SIDDHARTHA

Told in a simple mythical style, the story of Siddhartha is an inspirational classic by Hermann Hesse, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature.

Siddhartha, the son of a wealthy Brahmin, is unable to find peace within his own religion and community so sets off on his travels through India in search of enlightenment. First he spends time with a group of ascetics called Samanas. For a while he embraces their doctrine and rejects all worldly goods. When he hears about a man called Gotama the Buddha he leaves the Samanas. However Buddhist teaching disappoints him and he realizes that self-discovery must come from his own experiences. He rejects the spiritual life, takes a lover and becomes a rich merchant. But after some years, dissatisfied with materialism, he takes off again in search of the spiritual peace he longs for.

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`A subtle distillation of wisdom, stylistic grace and symmetry of form`
The Sunday Times

`He was an interesting figure who, through his refusal to acknowledge his limitations or the times he lived in, brought something entirely new to the novel`
Spectator

`A trusted guide for a generation of readers whose faith in institutions was destroyed by the First World War`
New Yorker