Steppenwolf

When I confessed that I wasn't blown away by Siddharta (I liked it, but nothing more), people who knew the book were surprised. And asked me if I had read Steppenwolf. As if the latter was the most important, the one that really mattered. So I went for it.

Summary

The main character, Harry Haller, is a tortured being. Immersed in the arts and in his thoughts all day long, he lives a deep contradiction: on the one hand, he is an ordinary human, with needs of company and love, on the other hand, he is a wild beast, solitary, fierce, and ready to show his fangs when approached too closely. He suffers from this inner dilemma, and struggles to make the two versions of himself live together.

One evening, he suffers so much, he finds so little appeal in earthly life that after wandering around the city, he stops at a bar with the intention of having a last drink before taking his own life in his little apartment. If we can speak of intention, he sees this prospect as a fate, and he is afraid to return home. So he delays the moment.

He then meets, like an angel fallen from heaven, a young woman who starts talking to him. She interferes in his life and teaches him about human joys such as dancing, music, laughter and sexuality. But she also knows that she has a destiny, and a macabre one at that.

My impressions

Nothing to do with Siddharta. While Siddharta was simple, peaceful and filled with a transcendent happiness, Steppenwolf is full of adolescent melancholy. I recognized myself, like many others, in the contradiction within Harry's nature. You suffer because of people, but at the same time you can't do without them. In the low moments of our existence, we are disillusioned. You immerse yourself in something, sometimes in art, and you are full of feelings, but all alone.

Hermann Hesse writes well. It is beautiful and accurate. One is carried away. And his ideas about "personality" made me think. Why do we talk about one "personality", when a person has so many facets?

The ending, however, left me a bit confused. It would probably take some analysis to make sense of it. Otherwise, it felt more like an acid trip than anything else.

In short: a modern classic to read. It's a great adventure that you will most likely enjoy.