Hermann Hesse

Originally published in 1919 under the pseudonym of the narrator of the story, Herman Hesse's "Demian" is the coming of age story of its principal character "Emil Sinclair." The struggle of Emil is one of self-awareness. A principal theme that courses throughout the novel is that of the inherent duality of existence. In the case of Emil this duality presents itself in the form of the opposing demands of the external world and his one internal quest for spiritual fulfillment. Emil's quest to resolve this conflict forces him to seek out the guidance and validation from the various members of his world including his mother, Eva; Pistorius, an organist at a local church; and ultimately Max Demian, a childhood friend who leads Emil to his eventual self-realization. Influenced by the growing interest in psychoanalysis at the start of the 20th century, including Hesse's own experience with psychotherapy, "Demian" in its exploration of the interesting psychological underpinnings of growing up is a popular choice for young readers. This edition is printed on premium acid-free paper and follows the translation of N. H. Piday.

Demian: (translated by N. H. Piday)

Demian: Die Geschichte von Emil Sinclairs Jugend

A friend's mother, war, and newly discovered self-respect draw a young man toward his psychological awakening.

The Story of Emil Sinclair's Youth

Demian

Helena

“No creía que el mundo pudiera ser aún tan hermoso. Me había acostumbrado a vivir replegado en mí mismo y me había hecho a la idea de que había perdido el sentido por lo que pasaba fuera, de que la pérdida de los colores luminosos estaba inevitablemente unida a la pérdida de la infancia y que había que pagar la libertad y madurez del alma con la renuncia a ese suave resplandor. Ahora descubría emocionado que todo aquello había estado sólo tapado y oscurecido y que era posible también, como hombre libre que ha renunciado a la felicidad de la infancia, ver refulgir el mundo y disfrutar de la visión infantil.”

“—¿Nosotros? ¡Oh!, quizá sucumbamos con él. También nos pueden matar. Sólo que con eso no acabarán con nosotros. En torno a lo que quede de nosotros, o en torno a los que sobrevivan entre nosotros, se agrupará la voluntad del futuro. Y se mostrará la voluntad de la humanidad, que nuestra Europa ahogó con su feria de técnica y ciencia. Entonces se demostrará que la voluntad de la humanidad no se identifica nunca, en ningún lado, con las sociedades actuales, los Estados, las naciones, las asociaciones y las Iglesias. Porque lo que la naturaleza quiere hacer del hombre, está escrito en cada individuo, en ti y en mí. Estaba escrito en Jesucristo y está escrito en Nietzsche. Cuando las sociedades actuales se derrumben, habrá sitio para estas corrientes, las únicas importantes, que naturalmente pueden variar cada día.”

A brilliant psychological portrait of a troubled young man's quest for self-awareness, this coming-of-age novel achieved instant critical and popular acclaim upon its 1919 publication. A landmark in the history of 20th-century literature, it reflects the author's preoccupation with the duality of human nature and the pursuit of spiritual fullfillment.

anastasia

I was an experiment on the part of nature, a ‘throw’ into the unknown, perhaps for some new purpose, perhaps for nothing and my only vocation was to allow this ‘throw’ to work itself out in my innermost being, feel its will within me and make it wholly mine. That or nothing!

I had often toyed with pictures of the future, dreamed of roles which might be assigned to me - as a poet, maybe, or prophet or painter or kindred vocation. All that was futile. I was not there to write poetry, to preach or to paint; neither I nor any other man was there for that purpose. They were only incidental things. There was only one true vocation for everybody - to find the way to himself. 

tuna

He had loved and had found himself in the process. Most people love only in order to lose themselves.

I was gripped with sadness and the desperate desire to die in this enchanted hour.

It was the first time the outside world was in pure harmony with my inner world, and that is a high holiday of the soul—a day that makes it worthwhile to be alive.

“Community is a beautiful thing,” Demian said. “But what we see flourishing everywhere around us is no such thing. True community will arise again when actual individuals come to know each other; then will come a time when it reshapes the world. The communities we have now are just herds. People run as fast as they can to each other because they’re afraid of each other—the rich come together over here, the workers over there, the educated elites somewhere else! And why are they afraid? Fear always comes from a split in yourself. They are afraid because they have never gotten to know who they really are. A whole society of people afraid of the unknown in their own hearts! They all can feel that the principles they live by are not valid anymore, that they’re following the old laws; none of it, neither their religion nor their morality, is right for us today. For a hundred years and more, Europe has done nothing but go to school and build factories! They know exactly how many ounces of powder it takes to kill someone, but don’t know how to pray to God. They don’t even know how to be happy for an hour at a time. Just look at these student bars! Or anywhere rich people go to amuse themselves! It’s hopeless!

I had already tasted great loneliness. Now I began to suspect the existence of even deeper solitudes, and that they were inescapable.

I had often toyed with ideas and images of my future, dreaming up roles to play: as a writer, for example, or prophet, or painter, or whatever it was. All that meant nothing. I was not put on earth to write, or preach, or paint—and nor was anyone else. These things were only secondary. Every person’s true calling was only to arrive at himself.

I was an unusual young man then, around eighteen years old—precocious in a hundred ways but very far behind and helpless in a hundred other ways. When I compared myself to other people my age, as I would do every now and then, I sometimes felt proud and conceited but just as often demoralized and depressed. There were many times I saw myself as a genius, many times as half insane. I was never able to share and join in the others’ pleasures, and I was eaten up with worries and self-hatred about how hopelessly isolated I was from them, how cut off from life.

At other times my whole existence felt like unbearable torture, and I was prepared to take my own life.

“The bird fights its way out of the egg. The egg is the world. Whoever wants to be born must destroy a world. The bird flies to god. The god is called Abraxas.”

There are many ways in which the god can make us lonely and lead us to ourselves. This was the path he took with me.

Whatever the weather, I would take little intellectual walks, which often gave me a kind of pleasure that was full of melancholy, scorn for the world, and contempt for myself as well.

I was well aware that it was impossible to love me as I was, and I did not love myself either.

This realization was not a happy one, although it did give me a certain satisfaction. It was hard—it left a harsh taste in my mouth—because a note of responsibility resounded in it, a sense of no longer being able to remain a child. Of standing alone.

He spoke with an intensity, almost violence,

We humans have a wider range, certainly, and more interests than an animal, but we too are stuck in a relatively narrow circle and cannot break free of it. Of course I can imagine this or that, decide that I absolutely have to reach the North Pole or what have you, but I can will it strongly enough to actually accomplish it if the wish lies entirely in my self, if it truly, completely corresponds to my nature. When that happens, when you try to follow a command from within, then it works, you can harness your will like a good workhorse.

I looked at Demian’s face and saw the face of a man, not a boy; but not only that, I also thought I could see, or feel, that this was not just the face of a man, it was something else too. There seemed to be something of a woman’s face in it as well, in fact the face seemed to me, for a moment, neither manly nor childlike, neither old nor young, but somehow millennial, timeless, marked with different spans of time from the ones we lived in. A

Like almost all parents, mine did nothing to help the life forces awakening within me, which were never spoken about. They only tried, endlessly and untiringly, to help me in my hopeless efforts to deny reality and stay in a child’s world that grew more and more false and unreal every day. I do not know if parents can do anything else, and I am not criticizing mine in particular. It was up to me to finish growing up and find my own way; I did it badly, like most well-raised children.

I know that some people might have a hard time believing that a child, not even eleven years old, could feel such things. My story is not for them. It is meant for people who better understand the human heart. Adults, who have learned to transmute some of their feelings into thoughts, do not see such thoughts in children, so they conclude that the experiences are not there either. But there are very few times in my life that I have lived and suffered as deeply as I did then.

Now I was hand in hand with the devil; now the enemy was right behind me.

All I wanted to do was try to live the life that was inside me, trying to get out. Why was that so hard?

so good! made me think a lot - can’t wait to read it again now that im older and have experienced life more to see how i view things this time around!! 

tori 👻

“The bird fights its way out of the egg. The egg is the world. Who would be born must first destroy a world. The bird flies to God. That God's name is Abraxas.”

wow, just wow

kinda gay and life changing herman hesse you rocked my world

read this mostly because my boyfriend likes it but it was actually really really good

jana 

envee

Rosa

jack

beautiful coming of age story. occasionally feels like it is biting off more than it can chew, but that’s part of the charm

Syahla Aurel

You just have to just reflect on yourself and then do what truly comes from your nature. There's nothing else. If you can't find yourself, then you won't find any spirits either, it seems to me

I am definitely not smart or cultured enough to grasp the whole point of this book, especially with the bible references. The first 3 chapters was okay and interesting, but the 4th to the 8th was very confusing for me. If someone ask me about this book all I can say that this book is about self-realization, yep that's it.

easily one of the reasons that now i study psychology 

mic★

easily one of the reasons that now i study psychology 

 

Virginia L

Rovino ogni poesia dicendo: scommetto che dopo ci siamo sentiti tutti un poco filosofi.
Sta di fatto che penso che abbia ragione, nonostante mi sembri uno di quei libri che lotti fra il ''non dirai sul serio'' e ''potrebbe cambiarmi l'esistenza''.

Campos

tash

miranda

Een kort maar goed boek. Ik wist niet wat ik ervan moest verwachten en was helemaal niet voorbereid op de esoterische thema’s die centraal staan in het boek. Ik had niet verwacht dat een boek uit 1919 zo’n relatief modern verhaal zou vertellen. De “twee werelden” die eigenlijk een zijn passen bij een conclusie die ik zelf ook eerder heb gemaakt. Ik trek hem echter niet zo radicaal door, maar het is fascinerend om dit inzicht mee te maken. Ironisch dat dit ook een boek is over iemand die op groeit. Dit was een vaag boek maar zeker een aanrader, vooral als je de twee werelden nog hebt.

Bart Veldhuijsen 

Andrea Navarrete

My first Hermann Hesse book. It did not disappoint. 
I wish I had read this when I was younger, it would have helped a lot… 
But reading it now, much of what is said, the symbolism, the intellectuality, the depth and spirituality it explores still resonated so much with who I am today. I loved the characters, very immersive, and the way they are portrayed with such openness and mixed within each other, amazing. 
Definitely moved to the favorites shelf. 

Leído en español (:

sabina

I wasn't sure if I would enjoy this but it was a surprisingly good read. I limited myself to reading a chapter a day, but I probably would have read it in a day if I hadn't.

hermann hesse and his writings, especially Demian, saved my teenage years

esma

kesha

critical dissection of the idea of individual and society and an individual in a society is good. discovering self outside the imposition of moral dichotomy is good. exploring the idea of a god and a beloved with queer subtext is good. the first half is, GOOD. 

but. losing all organically built cohesive narrative to make way for an overtly self important ideology with sparse development that seems to lead nowhere is, not so good. or perhaps my personal life philosophy simply conflicts too strongly with what the book proposes and my brain is resisting the idea. or perhaps i am just too dumb to truly Get It. but anyhow, it was not possible for me to take the book seriously in the second half, especially the chapters leading to its end. 

but i still cherished the bits that i did love, and i would still call it a good read. so unless i come across a review that rationally fleshes out and validates my feelings about everything that didn't sit well with me in the book and gives me reason to reassess my opinion of it, it's a 3.75 for me.

Emil Sinclair'in Gencliginin Öyküsü

kendini arama yolculuğu, kendini bulmaya çalışmanın ıstıraplı öyküsü. küçüklüğünde dünyayı ikiye ayırmış: aydınlık ve karanlık dünya. aydınlık dünya ailesi, evi, rahat bölgesi ama hep karanlığı merak etmiş. küçükken söylediği küçük yalanla başlamış karanlık dünyaya adım atması ona göre. belki birçoğumuza önemsiz denecek kadar küçük olan bir yalan, fakat kendisi için hem karanlık dünyaya adım atma bahanesi hem de yaşayacağı ıstırap ve acıların başlangıcı. yolculuğunda ona yol gösteren, içinde kıskançlık ve hayranlığın karıştığı his barındırdığı biri çıkıyor karşısına; Demian. sonra kendine yolculuğu başlıyor. 

"İnsanın kendini kendisine götüren yolu izlemesi kadar dünyada nefret ettiği başka bir şey daha yoktur." diye tanımlıyor yolculuğu.

"Yıldızlara benziyordu tıpkı, çevresi kendine özgü bir atmosferle kuşatılmıştı, kendine özgü yasalar çerçevesinde yaşayıp gidiyordu." diye de tanımlıyor Demian'ı.

Sonra Pistorius ve en sonunda Demian'ın annesi Bayan Eva; benliğini bulması yolunda izlediği kişiler.

Kitap güzel başladı, sorular sordurttu, cevabı okuyucuya bıraktı birçoklarında. sayfa sayısı az olsa bile okuması zordu bence. sonlara doğru mistik bir hava kazanmaya başladı kitap. belki bu nedenle seveceğimi düşündüğüm kadar sevemedim. 

nese

kendini arama yolculuğu, kendini bulmaya çalışmanın ıstıraplı öyküsü. küçüklüğünde dünyayı ikiye ayırmış: aydınlık ve karanlık dünya. aydınlık dünya ailesi, evi, rahat bölgesi ama hep karanlığı merak etmiş. küçükken söylediği küçük yalanla başlamış karanlık dünyaya adım atması ona göre. belki birçoğumuza önemsiz denecek kadar küçük olan bir yalan, fakat kendisi için hem karanlık dünyaya adım atma bahanesi hem de yaşayacağı ıstırap ve acıların başlangıcı. yolculuğunda ona yol gösteren, içinde kıskançlık ve hayranlığın karıştığı his barındırdığı biri çıkıyor karşısına; Demian. sonra kendine yolculuğu başlıyor. 

"İnsanın kendini kendisine götüren yolu izlemesi kadar dünyada nefret ettiği başka bir şey daha yoktur." diye tanımlıyor yolculuğu.

"Yıldızlara benziyordu tıpkı, çevresi kendine özgü bir atmosferle kuşatılmıştı, kendine özgü yasalar çerçevesinde yaşayıp gidiyordu." diye de tanımlıyor Demian'ı.

Sonra Pistorius ve en sonunda Demian'ın annesi Bayan Eva; benliğini bulması yolunda izlediği kişiler.

Kitap güzel başladı, sorular sordurttu, cevabı okuyucuya bıraktı birçoklarında. sayfa sayısı az olsa bile okuması zordu bence. sonlara doğru mistik bir hava kazanmaya başladı kitap. belki bu nedenle seveceğimi düşündüğüm kadar sevemedim. 

Hermione

it was definitely uhm interesting. i read a couple of reviews to maybe get a clearer look on how i feel about the book. 
its point seems to be to be touching and to give you a different perspective on the world in general. i think that worked and i was intrigued by many of the points made
however the plot was confusing at times and it didnt help on shedding light to the actually intellectual points of the book. 
it was definitely food for thought though and i enjoyed it

the reasons i read this book is so funny, but i loved this book soooo much. The introspective philosophy of German literature always makes my heart happy. The way Hesse has written about the soul and the development of youth is breath taking. Following the development of a boy to a teen to a man and the friend (they are actually in love) who guided him through it all really just 🥺. It was bittersweet and a touching read. 

Claire Jorgensen

DEMIAN 

“Demian enseigne à Émile Sinclair une autre morale que le piétisme dont ses parents lui donnent l’exemple. Ce n’est pas le mal travesti en bien à la manière de Sade qu’il lui propose, mais une conception dangereusement élargie du bien.”

Chaïmae

“Demian enseigne à Émile Sinclair une autre morale que le piétisme dont ses parents lui donnent l’exemple. Ce n’est pas le mal travesti en bien à la manière de Sade qu’il lui propose, mais une conception dangereusement élargie du bien.”

— Marcel SCHNEIDER

sidni 

This is honestly a book that has set standards for me when looking for a writing style that I love. The metaphors are to die for and lessons to learn. The  imperfections of the main character that make him so relatable and the ability to follow this character in his journey of life as he learns, applies, try to make sense of life and find himself is a true pleasure. Every person has their -book- and this one is mine ❤️❤️

Demian: (translated by N. H. Piday)

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