

[sevdamustafazad]

“I wanted only to live in accord with the promptings which came from my true self. Why was that so very difficult? “
this is gold, i love love this quote and for the first time i heard someone else said it, thank u so much
love from Azerbaijan

[jiha]

BTS 'Blood Sweat and Tears' and 'Wings' album was based on Demian and so I had to read it for theory purpose and I'm really glad I did.

[brainsareus]

Hesse had a brilliant mind...!! was big in the 60's and 70's counterculture; sadly, kind of forgotten, today.

[tormentedbydesires]

I have never got obsessed with a novel more than Demian
It's truly a masterpiece!

[wuvvy]

love this book, im from bts wings xD i read it in german

[rhondamazilauskas]

I read the comments and want to add, that I too, was lead to read the book due to the influence of BTS!

[rexnemo]

I felt that in the writing of the character as a child that Hesse expressed the awkward way it feels to be an adolescent and how easy it is to get manipulated by others who have learnt how to control others, probably coming from abusive backgrounds . Demian was the kind of friend who changes the pathway for the better .

[KayleePham]

Read this book because of BTS. The book and BTS's Wings serie side by side lead to a more profound understanding of youth psychology development. It was an interesting read, and thanks to BTS for introducing this book to me

[zzonked]

Hey, Im german
Im not a gramma expert, but a lot of german literatur critics and interlectuals say that Hesse was a writer that wrote directly from his heart
This book was written in a very short time, I think 2 weeks or 2 months
And in my german books from Hesse I can see that. He writes in a very energetic and fluent style, that gives me a very specific feeling that I cant read in other books😁
I think it is hard to translate that perfect in other languages, because it is like an overall feeling that I can see in all of his books I read so far
And this feeling is the reason why Im a Hesse fanboy😁

Sorry for baaad english✌️

[underdoguknowme]

My name is Damion and I can say thanks for sharing this

[gabimic]

I know this is a bit late but thank you for this video, because it's quite hard to understand and because of your video I got the highest mark in my class

[Hugatree]

There seems to be some confusion as to who is real, fictional, imaginary? Keep in mind most of Hesse’s novels are somewhat autobiographical as the characters face the same moral and emotional challenges the world and Hesse himself was facing. The idea of Jungian archetypes and the shadow self were just emerging and I believe Demian was representative of this archetype of the higher, transcendent self. Hesse wrestled with the concepts of and the very real aspects of good and evil, the sacred and the profane, our quest for morality and immortality. His work is timeless and ultimately transcendent

[yourdadeatingacroissant]

it was two years ago i think, that i had found a list of books that bts has recommended and between these books, there was demian.
i really wanted to read it and even bought it, but i always forgot to read it because i wanted to see how bts has interpreted the book into their music videos, i think it's very interesting. and then lockdown came and i finally had some time to sit and read the book. it was fantastic, i loved hesse's way of thinking and describing things and what the whole story is about was interesting in some kind of way to me. at the end of the book, i cried, like cried my eyes out, because emil sinclair had finally, after so many years, found himself and what he is through max demian and pistoruis, now he didn't need nor had he someone to help him finding himself, because he already knew it.
it was a good read.

[underdoguknowme]

Yes I like the fact that you have chosen to read in such a field of study

[rajkojovi]

I´m a german native speaker and I read Siddhartha, plus I got the english version at home. I´ll read this, then I could give some input about the translation.

[temp]

There's something about the mix between psychological insights that ring true and genuine tension and strangeness that gives me a lot of pleasure to read. I too am curious as to what it is like in German, because for an American like myself, the strangeness (maybe uncanniness is a better phrase? im not sure) of say the description of Demien's mother is why i read Hesse purely for pleasure. Also you are right, he deals with "breaking out of your shell" so well, and it helps me in my own life to think about these characters.

[thekeywitness]

I read this book as a troubled young teenager and it changed my life.

[craighoyer]

What did Max tell the bully to get him to stop bullying Emil?

[bojanvrangeloski]

This was a book in my high school we needed to read, so glad i did ^^

[amelmahmoud]

THANK YOU, I NEEDED TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THIS NOVEL..THANKS