Salvation.....here I come!. Review on Siddhartha - Herman Hesse

''Yes, he was at the end.....

''Might the fishes devour him, this dog of a Siddhartha, this madman, this corrupted and rotting body, this sluggish & misused soul!''

Despite these harsh words, (which, by the way, occur at a much later part in the novel), 'Siddhartha,' by Herman Hesse, comes across as a simply narrated, not-so-simple tale of a man's quest for himself.

In this book, German Nobel Laureate Herman Hesse, takes us on a soul-searching journey, through a ‘thinking’ man’s life. As he moves on from being a simple Brahmin boy, to a ‘Samana’ (ascetic), who later decides to partake of the pleasures of the world after all, and finally ends up as an aged boatman, living a peaceful existence by a river, Siddhartha lives & learns:

Siddhartha, the Brahmin’s son: realizes, that he needs to carry on his search for Self, as an ascetic, and not a Brahmin and leaves his father’s home with loyal friend Govinda.

Siddhartha, the ascetic: realizes, after an intimate dialogue with Gotama Buddha, ‘The Illustrious One,’ in the Jetvana grove, that no teachers or teachings can show one the path to self-realisation. And as this realization dawns on him, he decides to ‘shed his old skin’ as a Samana & become a man of the world.

Siddhartha, the merchant: soon tires of all the pleasures that fate confers on him so generously and although he finds love & conceives a son, sickened by ‘ordinary’ feelings of greed & lust, he leaves his life behind once again.

This is where, the novel takes an interesting turn, as Siddharth, finds his spiritual soul mate on the banks of a river. How Siddhartha finds himself and finally attains ‘Nirvana,’ is what the last part of the book is all about.

As a rule, I don’t have much patience with philosophy -spouting novels like this one. And honestly, if you’re the kind of reader who is into fast-paced, racy novels, then 'Siddhartha', definitely doesn’t belong on your bookshelf! But I assure you, 'Siddhartha' will at least live on in your minds for it’s simple yet beautifully crafted words that tell the story, if for nothing else. And speaking of words…here’s what Herman Hesse has to say about them:

“Everything that is thought and expressed in words, is one-sided, only half the truth; it all lacks totality, completeness, unity.”

And so, as I leave you with these wise words today, I implore you not to believe in the words that make up my review, but to go out and buy a copy for yourself, so that you too may partake of the wisdom of this book in totality, as I already have:-)