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Narcissus and Goldmund

4.13 of 5 stars 4.13 · rating details · 15,856 ratings · 659 reviews

First published in 1930, Narcissus and Goldmuna is the story of two diametrically opposite men: one, an ascetic monk firm in his religious commitment, and the other, a romantic youth hungry for worldly experience.Hesse was a great writer in precisely the modern sense: complex, subtle, allusive: alive to the importance of play. Narcissus and Goldmuna is his very best. What...more

Paperback, 314 pages

Published September 1st 1988 by Farrar Straus Giroux (first published 1930)

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May 15, 2011 Erik Graff rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: everyone

Recommended to Erik by: Rachel Nelson

Shelves: literature

At the time of reading, this was my favorite Hesse book and, indeed, it is probably his quintessential novel, the one to recommend for anyone wanting to check him out. I have given away copies of it for this purpose to several persons over the years.

Contrary to the description in Wikipedia, I read the novel from the perspective of Goldmund being lost and then found. Seduced by the snares of the world, he leaves the peace of the monastic life for a life of trial and error, ultimately, as an old m...more At the time of reading, this was my favorite Hesse book and, indeed, it is probably his quintessential novel, the one to recommend for anyone wanting to check him out. I have given away copies of it for this purpose to several persons over the years.

Contrary to the description in Wikipedia, I read the novel from the perspective of Goldmund being lost and then found. Seduced by the snares of the world, he leaves the peace of the monastic life for a life of trial and error, ultimately, as an old man, returning to where he began. Since in his case experience led to wisdom, Goldmund represented to me the via positiva, the path to enlightenment which leads through lovingly appropriated experience, while Narcissus, remaining behind in the monastery, represented the via negativa, the path to enlightenment obtained by critical thinking and contemplative withdrawal. This, the essential identity behind two ostensibly very different paths along life's way, reminded me also of the two main schools of Buddhism, the big and little boats, Mahayana and Hinyana Buddhism. One is also reminded of the same distinction when the lives of Christian saints as different at Francis of Assisi and Simeon of the Desert are sympathetically compared. There is truth to it.

This is not to say that the reference made by the Wikipedia writer to Nietzsche's Apollonian and Dionysian is incorrect. Given the intellectual influences obtaining in Hesse's circles and the nature of his missionary family it is likely that both were considered. My own reading was influenced by having studied mysticism by this time and not yet having read Nietzsche's The Birth of Tragedy.

What I really like about Hermann Hesse, here and elsewhere, is that he really cared, cared about people, cared about culture and cared about the natural world. Most everything he wrote, from his novels and short stories to his political essays, attempts to be constructive, to share something of what he had learned of importance with others. He wrote to the better side of our natures, both emotional and intellectual. I am so glad that young people are still reading him despite the many years which have passed since his last great work, The Glass Bead Game, in 1943.(less)

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Apr 17, 2013 Frances rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: all-time-favorite, reviewed

This is not a review. This is an expression of gratitude.

Enlightened does not begin to describe the feeling one gets when eyes see, mind is set in motion, and images are processed into thoughts that seed the way we look at everything. We SEE everything in a new light, at least for as long as we remember what is important, what makes a difference. The beginning of our true life. I suppose all we can ask of our mind is for a few moments of enlightenment at a time. And, to remember. Too much would...more

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Mar 25, 2013 Bettie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: published-1930, classic, fraudio, catholic, spring-2013, tbr-busting-2013, bellybutton-mining, art-forms, lifestyles-deathstyles, philosophy, metaphor-parable, plague-disease, medieval5c-16c, germany, period-piece, nobel-laureate, translation

Can't quote accurately as I have only the audio version:

He realised he had no taste for learning, the scholarly, he was only interested in the liturgy
Lip service/rote leading to mental consumerism rather than intellectual engagement.

VERSUS

You will never be a scholar and your thoughts are childish; you repress memories
Puffed ego/elitism/precociousness/cruelty of study over humanity.

A psychological moment for both parties.

Given the title, it would be easy to think that the parable should be an eve...more

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May 13, 2010 Lorenzo rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: german, 2009-readings, aaa-my-library

When I was a child my parents used to punish me for my bad actions in their own way: I often had the prohibition of reading for a week.
Of course I wasn't so nerd at that time and together with reading there could be no tv, no bmx rides with friends, no late night awake and all sorts of "normal" don'ts.
But the worst one was definitely the "no reading week".

Later in my teenage years, I remember how my mum was very glad about my reading activity, but not particularly interested in influencing that...more

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Mar 21, 2012 Lucian McMahon rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Extremely glad I managed to slog through the slow-going middle part; a beautifully heart-wrenching novel.

"Aber heut weiß ich nicht mehr, was ich eigentlich will und wünsche. Früher war alles einfach, so einfach wie die Buchstaben im Lesebuch. Jetzt ist nichts mehr einfach, nicht einmal mehr die Buchstaben. Alles hat viele Bedeutungen und Gesichter bekommen. Ich weiß nicht, was aus mir werden soll, ich kann jetzt nicht an solche Sachen denken." 77

"Ach, alles war unverständlich und eigentlich trau...more Extremely glad I managed to slog through the slow-going middle part; a beautifully heart-wrenching novel.

"Aber heut weiß ich nicht mehr, was ich eigentlich will und wünsche. Früher war alles einfach, so einfach wie die Buchstaben im Lesebuch. Jetzt ist nichts mehr einfach, nicht einmal mehr die Buchstaben. Alles hat viele Bedeutungen und Gesichter bekommen. Ich weiß nicht, was aus mir werden soll, ich kann jetzt nicht an solche Sachen denken." 77

"Ach, alles war unverständlich und eigentlich traurig, obwohl es auch schön war. Man wußte nichts. Man lebte und lief auf der Erde herum oder ritt durch die Wälder, und manches schaute einen so fordernd und versprechend und sehnsuchterweckend an: ein Stern am Abend, eine blaue Glockenblume, ein schilfgrüner See, das Auge eines Menschen oder einer Kuh, und manchmal war es, als müsse jetzt gleich etwas Niegesehenes und doch lang Ersehntes geschehen, ein Schleier von allem fallen; aber dann ging es vorüber, und es geschah nichts, und das Rätsel wurde nicht gelöst und der geheime Zauber nicht entbunden, und zuletzt wurde man alt und sah so pfiffig aus wie der Pater Anselm oder so weise wie der Abt Daniel und wußte vielleicht noch immer nichts, wartete und horchte noch immer." 88

"Vielleicht, dachte er, ist die Wurzel aller Kunst und vielleicht auch allen Geistes die Furcht vor dem Tode. Wir fürchten ihn, wir schauern vor der Vergänglichkeit, mit Trauer sehen wir immer wieder die Blumen welken und die Blätter fallen und spüren im eigenen Herzen die Gewißheit, daß auch wir vergänglich sind und bald verwelken. Wenn wir nun als Künstler Bilder schaffen oder als Denker Gesetze suchen und Gedanken formulieren, so tun wir es, um doch irgend etwas aus dem großen Totentanz zu retten, etwas hinzustellen, was längere Dauer hat als wir selbst. Die Frau, nach der der Meister seine schöne Madonna gebildet hat, ist vielleicht schon verwelkt oder tot, und bald wird auch er tot sein, andere wohnen in seinem Haus, andere essen an seinem Tisch--aber sein Werk bleibt stehen, in der stillen Klosterkirche schimmert es noch nach hundert Jahren und viel länger, und bleibt immer schön, und lächelt immer mit dem gleichen Munde, der ebenso blühend wie traurig ist." 186

"War der Mensch wirklich dazu geschaffen, ein geregeltes Leben zu führen, dessen Stunden und Verrichtungen die Betglocken anzeigten? War der Mensch wirklich dazu geschaffen, den Aristoteles und Thomas von Aguin zu studieren, Griechisch zu können, seine Sinne abzutöten und der Welt zu entfliehen? War er nicht von Gott geschaffen mit Sinnen und Trieben, mit blutigen Dunkelheiten, mit der Fähigkeit zu Sünde, zur Lust, zur Verzweiflung?" 356

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Dec 23, 2009 Salma rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

رواية جميلة و عميقة أخرى من روائع هرمان هسه...
نرسيس أستاذ غولدموند و صديقه في الدير... نرسيس ينفذ لأعماق الروح و رأى أن تلميذه غولدموند ذا روح شاعر حرة و لا ينبغي أن يعيش حياة الرهبان مثله... و هكذا يحثه لينطلق و يبحث عن طريقه عبر الحياة، فينطلق و يعيش حياة متشرد فاسق منغمس بالمتع الدنيوية... بينما يتابع نرسيس في طريق الفكر المجرد و حياة الدير الصارمة...
ثم بعد سنوات طوال يلتقيان... على اختلاف طريقيهما و على اختلاف كل منهما ما يمثله يخلصان لنفس النتيجة تقريبا...
مع أن هسه رجح كفة غولدموند في النه...more رواية جميلة و عميقة أخرى من روائع هرمان هسه...
نرسيس أستاذ غولدموند و صديقه في الدير... نرسيس ينفذ لأعماق الروح و رأى أن تلميذه غولدموند ذا روح شاعر حرة و لا ينبغي أن يعيش حياة الرهبان مثله... و هكذا يحثه لينطلق و يبحث عن طريقه عبر الحياة، فينطلق و يعيش حياة متشرد فاسق منغمس بالمتع الدنيوية... بينما يتابع نرسيس في طريق الفكر المجرد و حياة الدير الصارمة...
ثم بعد سنوات طوال يلتقيان... على اختلاف طريقيهما و على اختلاف كل منهما ما يمثله يخلصان لنفس النتيجة تقريبا...
مع أن هسه رجح كفة غولدموند في النهاية في الحصول على المعنى... العودة للأم... أو بكلمة أدق _برأيي_ للمصدر...

سألت نفسي أيهما أحق؟ أيهما طريقه أولى و موصل للمعنى؟ أيهما أختار لو كان علي الاختيار؟
لم يعجبني طريق غولدموند، وجدته مفرطا جدا لدرجة شعرت معها بالغثيان و القرف...
و لم يعجبني طريق نرسيس فحياته باردة و جافة حد الملل القاتل...

سألت نفسي تارة أخرى؟ و لماذا أخيّر نفسي بين أقصى اليمين أو الشمال؟
طريقا وسطا بين هذا و ذاك هو ما سأختار...

أشعر بـ هسه و في كثير من جمله و كأنه يكاد يقبض على ما يتجلى من وراء كل ما في الكون... سواء فكرا صرفا أو حياة و جمالا و متعا...
اقتربت كثيرا يا هسه، شعرة واحدة فقط، لولا أن...

أسلوب هسه راق و مهذب و عميق...
الترجمة جميلة جدا...
قرأتها بترجمة أسامة منزلجي
عن دار حوران(less)

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Apr 22, 2013 Zeek rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: classics, fiction, hist-fiction, literary

Philosophical? Definitely. Novel Entertainment? oh yes. What the author meant by this writing? Well, like any true art- that depends on the audience. I can go into all the philosophical existential yakkity yak that a lot of other people might get from Narcissus and Goldmund, but instead I'm gonna give you the nuts and bolts (ie pared down yakkity yak) of what I saw in it.

Goldmund is a born artist with a innate bent toward the agony and bliss of wanting to eat life- not just watch it parade on by...more Philosophical? Definitely. Novel Entertainment? oh yes. What the author meant by this writing? Well, like any true art- that depends on the audience. I can go into all the philosophical existential yakkity yak that a lot of other people might get from Narcissus and Goldmund, but instead I'm gonna give you the nuts and bolts (ie pared down yakkity yak) of what I saw in it.

Goldmund is a born artist with a innate bent toward the agony and bliss of wanting to eat life- not just watch it parade on by through a view from a window. Narcissus is his opposite. He is the thinker, the one who excises feelings and exalts logic and the mind above all else.

But this book isn't about two people, it's about one. You, the reader. Narcissus and Goldmund are an allegory of the dichotomy of man, the struggle of balancing and preferring one aspect of who you are to another, because- Dear God, are we complex.

One part longs to experience life and run at it full tilt, but the logical part says a life like that is reckless and cannot be sustained.

Narcissus always loved Goldmund, more than that- admired his young friend's natural beauty and talents, despite the fact he was his polar opposite- and that kept him on stable ground. It took a lifetime of wandering for Goldmund to come to the same conclusion about Narcissus- unfortunately he only found stability at the very end.

Some might think the ending for Goldmund one of disappointment- but really, only one could survive in this tale of a search for inner peace. Truly it could only be elder, settled wisdom who would survive.

Just like Narcissus, for one to find that kind of peace, you must reconcile every part of yourselves and integrate them into the whole- accepted, just as they are. Too many never get that.

As one who often struggled in the past with this exact same duality- I thoroughly enjoyed this novel- not only did it startle my Narcissus with its alarming insight it appeased the passionate Goldmund in me with it's bawdiness at times. :P

It's books like these that make me glad I'm a reader.

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Jul 06, 2009 Hans rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: philosophy, spiritual-development, hermann-hesse, favorites, german-literature

Can I just say that I absolutely love Hermann Hesse. For me his words speak directly to my soul. I have never exclusively followed an author except Hesse. He is absolutely brilliant and his works are so nuanced to the point where they only mean anything to the reader unless they can relate in some profound way. I have now finished all of his major works and I must say "bravo".

All of his books are about the turmoil and duality of the human soul. He speaks my language. My next goal is to learn Ge...more

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May 30, 2007 Michael Pinson rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is a book I picked up and began to read several times. Finally after reading several other Hesse novels and craving more I seriously opened this book which after getting through a tedious groundlaying first chapter, I was swept up into the heartbreaking story of the two friends that met in a monastery during the medieval times. Narcissus, was destined to be a monk from the beginning, knowing as a very young man that he was resigned to live a monastic life filled with religion and ritual. Go...more

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Jul 08, 2008 David S. rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: passionate people, artists, lusties.

Shelves: recommended

Great book, incredibly sad and so beautifully written. Really, the book could have been called Goldmund and his friend Narcissus. It focuses so much more on Goldmund's travels through the world and through many women (the book is a huge turn on). It's a journey of the senses and experience, and along the way he encounters death and is forced to examine the transitory nature of life, all life, forcing him to embrace it much more fully.

It's a quick and easy read I found, something surprisingly ca...more

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Jul 09, 2007 Wavegenerator rated it 5 of 5 stars

Hesse has always been one of my favorites, and it is difficult to rank the books in terms of quality, but this one is near the top. It is set in the middle ages and concerns two friends, one of whom chooses the chaste religious path through life, becoming a monk, and the other who chooses the worldly path of seeking money, sexual pleasure and personal freedom. All of Hesse's books concern this sort of dichotomy in the individual, and here he breaks the components into two different characters wh...more

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Feb 07, 2009 Ari rated it 5 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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May 04, 2013 muhammad lafi rated it 2 of 5 stars

هرمان هسه ليس أفضل كتابي، بل إني ما أن امسك أي من كتبه حتى أصاب بكآبة قرار الالتزام الذي يلوح أكثر ثقلا وأنت تعلم انك مقدم على فلسفة إن اعجبك فيها جانب فهناك جوانب أقفلت دونها أبواب الوصل
كالعادة هنا يجب أن تجتاز مائة صفحة على الأقل قبل أن تمسك بأول خيوط اللذة الروائية البعيدة -كما أعتقد- عن الحشو المفرط والاسهاب الفلسفي المضجر
إلا أن قصة غولدموند -البطل الرئيسي- امتلكت من رشاقة روح هسه المنعتقة هذه المرة أكثر مما قيدته روح الأكاديمي المنغلقة على خطوط خططه المعتادة، فحين لم تطغى الجنوحات والاقتطاع...more هرمان هسه ليس أفضل كتابي، بل إني ما أن امسك أي من كتبه حتى أصاب بكآبة قرار الالتزام الذي يلوح أكثر ثقلا وأنت تعلم انك مقدم على فلسفة إن اعجبك فيها جانب فهناك جوانب أقفلت دونها أبواب الوصل
كالعادة هنا يجب أن تجتاز مائة صفحة على الأقل قبل أن تمسك بأول خيوط اللذة الروائية البعيدة -كما أعتقد- عن الحشو المفرط والاسهاب الفلسفي المضجر
إلا أن قصة غولدموند -البطل الرئيسي- امتلكت من رشاقة روح هسه المنعتقة هذه المرة أكثر مما قيدته روح الأكاديمي المنغلقة على خطوط خططه المعتادة، فحين لم تطغى الجنوحات والاقتطاعات من سلاسة السرد الروائي كثيرا في قصص غولدموند، كان من الواضح أن هسه يعوضها في البطل الثاني نيرسيس، الذي كان من الواضخ أن عليه تقديم إجابات غير مقنعة عن التزمت الديني، وتقديم صورة أكثر إشراقا عن الكاهن والديني المتنور، ليجيب على القلق الوجودي الذي عانى منه غولدموند- إلا أنها من ناحيتي لم تكن مقنعة وأدواتها النقدية غير موفقة، وسأعتبرها طفولية جدا إذا ما قارنتها بمنهج إمبيرتو إيكو في "إسم الوردة"، إذ لهجت المبارزة الفكرية لدى هرمان كثيرا بموضوع إحراق اليهود تعليقا على حادثة عابرة بينما لم يحظ الهوس الجنسي -مثلا- الممتد على طول حياة غولدموند وعرضها دون تلبية روحية على ما يفترض من تشريح ولا نقول إجابات. إلا ان الكاتب كان على ما يبدو يريد تقديم حبكة درامية إثارية لخدمة غرضه الفكري الفلسفي لكن دون مزيد من العناية، ولا مناص من ملاحظة الاسقاطات السياسية "الموديرن" في زمانه الذي بدأت ترتفع فيه قمصان اليهود الملطخة بداء النعاج..(less)

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Mar 18, 2013 Dvd (all'improvviso) rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

i libri di HH sono di difficile classificazione e commento. Anche questo non è differente. Estremamente lento, macchinoso, verboso in troppe parti: pagine su pagine su pagine per descrivere una sensazione, un'immagine, un'idea di mondo nella eterea (e altalentante) spiritualità di Boccadoro. E' vero che tali pagine, a tratti, raggiungono alte vette di poesia e esprimono concetti estremamente raffinati e d'alta spiritualità (la morte e la vita viste come un unica forza generatrice; il barcamenars...more

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Jul 21, 2012 Carsten Thomsen rated it 3 of 5 stars

This novel reads like a fairy-tale, a mythic story, a parable, very poetic and similar in style as Siddhartha.

It's a story about the differences between the mind and the heart, reason and passion, science and nature. Goldmund is a young man who becomes friends with his teacher Narcissus in a catholic monastery school. Narcissus is the theological thinker, all logic and intellect - and Goldmund is the artist, brimming with passion and emotion.

Quite early in the novel Goldmund leaves the monaster...more

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Jul 21, 2012 gergana rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Немският език се слави с това, че както и да го въртиш и сучеш, все звучи като удряне на дърво в метална решетка. Съответно има това предимство, че много трудно би могъл да бъде накаран да звучи патетично, поетично, драматично, приповдигнато или каквото там щете.
Не знам доколко Херман Хесе се е постарал да придаде на книгата си някои от гореизброените качества, но на български преводът често е дразнещ - с някакви излишно усложнени словореди, много тежки фрази, нанизани една след друга за повече...more Немският език се слави с това, че както и да го въртиш и сучеш, все звучи като удряне на дърво в метална решетка. Съответно има това предимство, че много трудно би могъл да бъде накаран да звучи патетично, поетично, драматично, приповдигнато или каквото там щете.
Не знам доколко Херман Хесе се е постарал да придаде на книгата си някои от гореизброените качества, но на български преводът често е дразнещ - с някакви излишно усложнени словореди, много тежки фрази, нанизани една след друга за повече убедителност и дълбочина, спънати рими в проза и така нататък. От друга страна, като съдя по немарливостта, с която е направена коректурата, склонна да отдам тези недостатъци колкото на стила му, толкова и на работата на издателството.
Иначе съдържанието много ми допадна - същите теми, които присъстваха в "Демиан", са разгледани много по-зряло и задълбочено. Разбираемо - и целта, която си е поставил е по-мащабна. Хареса ми небалансираността на повествованието - докато то следи изкъсо Голдмунд в премеждията му (който в някакъв смисъл може да се разглежда като продължение на Емил Синклер), текстът почти не слага ударение върху Нарцис. Има ги очарованието и любовта към нещо безкрайно възвишено, но все пак чуждо и далечно и затова - неразбираемо. В много отношения е по-мъдро от страна на самия Хесе - както той самият казва (пък и много други знайни и незнайни хора), най-висшата задача, която може да си постави всеки, е да следва самия себе си. (less)

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Mar 01, 2012 Robyn Blaber rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: german-literature, philosophy

I should maybe make a point of reading an author's works in the order in which they were created. Narcissus and Goldmund is the most recent in a stack of Hesse books that I've read. At the time it was written, it was considered a triumph... only to be overshadowed years later by his Nobel prize-winning The Glass Bead Game.

Why do I give it only 4 stars, when it has clearly been hailed as a masterpiece? For me, it was ingested after I had read The Glass Bead Game. This writing seems to create the...more

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Feb 11, 2012 حازم rated it 5 of 5 stars

هذه هي أولى تجاربي مع الأدب الألماني، وتحديداً هسّة أديب نوبل. الرواية قرأتها على مراحل، ورافقها أشياء جديدة ولطيفة عليّ، فعلى سبيل المثال هذه هي المرة الأولى على الإطلاق التي اقرأ بها بي دي إف. الرواية في المجمل تشكّل الصراع بين الروح الهائمة والتي تسعى دوماً إلى التجوال وسبر أغوار الفن، وكشف ماهية الخلق والإحاطة بالمعنى الإلهي للكون ويتمثّل ذلك في جولدموند، وعلى الجانب المقابل للصراع نقابل نارسيس، ذلك الذي يمثّل الجانب الفكري الذي يعتنق الفلسفة، وينظر إلى الكون من منطق تحليل كل شيء، والإيمان ب...more

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Jan 17, 2012 Rich rated it 5 of 5 stars

Inspired by Narcissus and Goldmund (01/16/12):

The greatest thing about life is mystery. All the great things in life have mystery.

Life itself, love and romance, dreams, and purpose.

Mystery leads to discovery. Discovery leads to enlightenment. Discovery is empowering and gives purpose.

This is my meaning of life right now. To enjoy the mystery. To discover. To ebb and flow and think and grow. To love alive.

Some people are borne from their mothers, other from their fathers. People borne from their...more

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Jun 08, 2011 Conroywt rated it 4 of 5 stars

Reading Hesse is a really pleasant thing to do. In this novel his prose is almost musically strung together from line to line, paragraph to paragraph and the sentence structure is delightfully simple at times, dense at others but fairly balanced throughout. Each paragraph made me want to read the next. Equally as pleasing is the subject matter he approaches. Hesse is completely unafraid to address the largest of questions that go hand and hand with mortality of all life and yet does it in a way...more Reading Hesse is a really pleasant thing to do. In this novel his prose is almost musically strung together from line to line, paragraph to paragraph and the sentence structure is delightfully simple at times, dense at others but fairly balanced throughout. Each paragraph made me want to read the next. Equally as pleasing is the subject matter he approaches. Hesse is completely unafraid to address the largest of questions that go hand and hand with mortality of all life and yet does it in a way that doesn't come across as overly didactic or phony...I found myself shocked by the quality philosophical insights the Hesse speaks from the minds and mouths of his two title characters, something that doesn't occur in a lot of modern fiction, at least not in such a direct manner. Hesse is unconcerned with paying close attention to realism and chooses instead ask the deepest and most complicated questions that ping-pong around every person's head in their darkest and most pensive moments...questions like (and my personal favorite) whether to live "deeply aware of the fleeting fragility of all living things, of how pettily and fearfully each living creature carries its bit of warm blood through the glaciers of cosmic space" or to "merely follow the commands of his poor stomach with childlike greed...because he does not wish to be reminded that all existence is transitory, that life is constantly wilting, that merciless icy death fills the cosmos all around"...I mean seriously? Not many people write sentences like that any more, or ever did. The ending is poignant and rings true to the rest of the novel and at that end a reader cannot help but to sit quietly and ponder their own meagre existence. Though certain (possibly false and problematic) binaries infest the novel in frustrating ways at times, such a book is always worth the read because of its thought-provoking nature and swing-for-the-fences thematic explorations, not to mention the poetic and beautifully rendered prose. (less)

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May 02, 2011 Leonard rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: literature-german

Goldmund could not fit into the Mariabronn Monastery anymore than a square peg could fit into a round hole and soon left the cloister for the vagrant life. By sleeping in the woods, killing Viktor the thief, meeting the plague, studying under Meister Niklaus and romancing with Lydia and Julie, Lene and Agnes, he explored the sensual life as an artist. When Agnes rejected the old man that he was, he returned to the monastery to meet his friend and mentor Narziss before leaving the world.

On the o...more

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Apr 19, 2011 Stephen rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites

I'm not going to make any pretense of conducting criticisms of this book, and I pursue nothing else other than to write extensively about the experience I've lived through reading it and what is immediate of my personal growth. The reason for this is I find this novel by Hesse, the second of his I've read, to be among those works, lacking in today's fiction, that deserves to be read as a work in progress, a work to be lived more than anything else there is, one which to say something about it,...more I'm not going to make any pretense of conducting criticisms of this book, and I pursue nothing else other than to write extensively about the experience I've lived through reading it and what is immediate of my personal growth. The reason for this is I find this novel by Hesse, the second of his I've read, to be among those works, lacking in today's fiction, that deserves to be read as a work in progress, a work to be lived more than anything else there is, one which to say something about it, to criticize it like a cultural arbiter would do, would not only bring it a great injustice, but would also lead to me criticizing myself, which, quite frankly speaking, is something I'm not good at. Surely though, judging from the time I normally would rather spend doing something else & the time I have laid down for reading the book and writing this, together with the stars and tag I've appropriated as my rating, it should be clear that this novel in question is one which I hold to be complex and beautiful and illuminating; one you'd have to read for yourself to make real sense of. There are only a few of its kind I've encountered so far; the books of Iris Murdoch, a criminally underread author, being those I instantly recall. To compare, this should be in the same vein of the Greek philosophers in its exploration, and between the late 19th and early 20th-century Europe in its treatment of characters and themes.

Like I've said, I consider this book as one that requires to be brought everywhere and taken in doses, a book that ought to be taken to the park, the patio, the garden, the plane, at school, or whenever you're batshit depressed or drunk or whatever. It's on this route that I discovered a genuine escape and a whole alternative life, a retreat that at once a safe and dangerous . And it's in this slow unfolding of the story--which, to summarize, is a story of two beautiful and youthful men, of two polar-opposites who give and take from one another, who take and transgress through diverging paths to achieve enlightenment-- that I have acquired numerous insights and plenty of revelations.

Of these revelations, I've gotten around to see that, in terms of temperament, attitude, and perspective—of my overall being: I'm both Narcissus and Goldmund, both Apollonian and Dionysian, both ordered and muddled; a control-freak and a fucked-up mess. I see duality present itself in me year round, in years and repeating years without fail; like, for instance, in how, on some days, I would prefer daydreaming and being lost in thought, conjuring in my mind colors and tints, hues and tones, aromas, tastes, textures, and so on, which I match with physical objects like maiolicas, glass vials, modern furnishings, "amorphous" sculptures, and how, on other days, I would rather devote my time to scholarly endeavors, to examine subjects in the fashion of the Medieval exactness for herb and scripture naming and cataloguing; and like how there are nights and seasons wherein I would gladly waste my life away, to self-destruct and imagine curlicued, gilded, gemmed, and stoned visual surroundings; and how there are also times when I want nothing else but to absorb infinite knowledge, to ruminate over geometria, alchemia, magia, cabala and grammaria and esoterica. This has been my life, from the beginning of what my memory permits me to make of leading up to this very day. My life which has sort of been forever obscured.

I don't know how to accurately put it, but my life has, for a very long, long time, been a journey to seek out myself, to know who I really am and who I should be, an exploration that is unfortunately marred by the contradictory long phase of holding back, that crunching in isolation, that great pause and that hesitation that yields to stagnancy and linear progress and, ultimately, to abandonment. I don't have a clear picture of myself. And if asked, I would, on different occasions, give out different answers to the same questions about myself. Sometimes I could definitely feel that I have a large split running through my life. A split I've unknowingly toyed with it, and which I've somehow always strayed from only to find that I'd be back to where I was in the beginning, in that rift--that place of uncertainty.

All of it is frustrating, especially so now that I have realized that this divide goes deeper within, taking in its scope my beliefs, my identity, my reality. Like how I'm always torn between East and West when it comes to what I should believe in and practice. Like how a part of me, or most of it, likes to put a line between good and bad, black and white, to bifurcate and split concepts, to think rationally, to treat actions and impressions morally, and to categorize objects as falling to one genre or the other; and like how another part of me seeks sums, totalities, rebirths, cycles, equality. And like how I oscillate between two choices: science and art--the former forming a huge slice off of my life, being the path, the discipline, the profession that I have chosen from a very young age; whereby the latter being so deep and profound in my heart so as to sufficiently drag sideways and confuse and befuddle everything I was adamant about in myself. I want to know a cure for it and to know why this happens.
Sometimes I do wonder if this is a an aspect of my starsign Pisces, which is under the Mutable Signs, of which the bearers are known to have dual, split personalities, and sometimes I think, like at this moment, this confusion is but a product of overanalysis and an overwrought desire for a connection, for a meaning that stretches beyond the corners of thought, an explosion that would answer my deepest questions. And I do wonder if I should let it be, or if I should anywhere be near peace when I address and get rid of the confusion.

How all this relates to Narcissus and Goldmund, well, I foresee that, if my life were to be chronicled fictionally and elaborately, the result would be similar to the aforementioned novel, but it be more of a diptych, a long yet empty peregrination with two major arcs; the first arc being a dive into my male-ish psyche and persona, and with the second arc being a combobulation of my anima. It would say about what I have become and how I ended.

**Last edit 04/19(less)

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Jan 25, 2011 Elsje rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-2009

Mijn leraar Duits van de middelbare school liet bij mij zo'n afkeer voor de Duitse taal en literatuur achter dat ik, nadat ik dat vak had laten vallen, nooit meer ook maar een woord in die taal of van een schrijver uit dat taalgebied las. Wat jammer! Want daardoor wist ik niet eens dat er zoiets moois te lezen is als Narziss en Goldmund van Hermann Hesse. Dankzij de meer dan warme aanbeveling van Gufler las ik dat onlangs.

Het verhaal
De jongen Goldmund wordt door zijn vader naar een kloosterschoo...more Mijn leraar Duits van de middelbare school liet bij mij zo'n afkeer voor de Duitse taal en literatuur achter dat ik, nadat ik dat vak had laten vallen, nooit meer ook maar een woord in die taal of van een schrijver uit dat taalgebied las. Wat jammer! Want daardoor wist ik niet eens dat er zoiets moois te lezen is als Narziss en Goldmund van Hermann Hesse. Dankzij de meer dan warme aanbeveling van Gufler las ik dat onlangs.

Het verhaal
De jongen Goldmund wordt door zijn vader naar een kloosterschool gebracht. Daar krijgt hij les van de amper oudere leraar Narziss. Beiden zijn nogal buitengewoon en vinden daarom in het klooster eigenlijk niet zoveel aansluiting bij de andere kloosterbewoners. Meer over het verhaal kun je vinden op mijn blog:
http://elsjelas.blogspot.com/2009/05/...

Hesse probeert aan te tonen dat er eigenlijk twee uitersten zijn om je leven te leven: een geestelijke en een zinnelijke manier. En dat het onmogelijk is om die twee manieren in één persoon te verenigen.
Zo schrijft hij (in mijn AP-pocketeditie uit 1992 op p. 216):
Alle vormen van bestaan leken te berusten op het twee-zijn, op tegenstellingen; je was ofwel vrouw of man, ofwel landloper of burgermannetje, ofwel verstandig of gevoelig - er bestond nergens een mogelijkheid om inademen en uitademen, man zijn en vrouw zijn, vrijheid en orde, drift en geest tegelijkertijd te beleven, je moest altijd voor een van de twee betalen met het verlies van het ander, en het een was altijd even belangrijk en begerenswaardig als het ander.
Daar kun je het mee eens zijn, of mee oneens. Dat doet er eigenlijk niet toe. De manier waarop Hesse dit gegeven heeft uitgewerkt is gewoon buitengewoon goed.

Ik dacht trouwens eerst dat het verhaal zich in de eerste helft van de vorige eeuw afspeelde (omdat het in 1957 uitgegeven is) maar daarna ging mijn tijdbeleving steeds verder terug. Uiteindelijk ben ik ergens in de middeleeuwen blijven hangen, gezien de ridders, maar vooral gezien de pestepidemie die het land teistert.(less)

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Dec 04, 2010 Nick rated it 4 of 5 stars

Hesse is 2/2 for me so far (The Glass Bead Game).

I guess it's not much of a surprise I see myself closer to Narcissus than Goldmund, though lacking the powerful insight.

Somebody maybe I'll sit down and try to carefully think about them, analyze them, or something. For now, I seem to be quite content to pull out quotes (lots of):

42: I call a man awake who knows in his conscious reason his innermost unreasonable force, drives, and weaknesses and knows how to deal with them.

43: Natures of your kind...more

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Nov 02, 2010 Monique rated it 1 of 5 stars

Please, give me back the hours devoted to reading this book which, had it not been this month's selection for my book group, would have been thrown against a wall long ago.
The premise was interesting enough, i.e., two young men in medieval Germany, one a monk, the other an artist, used to show the dichotomy between intellect/art; Apollo/Dionysus; father/mother. We get it, mostly because we are beat over the head with the "philosophy". What should have been an essay or, perhaps, a short story, is...more Please, give me back the hours devoted to reading this book which, had it not been this month's selection for my book group, would have been thrown against a wall long ago.
The premise was interesting enough, i.e., two young men in medieval Germany, one a monk, the other an artist, used to show the dichotomy between intellect/art; Apollo/Dionysus; father/mother. We get it, mostly because we are beat over the head with the "philosophy". What should have been an essay or, perhaps, a short story, is force-fed us in a novel through which we slog for more than 300 pages (hip-high boots recommended). The characters exist to illustrate the author's inconsistent philosophy and not because they offer any sort of illumination in their own right. Contrived would be a kind way to describe the plot.
Goldmund, the character featured throughout, sustains his decision to live free from all societal constraints by using everyone he meets - for food, safety, shelter, and sex. He wanders the country for years, ostensibly to gain enough understanding from which to create art, but, apparently, thinks about nothing during his voyage. Every so often he offers what he seems to believe is an insight into the motivation for his actions, or to suggest he should conduct himself in a more enlightened manner, but promptly ignores these little attempts at introspection to go on to do whatever he damn well pleases. There are somewhat interesting descriptions of the horrific results of the plague throughout Germany but even that devastation does nothing to encourage Goldmund to do anything differently. We learn nothing, unfortunately, about Narcissus, until the final pages of the book.
There is no humor in this book except for a couple of passages which made me laugh out loud, a result unintended by the author. Goldmund, who is, for some unexplained reason, irresistible to women, tells his newest conquest that her hair is the same mushroom brown as the "fat mushrooms in the woods in autumn" and "it smells as good". Wow, that's some sweet-talking.
The prose is turgid. The few attempts at dialogue are awkward. The descriptions of Goldmund's behavior have inherent contradictions. There are huge leaps of logic and unexplained gaps in the plot. I didn't learn anything and I wasn't entertained.

P.S. I didn't like, Siddhartha, either and, if there were time, I think I could make the case that it, and Narcissus and Goldmund, are the same story, told twice.

(less)

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Feb 24, 2010 Patrick Gibson rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: contemporary-literature

If you have a penchant for poetic language, a love for new experiences, and a sensitivity to life's struggles, you will find hope and deep beauty in this story. I recommend finding a place of solitude and spiritual transcendence before delving into this as you will inevitably flip back to the beginning once finished and have to read it again.

“If I know what love is, it is because of you.

It is not our purpose to become each other; it is to recognize each other, to learn to see the other and honor...more

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Jan 07, 2010 Maryam Shin rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: رمان

نارتسیس و گلدموند
کتابی که اینقدر از خوندنش لذت بردم که واقعاً نمی دونم چطوری باید توضیحش بدم. شاید کتابی باشه که بد نباشه هرکسی بخوندش. شاید با خوندنش راه زندگی خیلی ها تغییر کنه. شاید با خیلی از شک و تردید های خودشون کنار بیان و بتونن جسارت تغییر و مواجه شدن با اون رو در خودشون ایجاد کنند...
نارتسیس و گلدموند کتابی بود که برای من همین نقش رو ایفا کرد. یه روزگاری با خوندن ماهی سیاه کوچولو و بعدتر انجمن شاعران مرده خط سرنوشتم تغییر کرد و جدی تر شد، و الان هم این کتاب باعث شد گلدموند درونم بیدار ب...more

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Jan 04, 2010 Kitty rated it 5 of 5 stars

I may have read this over 40 years ago, but read this over Christmas before passing it on to my son.
Goldmund's search, his exploration of being in the world, survival and witnessing of horrors is as apropos to the human condition today as it was over a hundred years ago. I was particularly drawn by the description of emptiness he suffers after creating art . Both his statue of St. John and his big work at the cloister -- and the reflection about how what might have made him happy, working with M...more

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Aug 08, 2009 Mazel rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: roman

C'est dans l'Allemagne du Moyen Age qu'Hermann Hesse, prix Nobel de Littérature, a situé l'histoire du moine Narcisse et de Goldmund, enfant très doué qu'on lui a confié et auquel il s'attache. Il sent que sa vocation n'est pas le cloître et l'aide à choisir sa voie. C'est alors pour Goldmund la vie errante, les aventures galantes ; il se décide, par sagesse, à devenir sculpteur : l'art sera une façon de chercher le beau.

Philosophe autant que poète et romancier, Hermann Hesse aspire à une civil...more

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Jun 06, 2009 Carrie rated it 3 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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About Hermann Hesse

Hermann Hesse was a German-Swiss poet, novelist, and painter. In 1946, he received the Nobel Prize in Literature. His best known works include Steppenwolf, Siddhartha, and The Glass Bead Game (also known as Magister Ludi) which explore an individual's search for spirituality outside society.

Hesse was born in the Black Forest town of Calw to a Christian missionary family. Both of his parents served...more

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Quotes from Narcissus and Goldmund

“We are sun and moon, dear friend; we are sea and land. It is not our purpose to become each other; it is to recognize each other, to learn to see the other and honor him for what he is: each the other's opposite and complement.” — 217 people liked it

“Because the world is so full of death and horror, I try again and again to console my heart and pick the flowers that grow in the midst of hell.” — 93 people liked it

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