Book Review: Siddhartha

Siddhartha: *** (three stars)

Some time ago, I finished reading the book Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse, but much like I did with reading the book, I’ve been procrastinating finishing a review! I’d heard great things about this book, but i found it a struggle to get through it.

It took me nearly 3 months to finish this book – I’d pick it up and put it down after two pages, then come back to it after another couple days and finish another two pages, but it just seemed to go on and on and on and … you get the point…

it’s kinda like a Coelho book – a self-help book wrapped up in the guise of a story, but unlike coelho’s books, this book was tedious and rambling. i suppose it depends upon the ‘place’ that you are in when you are reading this, since it gives some nice feel good and intuitive insights which may help people out of self thought conundrums. Herman Hesse himself wrote this almost as a allegory for the personal search he was going through in his post WW1 years.

So, I guess it is important to acknowledge the book is really well written – but as i said, i think it depends upon where you are emotionally at the time – me, i’m the kinda guy that when i’m in a down mood, i get further depressed reading these kinds of stories, and when i’m upbeat, i like indulge in excessive celebration of life… so there really is no good time for me to read this books unless i’m looking to revel in sadness which is rare. I’m not really a big fan of wallowing in melancholy or of healing through Oprah-esque self-pity counseling. Sure you should read this book – expand your horizons, learn a bit about eastern culture (oh, did i forget to mention that the book is a loosely based on the teachings of Buddhism and is based in India?)… but unless you’re a bit of a masochist, don’t expect to feel upbeat at the end!
maybe i didn’t get the gist of the story, but it seemed to just say – ‘get over it, except the world as it is and enjoy it’ – i was fine with that – didn’t need to read the book to get there – man, 3 months!!

well now i’m looking for a new book – any recommendations?? i need a frivolous, pointless, no message kinda book – one you can get lost in!