Steppenwolf

Over the years, I'd heard many good things about Steppenwolf from acquaintances - but I'd eschewed it, and Hesse in general, because of the author's popularity (in the US) with a 1960s counter-culture that I've always struggle to identify with or understand. I presumed that this book would not be for me...how wrong I was! The book's structure is intriguing, shifting its narrative voice after a brief opening, with the stimulating aside of "the tract" breaking apart two different perspectives on a brief period in Harry Haller's life. The content itself is thoughtful, reflective and contains moments of great emotional clarity. The author's high regard for Nietzsche's philosophy will be apparent to anyone who's familiar with the latter, but it's not overbearing and I feel that nothing reallly turns on this. The story is compelling in its own right, regardless of its intellectual associations. Whether you end up believing in the healing power of humour, or consider this to be another "wrong turn"; if reading of a character's search for meaning and redemption in the teeth of modern life is your thing, this book is worth your time.

I liked this a lot better than Siddartha, although the profound always passes me by. Steppenwolf was amazing. The prose is excellent, the characters believable and the plot unlike anything I've ever read before. I was immersed in the book from the start. Recommended.

A good read. Smart. But moody and not too readable. But I still remember the story, so it has influence on you.

I first read Steppenwolf when I was an undergraduate, many years ago. It is just as I remember it. A fascinating novel. Just remember it's a poetical novel and not to be taken literally. Well worth reading.

deep and revealing story about the human condition