One of the definitive writers of the 20th century, Nobel Prize winner Hermann Hesse developed a strikingly original view of culture and humanity through such novels as Demian, Siddhartha, and Narcissus and Goldmund. This collection of 22 brilliant, often mystical, fairy tales reflects the development of Hesse's philosophy in the years leading up to the publication of his major works.

...the best of the letters present us with two fundamentally decent, sophisticated men grieving for the ruined world. In the 1930s and 1940s, they rail against the stupidity of war and the cowardice of diplomats, against the social savagery of the Nazis, against the blind forces of abstraction and nationalism. They brood about the fate of Germany and of Europe after the last shots have been fired. They have lived through a time of extraordinary horror and yet they have not surrendered to despair or nihilism. Reading the letters, I feel like some privileged guest in a special room, sitting off to the side somewhere, listening while these men talk. A fire burns in a fireplace. Through the windows I can see snow falling against a dark sky. We are in the country of exile. Neither man has given up hope. Art will prevail, they insist. Civilization will prevail. Music will drive off the explosive rumble of artillery. Life will defeat death. Listen to them: they are speaking truth. Nothing else matters.

Die drei Geschichten aus dem Leben des Landstreichers Knulp, einem Nachfahren von Eichendorffs Taugenichts, zählen zu den reizvollsten Stücken der frühen Prosa Hermann Hesses. In der Folge seiner Werke gehören sie zum großen Zyklus seiner Gerbersau-Erzählungen, der uns das Leben in einer schwäbischen Kleinstadt um die Jahrhundertwende am Beispiel zahlreicher charakteristischer und größtenteils authentischer Einzelschicksale überliefert.

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. Excellent new English translation. Introduction.

In the novel, Siddhartha , a young man, leaves his family for a contemplative life, then, restless, discards it for one of the flesh. He conceives a son, but bored and sickened by lust and greed, moves on again. Near despair, Siddhartha comes to a river where he hears a unique sound. This sound signals the true beginning of his life -- the beginning of suffering, rejection, peace, and, finally, wisdom.
From the Paperback edition.

Narcissus is a teacher at Mariabronn, a monastery in medieval Germany, and Goldmund his favourite pupil. While Narcissus remains detached from the world in prayer and meditation, Goldmund runs away from the monstery in pursuit of love. Thereafter he lives a picaresque wanderer s life, his amatory adventures resulting in pain as well as ecstasy. His eventual reunion with Narcissus brings into focus the diversity between artist and thinker, Dionysian and Apollonian. This new edition features a foreword from the musician and artist Graham Coxon: 'The clean simplicity of Hesse s writing offers a vast space in which to push your weightless mind, and, although you can see the universe between the lines, he never forces you to venture too deeply but rather leaves it entirely up to you as to how far in you might like to travel. This is not just a story. This book is a gentle arm around the shoulder.'

Few American readers seem to be aware that Hermann Hesse, author of the epic novels "Steppenwolf "and "Siddhartha," among many others, also wrote poetry, the best of which the poet James Wright has translated and included in this book. This is a special volume--filled with short, direct poems about love, death, loneliness, the seasons--that is imbued with some of the imagery and feeling of Hesse's novels but that has a clarity and resonance all its own, a sense of longing for love and for home that is both deceptively simple and deeply moving.

On May 2, 1919, Hesse wrote to Romain Rolland: "I have had to bear a very heavy burden in my personal life in recent years. Now I am about to go to Ticino once again, to live for a while as a hermit in nature and in my work." In 1920, after settling in the Ticino mountain village of Montagnola, he published Wandering, a love letter to this magic-garden world that can be read as a meditation on his attempt to begin a new life. His pure prose, his heartfelt lyricism, and his love for the old earth, for its blessings that renew themselves, all sing in this serene book.
The first German edition of Wandering included facsimiles of fourteen watercolor landscapes. Hesse's painting had blossomed in the southern countryside and he even toyed with the idea "that I might still succeed in escaping literature entirely and making a living at the more appealing trade of painter." Unfortunately, his original pictures for Wandering have disappeared; this edition reproduces in black-and-white the full-color reproductions of the 1920 edition.

This classic of twentieth-century literature chronicles the spiritual evolution of a man living in India at the time of the Buddha—a spiritual journey that has inspired generations of readers. Here is a fresh translation from Sherab Chödzin Kohn, a gifted translator and longtime student of Buddhism and Eastern philosophy. Kohn's flowing, poetic translation conveys the philosophical and spiritual nuances of Hesse's text, paying special attention to the qualities of meditation experience. This edition also includes an introduction exploring Hesse's own spiritual journey as evidenced in his journals and personal letters.

With "Gertrude," Herman Hesse continues his lifelong exploration of the irreconcilable elements of human existence. In this fictional memoir, the renowned composer Kuhn recounts his tangled relationships with two artists--his friend Heinrich Muoth, a brooding, self-destructive opera singer, and the gentle, self-assured Gertrude Imthor. Kuhn is drawn to Gertrude upon their first meeting, but Gertrude falls in love with Heinrich, to whom she is introduced when Kuhn auditions them for the leads in his new opera. Hopelessly ill-matched, Gertrude and Heinrich have a disastrous marriage that leaves them both ruined. Yet this tragic affair also becomes the inspiration for Kuhn's opera, the most important success of his artistic life.

青年悉达多厌倦了婆罗门生活，与好友侨文达一道跟随沙门修行。在舍卫城他们聆听了佛陀乔达摩的教义，侨文达选择追随乔达摩，悉达多则继续修行之路。他在城市中结识名妓迦摩罗，并开始追逐极致的情欲和名利，直至对一切产生厌倦。他再次抛下世俗，决心结束自己的生命。在河边，在绝望的瞬间，他听到河水的声音……
德文直译版；诺贝尔文学奖得主黑塞代表作；用体验回答每个人关于自我和生活的困扰)(果麦经典

from wiki
"Augustus" (1913)
"The Poet" (1913)
"Flute Dream" (1914)
"Strange News from Another Star" (1915)
"The Hard Passage" (1917)
"A Dream Sequence" (1916)
"Faldum" (1916)
"Iris" (1918)