A classic story of the search for enlightenment, Buddhist-style. Translation by Hilda Rosner I reread this for my book club more than 30 years after my first read, and found it less compelling than it was then.

Siddhartha is a strange little book. It tells the life story of a Buddha-like figure who spends his entire life seeking enlightenment, and I don't feel like it's much of a spoiler to reveal that in the end he finds it. But though it longs to achieve a high level of profundity, I found it to be too brief and simplistic to make, at least on me, the kind of impact that the book is renowned for.

Perhaps it was a poor choice of edition for me, but I was dismayed after reading the back of the book to find that the first sentence of the blurb essentially summarized the entire first half of the book. The young Siddhartha, a young Brahmin, endeavors to discover enlightenment when his education and pursuit of knowledge leave him feeling empty. He follows the ascetic lifestyle of the Samanas with his friend Govinda, but is again left unsatisfied. He then pursues a life of the flesh, which (unsurprisingly) doesn't do it for him either. How he does find his true enlightenment I shall leave the reader to discover.

My own description of the plot, which admittedly mirrors the aforementioned blurb, highlights what I feel is the novel's weakness. It reads overly simplistically, presenting each conflict and situation that Siddhartha faces as a decision to follow the opposite path when one path runs empty. The move from Samana to wealthy businessman, for instance, feels particularly forced, for it feels like someone as devoted as Siddhartha (even if he is dissatisfied) would find it difficult to go so completely against his character. Hesse, I think, wants us to find the journey a challenge, but his insistence on relying on extremes makes the impact feel hollow and forced.

The result is of Siddhartha's lack of complexity is that the Eastern life, the major theme of the book, feels overly simple and uncomplicated as well. Siddhartha's rearing as the son of a Brahmin, one of the higher castes, allows him the kind of freedom that is not entitled to the lower castes, and Hesse does not give us a good sense of the sacrifices he makes when he abandons all of his possessions to pursue the Samana's lifestyle. There is also very little sense of the excess that he experiences as an associate of Kamaswami.
It is as if Hesse is more satisfied to tell, rather than show, what things are like for Siddhartha throughout the story, and this diminishes the impact significantly.

What the book lacks in impact, however, it does make up for in readability, which is why my assessment is so mixed. The book is written in simple, straightforward language and is very easy to digest, which I'm sure is a huge part of its appeal. But I can't help thinking that a book that deals with such a serious and involved topic would take such a common, simplistic approach. I was left expecting more from Siddhartha--and for a novel that wants so badly to be complete, that is perhaps its strongest downfall.

Auf der Suche nach dem Ich: Siddharta ist auf der Suche. Nach dem eigenen Ich, Erkenntnis, Erfüllung, Glück. Auf seiner Suche probiert er viele Wege aus: Von der Askese bis hin zum Leben im Überfluss...Wird Siddharta sich selbst finden?

Ein Buch zum Genießen. Hermann Hesse lässt den Leser in einer wunderschönen Sprache an seiner Gedankenwelt teilnehmen. "Siddharta" ist kein Buch, das man mal so eben verschlingen kann. Es braucht Zeit die Geschichte aufzunehmen und zu verarbeiten und manchmal kann auch erneutes Lesen erforderlich sein. Vor allem das Ende hat mich persönlich sehr zum Nachdenken gebracht und ist mir trotzdem noch nicht ganz klar geworden. Dafür offenbart das Buch nach jedem neuen Lesen auch wieder neue Erkenntnisse, von denen ich persönlich einige als sehr hilfreich empfand, einige Ansätze jedoch gar nicht teilen kann.

All die Leser, die von der hektischen Welt einmal Abstand nehmen wollen und die Ruhe finden sich "dem Suchen" zu öffnen, werden es mögen.

A very inspiring story about Siddhartha's transcendence to become the Buddha. This novel takes the reader through Siddhartha's entire journey starting from his decision, as a child, to trade in his life of luxury, for a more simplistic one as he sets off to reach enlightenment. A very intriguing book. I felt enlightened as i read it! Enjoy :) ( )

(unabridged audiobook read by Firdous Bamji): Usually I can't bring myself to be interested in others' quests for enlightenment, but this is surprisingly good. The excellent reader is of course a big part of that, but the story itself left me with quite a bit of food for thought. While Siddhartha himself finds the Right Path eventually, the reader is left to find his own way. After all, without trying many paths in life, Siddhartha would not have reached his goal. I can imagine one getting different things out of this book depending on where in life they are. I may have to pick it up again in a decade or two. ( )