Book Review: Siddhartha
Book Title: Siddhartha
Author: Herman Hesse
Purchase: Amazon
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Description from Goodreads:
Herman Hesse's classic novel has delighted, inspired, and influenced generations of readers, writers, and thinkers. In this story of a wealthy Indian Brahmin who casts off a life of privilege to seek spiritual fulfillment. Hesse synthesizes disparate philosophies--Eastern religions, Jungian archetypes, Western individualism--into a unique vision of life as expressed through one man's search for true meaning.
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
I LOVE Siddhartha—a concise yet powerful story that packs a punch! An insightful exploration of self and spirituality. Siddhartha, the protagonist, takes us on his journey, allowing us to learn along with him as he searches for spiritual fulfillment.
Siddhartha begins the story as a Brahman—a Hindu priest—following his father’s teachings. Growing up the son of a Brahman, he feels his life lacks something, though he’s not exactly sure what.
Siddhartha was thus loved by everyone. He was a source of joy for everybody, he was a delight for them all. But he, Siddhartha, was not a source of joy for himself, he found no delight in himself.
In an effort to learn more, Siddhartha leaves home and becomes a Samana, living with a community of men in seclusion who abstain from all forms of indulgence. His BFF Govinda goes with him because he thinks Siddhartha is truly the bee’s knees. Already, I admire Siddhartha’s bravery and gumption, his commitment to self-discovery. I’m not sure I’d be able to overcome the fear of leaving everything I’ve ever known.
But though the ways [of the Samana] led away from the self, their end nevertheless always led back to the self. Though Siddhartha fled from the self a thousand times, stayed in nothingness, stayed in the animal, in the stone, the return was inevitable, inescapable was the hour, when he found himself back in the sunshine or in the moonlight, in the shade or in the rain, and was once again his self and Siddhartha, and again felt the agony of the cycle which had been forced upon him.
After years as a Samana, Siddhartha yearns to know more of existence and in his travels, meets Gotama, the Buddha. Siddhartha is inspired by Buddha’s divinity, but admits to Buddha that he can’t truly learn from his teachings without having had any life experiences himself. This scene really strikes me. Siddhartha has so much respect for Buddha—he describes the holy man with abundant affection and Gotama’s good opinion clearly weighs on Siddhartha’s mind. I find it telling of Siddhartha’s character that the positive traits he admires in Gotama are his kindness, serenity, thoughtful nature, and respectful communication. Seeing him from Siddhartha’s eyes inspires reverence.
This man, this Buddha was truthful down to the gesture of his last finger.
But while Govinda remains as a follower of Buddha, Siddhartha feels he must leave to learn his own life lessons, to make his own mistakes, rather than learn from the mistakes and experiences of others. Leaving Govinda is the moment where he truly leaves his past behind and strikes out alone. This is also a moment of reckoning for the reader—we are following along with Siddhartha but like him, we can only learn so much from his spiritual journey. Siddhartha reminds us we’re all on our own individual journeys.
But there is one thing which these so clear, these so venerable teachings do not contain: they do not contain the mystery of what the exalted one has experienced for himself, he alone among hundreds of thousands. This is why I am continuing my travels—not to seek other, better teachings, for I know there are none, but to depart from all teachings and all teachers and to reach my goal by myself or to die.
Siddhartha moves on to try the more indulgent lifestyle of a merchant, where he learns the art of love from the beautiful courtesan Kamala. Kamala is a seductive and likable love interest. She connects with Siddhartha on many levels and the two appear to be an intellectual match. Adjusting to city life, Siddhartha is at first amazed when his senses come alive with the tastes of rich food, the scents of perfume, the pleasures of love and lovemaking. The city paints a sharp contrast to Siddhartha’s previous seclusion.
He saw mankind going through life in a childlike or animallike manner, which he loved and also despised at the same time. He saw them toiling, saw them suffering, and becoming gray for the sake of things which seem to him to entirely unworthy of this price…
In a deeply relatable chapter, Siddhartha finds himself anxious and depressed after his years as a merchant amount to no actual happiness or sense of fulfillment. He’s attempted to keep these feelings at bay with vices like gambling and drinking, but in so doing has become someone we no longer recognize.
And whenever he woke from this ugly spell, whenever he found his face in the mirror at the bedroom’s wall to have aged and become more ugly, whenever embarrassment and disgust came over him, he continued fleeing into a new game, fleeing into a numbing of his mind brought on by sex, by wine, and from there he fled back into the urge to pile up and obtain possessions.
Siddhartha has a moment of reckoning and flees from his life as a merchant. By the river that once brought him to the city, he contemplates who he has become and is terrified by how empty he feels. Trigger warning: His thoughts have the distinct ring of severe depression and suicidal ideation.
A frightening emptiness was reflected back to him by the water, answering to the terrible emptiness in his soul. Yes, he had reached the end. There was nothing left for him, except to annihilate himself, except to smash the failure into which he had shaped his life…
After a near-death experience, he lands a river ferryman apprenticeship to Vasudeva and the two men live out the rest of their lives together. From Vasudeva, Siddhartha learns how to live simply, commune with the river, and cherish each day. His feelings for Vasudeva are similar to his reverence for Buddha and I find it beautiful that Siddhartha learns the most from a simple man with a simple life and a deep appreciation for the natural world.
[…] Siddhartha felt more and more that this was no longer Vasedeva, no longer a human being, who was listening to him, that this motionless listener was absorbing his confession into himself like a tree the rain, that this motionless man was the river itself, that he was God himself, that he was the eternal itself.
The story ends on a calm and optimistic note, instilling the reader with peace. While the paragraphs are long, the chapters are pretty quick. Fittingly, each chapter covers a meaningful chapter in Siddhartha's life. I love the insight we get into Siddhartha’s inner turmoil and questioning. The compassionate and respectful communication throughout is also a nice reminder of how open communication facilitates genuine connection. There is so much to learn from this book and I look forward to rereading it again and again.
