Author: Hermann Hesse
# of Pages: 49 (pdf)
Genre: Fiction, Psychology, Classics
Rating: ★★★★☆
Synopsis: Emil Sinclair is a young boy raised in a bourgeois home, amidst what is described as a Scheinwelt, a play on words that means "world of light" as well as "world of illusion". Emil's entire existence can be summarized as a struggle between two worlds: the show world of illusion (related to the Hindu concept of maya) and the real world, the world of spiritual truth. In the course of the novel, accompanied and prompted by his mysterious classmate 'Max Demian', he detaches from and revolts against the superficial ideals of the world of appearances and eventually awakens into a realization of self.
Review:
"I grew
more and more accustomed to idly drawing lines with a dreaming paintbrush and to coloring areas for which I
had no model in mind, that were the result of playful fumblings of my subconscious"
"Finally, one day I produced, almost without knowing it, a face to which I responded more strongly than I had to any of the others"
"The storm became audible and
rain rattled down mixed with hail. A brief, incredible, terrifying roar of thunder cracked across the rain-lashed
landscape and immediately afterwards a gleam of sunshine burst through"
---
A K-Pop group called BTS made their comeback yesterday. Their teasers for said comeback were heavily influenced by Demian, a book I had never heard of until last month. In my struggle to understand the meaning behind their videos, I decided to read Demian so I could interpret their meaning myself.
I was surprised; I usually do not enjoy reading classics recreationally, but I found the story of Sinclair fascinating. Since I just recently finished studying Oedipus and Antigone, I loved how Demian discussed the question of whether a person has free will. About half way through, the book begins to discuss Sinclair's struggles through puberty, which I found to be less pleasant to read. However Demian absence from that portion of the story may have been a contributing factor.
As this book is extremely short, I would recommend that everyone reads Demian. (Also, you should definitely check out BTS, their Wings teasers, and Blood Sweat & Tears MV).
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