Question

What is the book 'Siddharta' about?

Answer 1

I remember reading this book thinking it was a book about Gautama Buddha. My misconception was not because of the title of the book, but due to the picture of Gautama Buddha on the cover of this book (like the picture of the book below). I read first few pages and thought, “the writer doesn’t know anything about Buddha, he doesn’t even know the birth story of Buddha, how could he write a book about Buddha?” Later I realized the book was about a fictional character named “Siddhartha”.
What do you think of "Siddhartha" by Herman Hesse?

I remember reading this book thinking it was a book about Gautama Buddha. My misconception was not because of the title of the book, but due to the picture of Gautama Buddha on the cover of this book (like the picture of the book below). I read first few pages and thought, “the writer doesn’t know anything about Buddha, he doesn’t even know the birth story of Buddha, how could he write a book about Buddha?” Later I realized the book was about a fictional character named “Siddhartha”.

I liked the core message of the story, way of story writing, depiction of the stages of life, and the focus on self-learning. [Spoilers] - The first half of story strikingly resembles like Gautama Buddha’s life story where he tries various methods to achieve liberation but fails to do so. Eventually he and his friend meet Gautama Buddha. I felt his reason not to remain under Buddha’s guidance bit over simplified, and for the plot sake. I mean, he already tried so many methods, he could have at least given a try to Buddha’s method as well. Even though the steps told by Buddha is same, meditation is a very subjective technique. The meaning of life was not given by Buddha (as he argued), but by seeker’s own physical and mental investigation. Anyway, I understand the author had to separate him from Buddha otherwise there would be no interesting story to tell.

I liked how he experienced several other experiences in life (love, passion, power of wealth, greed). I particularly liked the part when he gradually loses his “spiritual power” to remain unattached in the midst of the world as he slowly stops doing spiritual practices and starts involving more into the worldly things. I think his moment of realization was well expressed. I didn’t like how his friend, Govinda, was shown as a fool. Even Govinda was a seeker, student of a well known teacher, a sincere follower, devoted most of life time studying “himself”, but still was shown as if he doesn’t know anything.

I read this book almost an year before, therefore, my memory might be little rusty and I may be remembering some parts differently. Anyway based on my current memory, this is what I think of “Siddhartha”. Overall, it was a good read.
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Answer 2

Explanation:

Siddhartha is a novel by Hermann Hesse that deals with the spiritual journey of self-discovery of a man named Siddhartha during the time of the Gautama Buddha. The book, Hesse's ninth novel, was written in German, in a simple, lyrical style. It was published in the U.S. in 1951 and became influential during the 1960s