The Glass Bead Game - Hermann Hesse

Very recently, I finished reading this remarkable book, considered one of the landmarks in 20th century European literature. It was tough going at times, but rewarding, and these are my immediate thoughts and observations.

Like much of Hesse's work, The Glass Bead Game deals with issues of spiritual exploration and identity. However, it also examines man's relationship with his intellect and how he employs and applies it, and also questions of isolation and alienation. There is little doubt also that the political climate in Europe at the time of its conception, and Hesse's reaction to it, also influenced the work.

Upon finishing the book, my reaction was that I would need to read it again, more than once, in order to fully absorb the messages, metaphors and allusions contained in its pages. The events portrayed could be subjected to myriad interpretations, and I was conscious whilst reading not to derive from it an interpretation which the author perhaps did not intend. A fully coherent and considered understanding of the book is probably not feasible after just one read.

For what it's worth, my impression was that in addition to simply relating a compelling and enjoyable tale, Hesse was posing questions about the acquisition of knowledge purely for its own sake, and to what extent there is a responsibility to share such knowledge with "the real world" for the common good, and for benign motives.

Another strand which I picked up on was the tension between the "aristocracy" of academia, and the more mundane concerns of mainstream society, and to what degree these two factions, and their requirements, could be reconciled.

These questions, and others, formed the backdrop for the journey of the central character Joseph Knecht, and his various changes and "awakenings".  The author's interest in Eastern philosophies, in transcendence, meditation and "rebirth" are a constant throughout these episodes, as well as in the chapters listed as Knecht's own writings.

I would have to say that The Glass Bead Game is denser and more multi-faceted than one of Hesse's other works, Siddhartha, which I enjoyed immensely, but which is also much more straighforward in many respects.

The fact that The Glass Bead Game was Hesse's final full-length novel also I think lends weight to the notion that in it he was pulling together all of the strands contained in his other works, and making the statement he had always been striving for.

When I have read the book again, I will post my further comments.....