Steppenwolf Book Review by Herman Hesse

Steppenwolf is a novel by Herman Hesse with lots of deep messages about life and in particular, our approach to it.

I would say that despite this book at times being a tad odd (especially the third part), it is a book for those who feel they are in a "liminal" space between longing for the old world yet fearing the new world if they don't approach this new world with the right mindset.

Steppenwolf tells us that as humans, we have - and need to have - different personalities. We're not just humans or wolves. This is a book I'll definitely be rereading so it will stay on my bookshelves. It's a book for this time - and indeed a book for any middle-ager (like me).

While reading this book, I had the strong image of the Yin/Yang symbol - a fluidity - which indeed, the book read like I was on some psychedelic.

Over to you.

What did you think of this book?
What were the key themes that stood out for you?
Which door would you step through if you had to relive your life?

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[lukasruzicka]

I just read this book and it was really deep/psychedelic experience. I agree with everything that you said about the book. :)

[GarryCochrane]

Very enjoyble and I have the book on my shelf so I better give it a read.

[sixtieralone]

im a teen and when i read it i deeply related to it, i think it has the best description of suicidality that ive ever read and i really latched onto it, though there are parts which i think are unique to middle age and i cant fully understand (my copy even has a warning from Hesse in the front to young people who have latched onto it despite being able to understand which i ignored).
then again many of my favourite books are about middle age

[DefaultName-nttk]

Helen you had an amazing review of this book.

[questioneverything]

Woohoo one of my favorites!!!! Glad you reviewed it finally 🙂

[questioneverything]

I would recommend if you come across it The Novels of Hermann Hesse: A Study in Theme and Structure by Theodore Ziolkowski. It can be found on archive if you are interested or your library doesn't have a copy. I got my used copy some years back online. Chapter 9 pages 178-228 deal specifically with this novel and I think you find it worth your time to read it.

[MrNeroCat]

1st: Goethe was more of a poet than philosopher (I mean.. ok.. granted, there is much "philosophy" in his works, but that is the case with almost all poetry/writing art) If anything, he was a science man (in addition to being a poet)

2nd: I read the "Steppenwolf" and "Glasperlenspiel" and.. well.. I still don't like Hesse :D ... A friend of mine said, it is because I didn't read it as a Teen, but in my mid twenties. So yes, it seems Hesse really "speaks" to (modern) teens somehow

[questioneverything]

One of the mistakes in interpreting the text, per Hesse, is to take it literally: Hesse provided a short introductory note to the text in 1961, in which he states that "of all my books Steppenwolf is the one that was more often and more violently misunderstood than any other." One of the keys to the text, to me, is the magical theater where transcendence takes place. Another is that he leaves the text behind and it is the nephew who is actually narrating. The nephew ultimately changes his opinion about haller. Another interesting thing is that Haller had been to that town before.