[original, German title: 'Narziß und Goldmund']
Author:
Hermann Hesse
First Published:
1930
Genre:
German books, Classics
304 pages [German Edition]
320 pages [English Edition]
I am only going to write a short post about this book because it is a very old, unpopular, German book that probably NOONE of you is ever going to read. xD
Content
The reader finds himself in medieval monastery.
He gets to know the two diametrically opposite young men Narcissus and Goldmund.
Narcissus is a strict, ascetic monk who finds fulfilment in sticking to his religious routine, teaching students and studying science to expand his knowledge.
Goldmund however is a young, energetic, lyric man who needs to travel the world and experience what it really means to be alive, on his own.
A very strong friendship starts to grow between those two very different characters, which drastically changes both of them.
My Review
This book isn’t some old, dusty relic of the past that should stay in the past; the topic it deals with can easily be translated on our current lifes.
Goldmund is lost and he is floating through life. The reader follows him on his journey from one extreme of human nature to the other and experiences everything he has to go through together with him.
The constant “fight” between the beauty of the moment, visual art, the heart and the spirit, but also logic, science and head is something that follows the young man on his journey.
If you permit it, ‘Narcissus and Goldmund’ is probably going to make you question your way of living and what kind of personality you have.
For me, another very positive aspect about ‘Narcissus and Goldmund’ was and is the friendship and deep-rooted love between its two main characters.
Their friendship is very pure and honest and the way both of the young men influence each other is very lovely. Sometimes their friendship even seemed to be a bit more than “only” a friendship but a romantic relationship. This may seem to be normal nowadays, but I imagine that when this book first was published it was something frowned upon.
[I researched a bit, whether Goldmund and Narcissus can be considered to be gay or not. Both opinions are well-represented. So, as always when it comes to interpreting books, there is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ opinion]
“
We are sun and moon, dear friend; we are sea and land. It is not our purpose to become each other; it is to recognize each other, to learn to see the other and honor him for what he is: each the other's opposite and complement.
”
A thing that annoyed me a bit about ‘Narcissus and Goldmund’ is, that Goldmund’s voyage sometimes is a bit boring. Some things are described too detailed and others are mentioned too shortly for my liking.
A thing that was described way too detailed for example is Goldmund’s sex-life:
At the beginning it really wasn’t a problem but later he is having sex, page after page with women after women and you just get a bit tired of it. xD
There is nothing and no one steady in the young men’s life and after a while you probably will be annoyed by the way he behaves. :o
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| H E R M A N N H E S S E |
The very last positive thing I want to mention about Hermann Hesse’s book is its language.
I probably should have written about this one at very the beginning of this review…
… the book is very old and that’s why its language of course is very old-fashioned as well.
I personally really like reading books written in ancient language, especially if it is as beautiful and figuratively as the one of this book.
Recommendation and Stuff
I am a bit afraid of really recommending this book to any of you.
I fear that a very big part of you wouldn’t enjoy reading it and that you wouldn’t listen to any of my recommendations afterwards because of that. :o
That’s why I am going to place this decision entirely in your own hands.
Based on the information I gave you about ‘Narcissus and Goldmund’ in this review you have to decide on your own, whether you want to read it or not. xD
If you want to do so, but you don’t want to spend any money on it, you can click HERE to read it for free. :3
Hugs,
leonie
=^.^=
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