Narcissus and Goldmund

Very good readind

Liked it very much.I used to ask lot of questions to my self, thence would stay fretted,which were answered assuringly after reading it(at least to me).I used to hear things about philosophical books that they aren't easy to grasp, maintain reader's grip to those who haven't read any but I never got away and rather it made sure strong hold, So one can imagine the level of interest.Lastly I would say, I got strongly attached with the characters :D

Too complictef

It is a must book for anyone who is searching for the differences in human nature among friends and relatives. It is specially recommended for youngsters though it is a book that one would read all through the life

Hello-A good book and intellectually entertaining.Narcissus- He is an ascetic a rigorous intellectual who remains in the monastery to become an abbot.He is the epitome of Masculinity,that analytical mind.Goldmund:Romantic,dreamy,flaxen-haired boy;celebrates the lush,lyrical,rapturous,sensuous quality women;leaves the monastery to find his true nature;he epitomizes the feminine mind.Narcissus and Goldmund, are the best of friends who assist each other.A good read.

The tale of two medieval men, one content with mind and pursuing it, other pursuing senses and instintcs. This book is beautiful portrayal of these two men's lives. Must read for anyone with quest for self discovery. Answers lot of individual's eternal questions like what to do with this life. Especially Goldmund's life will linger in mind for many weeks.

Highly recommended. you have to read once in your life time...

Very good reading

This is an excellent book written by a Nobel Prise winning author.

Obra magna de Hesse, mostra os contrastes humanos, de homens e mulheres comuns intelectuais ou passionais. Leitura altamente recomendada para quem já conhece Hesse e quem nunca leu, além de editoras brasileiras que precisam reeditar essa obra em português urgente!

This past Fourth Of July, I tried to think of an American book which expressed something of our country in a fresh way. I settled on Kerouac's "On The Road", a book I have read several times and reviewed some time ago. A wonderfully kind and intelligent friend praised the choice and suggested parallels between Kerouac's book and my reading of it and Herman Hesse's 1930 novel, "Narcissus and Goldmund". Since reading Hesse in my college years of fifty years ago I have tended to avoid him (with the exception of rereading "Steppenwolf"). Hesse reminded me too much of the turbulence of the 1960s, when he became popular with American readers and of the influence of these years which remain with us, mostly for the worse in my view. Still, my friend's reminding me of "Narcissus and Goldmund" struck a nerve and I wanted to revisit the book. The sins of American counterculture are not to be laid at the door of Hesse.I remembered little beyond the bare outlines of "Narcissus and Goldmund" from my reading of years ago. The book indeed has its similarities to "On The Road" in that it tells the story of two friends with markedly different outlooks on life, portrays the life of wandering from place to place (with one protagonist but not both), and deals with dualities and with searches for the meaning of one's life. These themes have a strong appeal to students and young people. They tend to be covered up and rejected as people get older and settled into ways of living and earning a living. I think that is in some ways necessary but it also is a pity. People still have to deal with themselves even if the exigences of the day sometimes make them feel, unjustifiably, that they have resolved youthful questions by settled living.Hesse's novel is set in medieval Europe in the mid-14th century and tells the story of the friendship of its two title characters. Narcissus is a young highly intellectual person which a disciplined mind and a degree of intellectual arrogance. He teaches Greek and grammar in the cloister and in later years becomes the Abbot. He befriends the slightly younger Goldmund who is abruptly left at the cloister by his father. Goldmund has an artistic, sensual and sexual nature, far removed from the analytical mind of his friend. The story of the book takes place over many years and opens and closes in the cloister. The book also includes scenes of Goldmund wandering for years on the road as a wastrel and meeting danger, sex, and the gruesome reality of the Black Death. Goldmund also lives for some years in a large medieval city and learns the skills to be a sculptor and artist.The book contrasts the life of the mind with the life of the flesh. The characters are types in this book but also come alive as individuals. The two friends have many discussions about mind and heart and live out their different natures in the course of the book. The dualities are more sharply drawn than would be the case in the lives of most individuals, but that fact does not lessen the value of recognizing and understanding them. Many readers will find strong echoes of Jung, Freud and Nietzsche in the pages of this novel. The strongest influence remains that of Plato. It is a Plato of reason and the mind but a Plato fully aware of the power of art and the senses. Late in the book, Narcissus says to his friend:"The thinker tries to determine and to represent the nature of the world through logic. He knows that reason and its tool, logic, are incomplete -- the way an intelligent artist knows full well that his brushes or chisels will never be able to express perfectly the radiant nature of an angel or a saint. Still they both try, the thinker as well as the artist, each in his own way. They cannot and may not do otherwise. because when a man tries to realize himself through the gifts with which nature has endowed him, he does the best and only meaningful thing he can do. That's why, in former days, I often said to you: don't try to imitate the thinker or the ascetic man, but be yourself, try to realize yourself."Hesse's book is moving and penetrating in its portrayal of the life of the mind and of the life of the heart and of the forces of human sexuality. There is much to be loved in the book and much contemporary American readers may relearn about sexuality and male-female relationships. I was glad to have the opportunity to read "Narcissus and Goldmund" again after a lifetime and to reflect again about broad questions of philosophy and art which can be buried sometimes but which never go away.Robin Friedman

Hesse wrote three great novels. This is one of them. Narcissus is a monk and lives in a monastery. Goldmund has to follow a different path and leaves the monastery to discover the meaning that life holds for him.Hesseは三冊の名作を書いた。これは一つ。Narcissusという人物はお坊さんです。Narcissusの学生の一人はGoldmundです。Goldmundは自分の生活の意味を探すために修道院から逃げて風浪の生活をしている。つまり、この諸説は自分の人生どういうふうに理解しったらいいのかについている。

If you like the 'man who travels and find himself" type of book this is a good one. A bit too long in descriptions it might seem at first, aaand through the whole book. But trust me, get to the end and it'll all make sense. Even the way it's written. Genius