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    Siddhartha
    Siddhartha
    Siddhartha
    Audiobook4 hours

    Siddhartha

    Written by Hermann Hesse

    Narrated by James Langton

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    Hermann Hesse's famous and influential novel Siddhartha is perhaps the most important and compelling allegory produced in the last hundred years. Integrating Eastern and Western spiritual traditions with psychoanalysis and philosophy, this strangely simple tale, written with a deep and moving empathy for humanity, has touched the lives of millions since its original publication in 1922.

    Set in India, Siddhartha is the story of a young Brahmin's search for ultimate reality after meeting with the Buddha. His quest takes him from a life of decadence to asceticism, through the illusory joys of sensual love with a beautiful courtesan and of wealth and fame to the painful struggles with his son and the ultimate wisdom of renunciation.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateDec 21, 2009
    ISBN9781400185474
    Author

    Hermann Hesse

    Hermann Hesse was born in 1877. His books include Siddhartha, Steppenwolf, Narcissus and Goldmund, and Magister Ludi. He died in 1962.

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    Reviews for Siddhartha

    4/5

    202 ratings151 reviews

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    • 4/5
      I read this in high school as required reading for an AP Lit class. I actually found this one more interesting and enjoyed it at the time. If I were to read it now, as an adult, I don't know if I would enjoy it quite as much, but that's okay. I do recommend this one for those interested in philosophical reads.
    • 5/5
      This is definitely a book I will read again-and I can say that about only a handful of books I've read in my life so far. Not being from the Far East, Hesse would never be my authority on the heart or history of Buddhism, so that is not what I took from this book. Instead, I appreciated his insight into human nature and human needs/passions/desires. Most importantly, through the story of Siddartha's life, Hesse teaches his readers about contentment... a lesson I never tire of re-learning. Is this the heart of Buddhism? I don't know. But I like it.
    • 3/5
      Truth be told, I'm not a big fan. I prefer my fiction to be less life-lessonlike. Maybe I didn't relate in 1975 because Siddhartha was male. But I'm not exactly drawn to read it again. And states of out-of-body bliss scare me.

      "No longer knowing whether time existed, whether this display had lasted a second or a hundred years, whether there was a Siddhartha, or a Gotama, a Self and others, wounded deeply by a divine arrow which gave him pleasure, deeply enchanted and exalted, Govinda stood yet a while bending over Siddhartha's peaceful face which he had just kissed, which had just been the stage of all present and future forms."

      This is a book with answers. I prefer questions.
    • 4/5
      SiddharthaBy: Hermann HesseNarrated by: Christopher PreeceThis is an audible book I requested and the review is voluntary. This is the first time I actually understand this book. I have read this book before a few times but it is a difficult book to read. For me, it is hard to stay focused and follow what is going on at times. With this audible book, with this narrator, I finally got the flow of the book! That's a big plus. Once I understood the basics of what was going on, I understood more. Do I understand all? No, but I get it a lot more. The narrator was wonderful with a clear, soothing voice that was perfect!
    • 1/5
      Sad fiction story of a guy torn between his ascetic roots and life experiences. Did not care to interpret meaning of any of the events.
    • 1/5
      Indeed, better than Coelho, but it doesn't mean too much, does it?
    • 4/5
      Fantastic book.
    • 4/5
      I liked this much more than I expected to. As a young man the Brahmin Siddhartha leaves his father to be a samana, a monk of sorts, searching for truth and enlightenment. He then begins to follow one man known as a Buddha. After much time with him, he decides he is ready for something else, knowing nothing of women or the ways of the world. He becomes a successful businessman and a lover--and years later realizes how much of his wisdom and skill has been lost (how to wait, how to fast...). He leaves his lover and business and becomes a ferryman, with the man who ferried him years before. There he gains happiness and wisdom, and knowledge of the cycle and sameness of all life and time.
    • 5/5
      Brilliant. For those on a path of conscious understanding of who and where they are this small book ranks up there with "The alchemist" and "The Prophet". It is beautifully crafted and if you are like me you will return to this book time and time again. In fact, as I have followed my path I have changed and so what I find in the book changes and so reflecting my changed state.

      This book is one of those rare gifts that will last and endear itself not for just one but many lifetimes.
    • 4/5
      Inspiring read, but clearly written from one perspective. Implicit in the story is a moral, which you may not agree with. Hard to read as just a story.
    • 4/5
      Generally, Hesse is one of those authors whose ideas I like but whose writing puts me off. (Aldous Huxley, Joan Didion, and Paul Goodman are others). But there are scenes in this particular Hesse book that recur to me so often that I have to at least give it four stars.
    • 5/5
      Much has been written from a spiritual and literary view about this famous 1922 book by Nobel Prize winner Hermann Hesse. I will look at it from a historical context perspective. Hesse was born in 1877 into the generation immediately after the German victory of the Franco-Prussian War. Think of the generation in America born after WWII, or in England after the Napoleonic Wars. It was a generation full of bright futures and expectations, Germany would at long last fulfill its destiny on a global stage. As it turned out it was this same generation that lead Germany into the misery and defeat of WWI (1914-17) and the dream and future died in the slaughter of the trenches. So it was in the aftermath in 1922 Hesse the philosopher became popular with Germans with his introspection and inward looking examination of what life really meant, what is really important. The outer world had defeated Germany and it would find strength and solace by looking inward. Perhaps it is not surprising that another generation resonated with this same message of rejecting the outer world and embracing inner vision, the counter-culture of America in the 1960s, when Hesse's book first became widely read and known in English speaking countries.
    • 2/5
      Such a slog.
    • 4/5
      Nonsensical ideologies and philosophies aside, I really enjoyed this book. From a literary perspective, the author (and translator) did a masterful job of sucking me into the life and mind of Siddhartha. I felt like I was on a roller coaster of emotions and story lines and the protagonist journeyed through a life of seeking.
    • 3/5
      I think that honestly this book was too wise for me. I really, honestly tried to "get it," but I don't think I did. Maybe when I have a few more years on me?
    • 3/5
      Considered a classic, but very repetitive in English. Perhaps it is better in the original German. It touches on the paradoxes of life and is difficult to truly understand, which I guess is the point.
    • 5/5
      read this a long time ago, good book, worth the time.
    • 5/5
      Diese Buch trägt mehr als nur eine Geschichte in sich, es ist eine Botschaft, vielleicht ein Ratgeber, vielleicht etwas das zum Nachdenken anregt. Es ist kein Buch, dass allein der Unterhaltung dient, wenn es auch trotzdem eine spannende Geschichte beinhaltet
    • 3/5
      This is the story of Siddhartha's journey to find nirvana. I found it interesting how this journey progressed.

      If I were to pick some morals from this story, they would be not to judge others and to really try to find happiness from the things around you--not what you think you want.

      I only wish it felt that easy to follow this advice...
    • 5/5
      An all-time classic. A moving fictionalized account of the Buddha's awakening. A quick yet moving and unforgettable tale.
    • 5/5
      A great, spiritual read. Tells the tale of Siddhartha, a young man with an unquenchable thirst for knowledge, till he finally hears the answer from a river.
    • 4/5
      A philosophical account of a man's life passage through his questions and transformations at different stages.
    • 4/5
      Simple. Elegant. Something I wish I had discovered when I was younger. This book opened me up to Demian, also by Hesse, which I'm discovering is absolutely amazing.
    • 5/5
      A beautiful novel, a journey of a boy (Siddhartha) as a young samara, as he later grows in nature with no possessions to be free of all suffering. As a young boy, a prince, he was full of riches and spoils… but he realized that this was not his path. This novel edifies the importance of and difficulty in acquiring Nirvana, everyone’s path is different. Also, that Nirvana cannot be preached or talked about (Can’t show someone how to acquire Nirvana). As Siddhartha finds tranquility and Nirvana by the river, he realizes enlightenment. “In his heart he learned the newly awakened voice speak, and it said to him: ‘Love this river, stay by it, learn from it.’ Yes, he wanted to learn from it, he wanted to listen to it. It seemed to him that whoever understood this river and its secrets, would understand much more, many secrets, all secrets.”-Herman Hesse
    • 2/5
      Siddhartha, by Nobel Prize-winning author Hermann Hesse, tells the story of the spiritual self-discovery of a man named Siddhartha in India during the time of the Buddha. The son of a Brahmin, Siddhartha leaves home on a quest for spiritual enlightenment and how he ultimately finds it. Every event, whether it is staying with some ascetics or living a rich and decadent life, all contribute towards this experience and eventual attainment of enlightenment for Siddhartha.

      Written in a simple, lyrical style, Hesse's prose carries the reader along as a river - the very river in which Siddhartha sees the illusory nature of time and the cyclic nature of human experience. Perhaps not the best understanding of Indian philosophy; nevertheless, Siddhartha is an interesting meditation on the nature of life and demonstrates how Hesse himself aimed to cure his Lebenskrankheit by investigating Hindu and Buddhist teachings in which this book shares similar experiences.

      I liked it but not as much to warrant a full three stars; maybe more like 2.5-2.7 stars if one can be that precise.
    • 5/5
      Forget the required reading lists for high schools, this is on the required reading list for human beings. One of the most beautiful pieces of art ever created. Read it more than once, please.
    • 4/5
      When I first tried to read this book, I got bored within the first 4 pages. The writing style is so bland and boring that I couldnt imagine why this was such a highly recommended book. The last time I read something of this style is when I read sanskrit in 9th Grade. And then it struck me that this style could be a mirror of a literal sanskrit style. I then pressed on and then I realized that the author had chosen a style that would allow the user to focus more on the character and his problems than the writing style itself. What intrigued me the most is that this was written by a non-asian. He had obviously done a lot of introspetion and study such that this book felt like it was written in sanskrit. (At least to me.)Another thing I realized is how powerful a story can be in communicating ideas. The ideas in this book have been told since time immemorial (at least in India). But Hesse manages to compact so many concepts in such small a space.
    • 5/5
      This book will change the perception towards journey and purpose of Life
    • 3/5
      I've been reading several books by Nobel Prize winners lately. Siddhartha was one of them. I can't say that it did anything for me. Siddhartha is the hero of this allegorical tale of an Indian man's development, from Brahmin student, to mystic, to successful business man and pleasure seeker, to wise ferryboat tender. Maybe back in 1922 when it was first published, or even in the 1960s and '70s when American hippies took it to heart, the examination of Indian mysticism and Buddhism would have been fascinating. But now, when Indian culture is more familiar, it just seems pretentious and overwrought.Many people love it. It just is not my cup of tea.
    • 3/5
      "Everything is One."I'm sorry, but that is vague, vacuous and obfuscatory. It seems to be some eternal truth, but it is gibberish. It is a paean to the Western Culture's romantic ideal of Eastern Mysticism. Like saying "Hey, I don't understand it, so it must be smart."Of Hesse's works, "Siddhartha" is most frequently cited as one of the more important. It hardly seems worth it. "Steppenwolf," for all the issues I might have with it, is a far more intelligent, intelligible, attempt at examining the inner self. Hesse seems to have been enraptured by the ineffability of Indic thinking, but he seems to equate ineffability with profundity. The two are not coextensive; indeed, in some ways they are mutually exclusive.This is not to deny that "Siddhartha" contains some illuminating insights into human nature, it's just that the attempt to move from those insights to some profound grasp of the essence of existence is presumptuous and pompous. It is also written in a very juvenile style, attempting a synthesis of prose and poetry that only highlights the unintelligibility of the fundamental "truths" Hesse seems so infatuated with.Sorry. This is high literature, not.