Hermann Hesse

Narcissus and Goldmund

Narziss and goldmund

There is no eternal life. A withered tree is dead for ever; a frozen bird can never stir its wings again. Why should a man be a better corpse? 

Experience had taught him that every woman is beautiful and worth loving; that those least flaunting, the scorned of men, possess undreamed of ardour and self-forgetfulness, that withered virgins bear within them a tenderness as great as any mother, a sweet, confiding gentleness of their own - so that every woman in the world has her own magic, her own secret, which to read will bring happiness to a man. 

In this all women were alike. Every lack of youth or beauty found its recompense in some special gesture or tone of voice.  

Perhaps, thought Goldmund, fear of death is the root of all our image-making, and perhaps, too, of all our intellect. We shrink from death, shuddering at our frail instability, sadly watching the flowers fade again and again, knowing in our hearts how soon we shall be as withered as they. So that when, as craftsmen, we carve images, or seek laws to formulate our thoughts, we do it all to save what little we may from the linked, never-ending dance of death. 

Nothing - nothing at all, could ever truly be spoken or thought of from beginning to end; and yet each of us was for ever longing to speak, each felt the never-ceasing urge to thought.

 Oh, why must men know scarcely anything? Why could he never talk to this flower? But not even two men could really talk: for each to know the other's thoughts they had need of a moment of special happiness, close friendship, and willingness to hear. No, it was fortunate indeed that love had such small need of speech, or else love itself would have been bitter, full of misunderstandings and craziness. 

But my aim is this: always to be where I can serve best, where my disposition, talents, and industry may find their best soil and be most fruitful. That is the only aim in my life. 

Mine is the nature of a scholar, and my branch of scholarship is science. And science, to quote your own words, is nothing else than a "strange hankering after differences". Her essence could not be better defined. For men of science nothing is so important as the clear definition of differences. To find, for instance, on every man, those signs which mark him off from all other men : that is to know him.'

Leaving behind the medieval monastary of Mariabronn at the urgings of his instructor, Narcissus, Goldmund embarks on a fantastic journey to recapture his past and discover his future. Reprint.

A Novel

Werner Schuette

roman

Narziss ve Goldmund

Hazal Özlem

“Belki, diye geçirdi içinden, tüm sanatın, tüm us’un kökeni ölümden duyulan korkudur. Bizler ölümden korkarız gelip geçiciliğimiz bizi tüylerimizi diken diken eder, boyuna çiçeklerin sararıp solduğunu, yaprakların döküldüğünü görüp hüzünlenir, bizim de ölümlü olduğumuz ve çok geçmeden sararıp solacağımız bilincini yüreğimizde taşırız.” 
Yollar aşıldı, zaman aşıldı, acı tatlı olaylar geldi geçti, haz peşinde sürülen bir ömrün ardından son yine başlangıçta geldi. Yer yer akıp giden kitap yer yer yordu fakat sonunda güzel bir iz bırakmayı başardı. 
“Bir insan doğanın kendisine bağışladığı yeteneklerden yararlanılarak kendini gerçekleştirmeye çalışmakla, yapabileceği en yüce ve anlamlı işi yapmış olur.”

baelgia

Amazing. Amazing. I've come to accept that every work of Hesse I read will eventually make it onto my favorites. Scattered thoughts: 

- This book felt like a mix between Demian and Steppenwolf, though more sentimental than the two.
- Philosophical discourse on point as always, but emotional people bonds/FRIENDSHIP shines here. Is this duality supposed to highlight (what I think is) the point of the book?
- Doubt he needs my blessing, but bless Narziss anyway.
- Book really picks up towards the end. I may be biased, but (view spoiler)[everything after Narziss and Goldmund's reunion was beautiful af (hide spoiler)].
- The Kiss.
- (view spoiler)[Did not seriously think Hesse would take the Bad End route, but had a feeling it would end with either one of them dying. It makes sense for it to be Goldmund, as this is more his story than Narziss'. Still, doesn't mean I'm laughing through the last chapter. (hide spoiler)]
- The last paragraph was chills-inducing and the dictionary definition of harrowing.
- I would like to just spam this with quotes, but I'd end up quoting the whole book so why bother.

Bud Valley

3.5 stars. Beautiful descriptions of transience and impermanence. I did not fully grasp the meaning of some of the philosophical points he made. The ending did not feel as strong as the rest of the book. Regardless, a very good one - Hesse is a master.

Erzählung

Narziss und Goldmund

Emma Kim

Jasmine 

Gabe Cortez

maddox Ireland

Narcissus and Goldmund is the story of a passionate yet uneasy friendship between two men of opposite character. Narcissus, an ascetic instructor at a cloister school, has devoted himself solely to scholarly and spiritual pursuits. One of his students is the sensual, restless Goldmund, who is immediately drawn to his teacher's fierce intellect and sense of discipline. When Narcissus persuades the young student that he is not meant for a life of self-denial, Goldmund sets off in pursuit of aesthetic and physical pleasures, a path that leads him to a final, unexpected reunion with Narcissus.

Rohit

Pinar Gokturk

Christopher McCabe

Lina.

Mark

'One of his masterpieces . . . without doubt a great novel' Guardian One of Hermann Hesse's greatest novels, Narcissus and Goldmund is an extraordinary recreation of the Middle Ages, contrasting the careers of two friends, one of whom shuns life in a monastery and goes on the road, tangled in the extremes of life in a world dominated by sin, plague and war, the other staying in the monastery and struggling, with equal difficulty, to lead a life of spiritual denial. An superb feat of imagination, Narcissus and Goldmund can only be compared to such films set in medieval Europe as Bergman's The Seventh Seal and Tarkovsky's Andrei Rublev. It is a gripping, profound reading experience - as startling, in its different way, as Hesse's Siddhartha and Steppenwolf.

Narcissus and Goldmund

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