Steppenwolf

My second reading of the story of Harry Haller, a middle aged misanthrope, the Steppenwolf of the title, a man who has closed himself off from the world, from love, desire, faith, from the very experience of life itself. He lives in a state where he despises both himself and the world, a world he feels out of step with, alienated from.

On a solitary night-time walk he is handed a tract by someone from “The Magic Theatre” entitled ‘On Steppenwolf'. This tract details the life of a man called Harry and his alter ego The Steppenwolf. It also rips apart this belief in the Steppenwolf and shows Harry all the things he has missed out on in his self-imposed isolation. Slowly, after meeting a woman named Hermione and the beguiling Maria, he is drawn back into the world, shown how to live, laugh and love again. Hermoine orders him to start experiencing life, laughs at his simplistic belief in his ‘split personality' (the man and the Steppenwolf) and he comes to realise that there are myriad “Harrys” inside him. The novel is both philosophical and deeply sensual and reflects the author's views on the world. The book was written after world war one and in the looming shadow of the second war and Haller does rail against the militaristic war mongers in charge of Germany at the time.

Haller's journey of self-discovery and rebirth is a compelling read. The novel becomes quite hallucinatory towards the end as he enters The Magic Theatre and we are never quite sure if what Haller goes through is ‘real' in the true sense of the word. But he emerges a changed man, ready to re-engage with the world and live his life to the full. Carpe Diem indeed.

This time around I read the Folio Society edition which is a brand new translation and much improved on the old paperback I read before. The prose flows more easily and Haller's tale is much easier to read as a consequence.

Highly recommended.

A great book, and a great edition of it. One of the interpretations highlights that this is a highly based of Hesse's own thinking and experiences, like dancing. In every person there is a steppenwolf, for more it is more hairy than others. I recognized a LOT of myself in Harry. I could not put those things anything remotely like Hesse did, and therefore I am very grateful to have read it.

Lately I have read a lot of Camus as well. The most important philosophical question for Camus was This: Does life have any meaning and if not, as it appears to be the case, then why not kill oneself. Harry has pretty much the same experience. The endings that Hesse Produces are often dreamy deliriums and this certainly was one of those. At the end Harry liberated Hermione. She too, wanted different things from life that she did end up developing herself and therefore was not happy. She kind of knew that Harry loves her enough to kill her for that.