Narcissus is a young monk and teacher in the Mariabronn monastery, disciplined and intellectual. When the young student Goldmund arrives, Narcissus recognizes that the boy's nature is artistic and sensual, and not suited for the cloister. Goldmund leaves to wander through medieval Germany, seducing women, living in hardship, witnessing the plague, and finally learning to carve wood and stone. Hermann Hesse uses the friendship to set the contemplative life against the life of experience, and the two meet again years later.
A well-suited read for those who like novels of ideas about two ways of living. It is an approachable classic about vocation, desire, and the creative impulse.
Deep, inward-looking, contemplative and thought-provoking; a moderate read.
Best for readers like The Wisdom Collector. Which reader are you?
- Published
- 2007
- Publisher
- Suhrkamp
- ISBN
- 9783518458549
- Language
- DE
