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Available
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Publication
Bantam Doubleday Dell (1969), Edition: Mass Paperback Edition, Mass Market Paperback, 141 pages
Description
The accepted chronology of ancient Egypt, Persia and Babylonia is wrong to a dramatic degree, with some major historical events mis-dated by several centuries. Modern Egyptologists tell us that Seti I and Ramses II reigned 700 years before the rise of the Medes and Persians, but Emmet Sweeney marshals archeological and linguistic evidence to show that Ramses II's dynasty was terminated by the Persian Conquest of Egypt (525 BC). Matching events, matching biographies, and matching cultural artifacts identify Seti II, hailed by the Egyptians as a warrior and hero, with Inaros, the Egyptian patriot who waged war against Xerxes and was eventually impaled on the orders of Artaxerxes I.
User reviews
LibraryThing member Lenaphoenix
This book was one of my first introductions to the idea of following an unconventional spiritual path. Rereading it recently, I found the story of how Max Demian guided the young Emil Sinclair away from his familiar world and into the pursuit of spiritual fulfillment just as engrossing as I had the
I was also struck by how similar Demian’s message was to so many modern spiritual teachers today. The idea that he and Sinclair were among a select few with the courage to break free of societal limitations and help humanity leap forward into a new stage of evolution sounded exactly like something I might have heard yesterday from the local guru-du-jour. I found myself wondering just what it says about human evolution that this book was first published in 1919—does that mean humanity made a quantum leap back then, and is now working on a new one? Or are we still trying at that first one almost a hundred years later? Hmmm…..
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first time. I was also struck by how similar Demian’s message was to so many modern spiritual teachers today. The idea that he and Sinclair were among a select few with the courage to break free of societal limitations and help humanity leap forward into a new stage of evolution sounded exactly like something I might have heard yesterday from the local guru-du-jour. I found myself wondering just what it says about human evolution that this book was first published in 1919—does that mean humanity made a quantum leap back then, and is now working on a new one? Or are we still trying at that first one almost a hundred years later? Hmmm…..
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LibraryThing member M.Campanella
Demian
Hesse has yet to live up to his reputation as far as I am concerned. Of what little I have read nothing has stood out to me as having been fantastic. Demian did not do much to rectify this. It is another book about hollow nameless spirituality. The book has been described as elusive by the
And then it stopped short. At the end of the tunnel there appeared to be simply more tunnel.
Part of it might be my own fault. I am truly one of the people that will one day confront God with a simple ‘Would you have bought it?’ Keeping something vague does not spell a complicated argument for me – it spells poor articulation.
At the end of the book knowing that there indeed was this enclave of chosen people – who had somehow mysteriously been uplifted to a higher spiritual existence to which I simply was not and will not be invited – did not make me feel better.
It made me feel damned.
Hesse has yet to live up to his reputation as far as I am concerned. Of what little I have read nothing has stood out to me as having been fantastic. Demian did not do much to rectify this. It is another book about hollow nameless spirituality. The book has been described as elusive by the
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friend who handed it to me. I found it to be vague, though I can understand why some would mistake the one for the other. It has a lot to do with Hesse’s technical skill as a writer. He is, in that respect, good. But it is the substance of the piece that fails. The character Demian is seen throughout the book in an almost magical light, and it is the quest for the root of this magic that drove me as a reader to the end. And then it stopped short. At the end of the tunnel there appeared to be simply more tunnel.
Part of it might be my own fault. I am truly one of the people that will one day confront God with a simple ‘Would you have bought it?’ Keeping something vague does not spell a complicated argument for me – it spells poor articulation.
At the end of the book knowing that there indeed was this enclave of chosen people – who had somehow mysteriously been uplifted to a higher spiritual existence to which I simply was not and will not be invited – did not make me feel better.
It made me feel damned.
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LibraryThing member blake.rosser
I love Hesse, one of my favorite authors ever. Not only is the spirtualism/sensualism dichotomy (which forms the major theme of all of his works) one of the more interesting philosophical questions of mankind, but I can't think of any author who has continually revealed his own personal neuroses
One of the more fascinating thought exercises related to Hesse is studying his works as attempts to reconcile these two aspects of life: the ethereal, divine and ecstatic with the corporeal, material and sensual. As brilliant as he was, he never figured out how to do it completely, which is what makes all of his novels ultimately unsatisfying. The interesting part, however, is that each successive novel comes closer to the answer, so that Demian feels by far the least developed, and while Hesse realizes "Nirvana" in Siddhartha, it never feels authentically earned. Steppenwolf feels altogether more on the right track before devolving into a psychedelic madhouse (perhaps precisely because he didn't know where next to take it?), and then Narcissus and Goldmund and The Journey to the East get even closer to the ultimate reconciliation while still falling short. The Glass Bead Game is by far the most developed of his novels and gets tantalizingly close to a "solution" for this problem, but it still leaves the reader vaguely grasping at the "how" of Hesse's prescription.
As obsessed as Hesse was with this issue, he was never able to solve it, and it leaves us with the suspicion that it is an insoluble problem, perhaps THE insoluble issue of humanity. His books are so enjoyable, though, precisely because nobody has ever taken up the question with such earnest seriousness. All of his books leave us unsatisfied, but upon further thought one concludes that they are unsatisfactory only because they so unerringly reflect the great human predicament: the paradox of the divine animal. **Full Disclosure: I can no longer remember concretely, but I suspect that I owe a lot of credit for this analysis to Colin Wilson, from his fantastic The Outsider.**
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and self-doubts through their characters. This quality has always provoked a certain empathy, admiration, and even self-recognition when I read his books. As someone concerned with those important questions of life, I can identify with his characters, and, because his characters are so autobiographical, I feel like I can consequently identify with Hesse himself.One of the more fascinating thought exercises related to Hesse is studying his works as attempts to reconcile these two aspects of life: the ethereal, divine and ecstatic with the corporeal, material and sensual. As brilliant as he was, he never figured out how to do it completely, which is what makes all of his novels ultimately unsatisfying. The interesting part, however, is that each successive novel comes closer to the answer, so that Demian feels by far the least developed, and while Hesse realizes "Nirvana" in Siddhartha, it never feels authentically earned. Steppenwolf feels altogether more on the right track before devolving into a psychedelic madhouse (perhaps precisely because he didn't know where next to take it?), and then Narcissus and Goldmund and The Journey to the East get even closer to the ultimate reconciliation while still falling short. The Glass Bead Game is by far the most developed of his novels and gets tantalizingly close to a "solution" for this problem, but it still leaves the reader vaguely grasping at the "how" of Hesse's prescription.
As obsessed as Hesse was with this issue, he was never able to solve it, and it leaves us with the suspicion that it is an insoluble problem, perhaps THE insoluble issue of humanity. His books are so enjoyable, though, precisely because nobody has ever taken up the question with such earnest seriousness. All of his books leave us unsatisfied, but upon further thought one concludes that they are unsatisfactory only because they so unerringly reflect the great human predicament: the paradox of the divine animal. **Full Disclosure: I can no longer remember concretely, but I suspect that I owe a lot of credit for this analysis to Colin Wilson, from his fantastic The Outsider.**
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LibraryThing member carioca
I first read Demian (my first Hermann Hesse) when I was 14. It was eye-opening and I fell in love with Bildungsroman in general, probably because at that time I was a teenager myself. The struggles Emil Sinclair goes through are not unlike those of many other young people, and the issue of
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belonging and peer pressure is explored in a realistic and yet lyrical manner by Hesse. On a borader and more universal level, the book also is an exercise in personal judgment, beliefs and reasoning right as Europe was emerging from the ashes of the Great War. Beautiful book, it should be required reading in high schools across the United States. Show Less
LibraryThing member carrot_bosco
This is an excellent book that chronicles a young man's discovery of a personal philosophy. The duality of nature as well as many of the tenants of individualism are fictionalized in an engaging manner. Personally I found the book to be an easy read, but there were certain passages that I read over
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and over out of sheer joy. Show Less
LibraryThing member Stbalbach
Although an early work Hesse was 42 at time of publication and no youth. Overall I think he tried to do too much and the novel doesn't come together dissolving into a morass of symbols. The ideas are complex requiring external reading and in the end unless you are religious it won't be terribly
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profound, except as an intellectual exercise. It was perfect for the post-FIrst World War generation in Germany who questioned authority and God in the face of defeat. And I might have liked it as a younger person in the 1960s counter-culture environment. Hesse is a godfather of counter-culture, though not by design, he was 40 years ahead of his time and couldn't have predicted beats and hippies. But there is a connection worth exploring. Germany's collapse created a new culture that spread westward, not unlike what is happening with new Russian culture spreading in the decades after its collapse. Sadly the Russians do it through a different form of art then prestige literature. Show Less
LibraryThing member poetontheone
An enlightening examination of duality and individual transformation that everyone should read. Those who do not wholly identify with Sinclair will still be absorbed by the great story and beautiful language. Those who do identify with Sinclair however, will be amazed that someone was able to
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articulate in writing this scarce man whose path is rarely comprehended. None better than Hesse to do it, surely. An amazing novel by an amazing novelist. One of my favorites. Show Less
LibraryThing member renbedell
Herman Hesse has a way with writing that it makes you feel like he is telling you the secrets of the world. The book is mainly insight driven. You experience a person's struggle as he grows up and experiences the world outside the safety of his home. There are many allusions of good vs evil and I
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feel Herman Hesse does a good job showing that it is not as easy to define as some would think. The protagonist meets many "guides" along the way that help him with his journey, which only we could all be so lucky. But it served as a good way of detailing the ups and downs of life, growth and experiences, but mainly that you really have to work on yourself to figure out who you are and where you would like to fit in the world. While this book is good, if you are looking to start a Herman Hesse book I would recommend starting with his other books as they are much stronger reads. Show Less
LibraryThing member brian_james
Excellent book. Great coming of age story with an emphasis on spiritual and philosophical development. Love the subtle supernatural elements. Brilliant and more than a little creepy.
LibraryThing member jwhenderson
Herman Hesse writes in the Prologue to Demian, "Each man's life represents a road toward himself, an attempt at such a road, the intimation of a path."(p 2) Is there a reality apart from our "constructed self"? Rather is each man on the road? The story of Emil Sinclair and his relationship with Max
Hesse draws upon Nietzsche, Jung and others for his ideas, but the story is almost an archetypical example of the search both for meaning and identity. The forming of an identity involves discovering values, forming beliefs, and learning how to deal with reality. For Emil this includes his dream life. He tells a friend, "I live in my dreams--that's what you sense. Other people live in dreams, but not in their own. That's the difference." (p 118) The experiences of Emil are dramatic and result in a rejection of the convention life for one of a seeker. In his search Emil confronts his beliefs, dreams, and more. An epiphany occurs on one Spring day when he is attracted by a young woman in the park. He names her Beatrice and is soon transformed "into a worshipper in a temple." (p 81) He says,
"I had an ideal again, life was rich with intimations of mystery and a feeling of dawn that made me immune to all taunts. I had come home again to myself, even if only as the slave and servant of a cherished image."(p 81)
Thus the narrator describes what in Jungian terms is his "anima". This inspires him to create and to read as his journey takes him in a new direction. For Hesse and the reader it is always a path on "a road toward himself".
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Demian is Hesse's attempt to narrate one young man's journey on the road toward himself. Hesse draws upon Nietzsche, Jung and others for his ideas, but the story is almost an archetypical example of the search both for meaning and identity. The forming of an identity involves discovering values, forming beliefs, and learning how to deal with reality. For Emil this includes his dream life. He tells a friend, "I live in my dreams--that's what you sense. Other people live in dreams, but not in their own. That's the difference." (p 118) The experiences of Emil are dramatic and result in a rejection of the convention life for one of a seeker. In his search Emil confronts his beliefs, dreams, and more. An epiphany occurs on one Spring day when he is attracted by a young woman in the park. He names her Beatrice and is soon transformed "into a worshipper in a temple." (p 81) He says,
"I had an ideal again, life was rich with intimations of mystery and a feeling of dawn that made me immune to all taunts. I had come home again to myself, even if only as the slave and servant of a cherished image."(p 81)
Thus the narrator describes what in Jungian terms is his "anima". This inspires him to create and to read as his journey takes him in a new direction. For Hesse and the reader it is always a path on "a road toward himself".
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LibraryThing member AshRyan
Demian is the story of Emil Sinclair, a boy who doesn't fit in with the other boys, his family, or society in general, and how he comes to embrace his uniqueness as he grows into adulthood with the help of another oddball named Max Demian. So far, so good.
Unfortunately, the latter part of the novel
Then there's all that stuff about Emil's crush on his best friend's mother, which came off not so much as liberating as just plain awkward. Throw in some all-too-obvious Jungian symbolism and bad Nietzschean philosophy (Nietzsche is explicitly mentioned more than once), and what started out as an interesting coming of age story degenerates into an overblown and in some respects absolutely ludicrous exercise in pomposity.
Still, I enjoyed this more than Siddhartha...but not as much as Narcissus and Goldmund, which felt both more honest and more relevant to me. But there are some nice passages here, and the beginning was pretty good, and it was certainly instructive to see what Beyond Good and Evil would look like put into practice (not very impressive)...so it might be worth reading once if you're interested in this sort of thing.
Unfortunately, the latter part of the novel
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consists mainly in a lot of self-congratulatory mutual back-patting about how special they are, along with Max's mother Eva, and not part of the herd...but as far as I could tell, there was practically no substance behind their sense of their own specialness (or their utter contempt for the masses), which was rather based on nothing more than their choice to be their own little herd of three. This illustrates the problem with this sort of Nietzschean pseudo-egoism very well: the alternative to populism is not elitism, but individualism...and elitism is by definition not individualism. As one dictionary aptly puts it, elitism is "consciousness of or pride in belonging to a select or favored group"...it may be a smaller group, but it is still defining oneself primarily in terms of and in relation to the group.Then there's all that stuff about Emil's crush on his best friend's mother, which came off not so much as liberating as just plain awkward. Throw in some all-too-obvious Jungian symbolism and bad Nietzschean philosophy (Nietzsche is explicitly mentioned more than once), and what started out as an interesting coming of age story degenerates into an overblown and in some respects absolutely ludicrous exercise in pomposity.
Still, I enjoyed this more than Siddhartha...but not as much as Narcissus and Goldmund, which felt both more honest and more relevant to me. But there are some nice passages here, and the beginning was pretty good, and it was certainly instructive to see what Beyond Good and Evil would look like put into practice (not very impressive)...so it might be worth reading once if you're interested in this sort of thing.
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LibraryThing member llasram
Long my favorite novel. I'm just a sucker for an existentialist Bildungsroman.
LibraryThing member paradoxosalpha
This year I have read several works of fiction set in the years approaching the Great War more than a century ago. There was Pynchon's Against the Day and Buchan's The 49 Steps. More than either of those, Hesse's Demian is known as a defining work of that time--and yet my appreciation for it is set
There's no question that Demian has esoteric dimensions. The mental powers and Cainite heresy of Max and the deviant Gnostic hieraticism of Pistorius--even the pathetic asceticism of Knauer--are redolent of occult initiation. But more particularly Max Demian and Eva Demian are the embodiments of the protagonist Emil's two critical tasks in coming to himself: embracing his genius and overcoming his personality.
I first read the opening chapter of Demian in German when I was doing language study in high school. I have an initiate's guidance to thank for my return to it some forty-four years later, after I have subsequently read Hesse's later major novels. It is as compelling and significant as they are, and on many counts, more accessible.
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well outside of its historical framing.There's no question that Demian has esoteric dimensions. The mental powers and Cainite heresy of Max and the deviant Gnostic hieraticism of Pistorius--even the pathetic asceticism of Knauer--are redolent of occult initiation. But more particularly Max Demian and Eva Demian are the embodiments of the protagonist Emil's two critical tasks in coming to himself: embracing his genius and overcoming his personality.
I first read the opening chapter of Demian in German when I was doing language study in high school. I have an initiate's guidance to thank for my return to it some forty-four years later, after I have subsequently read Hesse's later major novels. It is as compelling and significant as they are, and on many counts, more accessible.
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LibraryThing member autumnc
My younger sister bought this book for me, informing me that it was pivotal to her own life story, that she reads it twice a year. So honestly my reading is very much entrenched in understanding her psyche, and with what relevance comes this novel?
I have a reverence for Hesse, I find his
For instance, the band around the arm of Demian, friend of Emil Sinclair, to symbolize the death of his "father"- is this the Father ie God/Jesus? This again played out in the changing relationship between Sinclair and his own father, and that he feels he cannot "return to his father's house." Intriguing.
The inner struggle that Sinclair finds himself in is also incredibly overcome by his connection to his "inner self," rather than to others- a great difference between the enlightenment of those religious greats that Hesse later reflected upon, such as Siddhartha, who found enlightenment through love and compassion to others, a more complete connection to the divinity in humanity and the connection of all people.
Is this the great change that Hesse is pointing to through Demian and Sinclair? That of a truer humanity rather than of "forced gaiety"?
"Most people love to lose themselves. He had loved and had found himself."
I have a reverence for Hesse, I find his
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existential "crises" to be refreshing, and Siddhartha is a story that I enjoy and often suggest to others. Demian, however, is quite entrenched in religious imagery and I wonder if many who read it understand that this is Christian imagery.For instance, the band around the arm of Demian, friend of Emil Sinclair, to symbolize the death of his "father"- is this the Father ie God/Jesus? This again played out in the changing relationship between Sinclair and his own father, and that he feels he cannot "return to his father's house." Intriguing.
The inner struggle that Sinclair finds himself in is also incredibly overcome by his connection to his "inner self," rather than to others- a great difference between the enlightenment of those religious greats that Hesse later reflected upon, such as Siddhartha, who found enlightenment through love and compassion to others, a more complete connection to the divinity in humanity and the connection of all people.
Is this the great change that Hesse is pointing to through Demian and Sinclair? That of a truer humanity rather than of "forced gaiety"?
"Most people love to lose themselves. He had loved and had found himself."
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LibraryThing member Schmerguls
1173. Demian: The Story of Emil Sinclair's Youth, by Herman Hesse (read 26 Jul 1972) This is the first book of Hesse's I read and I was much moved, being reminded of Kafka and The Wanderer by Alain Fournier, I having read The Wanderer in June of 1961, but felt Demian was much more connected and
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less obviously dreamlike. I was carried away by the word painting of mood: "But I felt dispirited, and when I took my leave and walked alone thru the hallway, the stale scent of the hyacinth seemed cadaverous. A shadow had fallen over us." I went on to read seven other Hesse books, with appreciation of nearly all of them. Show Less
LibraryThing member koukopoulos
wonderfull book, reminded me of some of my own feelings when growing up.
LibraryThing member Myhi
A new way of thinking of the Cain & Abel story; an evil guy with an extraordinary power of making everything sound real...
Nowadays, he'd probably be a SALES person.
One of my favorite Hesse's tales.
Nowadays, he'd probably be a SALES person.
One of my favorite Hesse's tales.
LibraryThing member Elbereth82
a favourite and classic book!
LibraryThing member wealhtheowwylfing
I thought this was brilliant when I was a teenager. Someday I should reread it and see if I agree as an adult.
LibraryThing member Haidji
Demian, is a book about the growth of an individual,
a story about a boy becoming an adult.
Demian offers a poignant statement of the terrors and torments of adolescence.
"Now everything changed. My childhood world was breaking apart around me. My parents eyed me with a certain embarrassment. My
One of the major themes is the existence of opposing forces (good and evil) and the idea that both are necessary using the God Abraxas as a Symbol through the story.
a story about a boy becoming an adult.
Demian offers a poignant statement of the terrors and torments of adolescence.
"Now everything changed. My childhood world was breaking apart around me. My parents eyed me with a certain embarrassment. My
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sisters had become strangers to me. A disenchantment falsified and blunted my usual feelings and joys: the garden lacked fragrance, the woods held no attraction for me, the world stood around me like a clearance sale of last year's secondhand goods, insipid, all its charm gone. Books were so much paper, music a grating noise. That is the way leaves fall around a tree in autumn, a tree unaware of the rain running down its sides, of the sun or the frost, and of life gradually retreating inward. The tree does not die. It waits." _ Hermann HesseOne of the major themes is the existence of opposing forces (good and evil) and the idea that both are necessary using the God Abraxas as a Symbol through the story.
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LibraryThing member solitaryfossil
Published in 1919, it’s the coming-of-age story of a middle class boy and his struggle between a “world of light” and a "world of illusion". This was my first Hermann Hesse book, and I’ve added several more to my reading list. Good stuff.
LibraryThing member waelrammo
Why had I not discover this book when I was a teenager? Would I have enjoyed it so much if I had??
Hesse is a great writer. A great read for anyone really interested in exploring what it means to think independently.
Hesse is a great writer. A great read for anyone really interested in exploring what it means to think independently.
LibraryThing member dbsovereign
One of the books that made Hesse into such a hero back in the day. We are entertained, but also prodded into thinking.
LibraryThing member InnahLovesYou
This book made such a progress in my brain, that at the moment I finished it, I literally threw it in the ground and couldn't speak for half an hour. It made me think of things I have never thought before. Amazing. :D
LibraryThing member TakeItOrLeaveIt
a darker yet more approachable child shouting out to the education system, being too smart for his own good, growing up, and dying. hesse at his in-between.
Subjects
Awards
Language
Original language
German
Original publication date
1919
1958 (English: Strachan)
Physical description
141 p.; 6.6 inches
ISBN
0553206966 / 9780553206968