Strange News from Another Planet

by Hermann Hesse

Of course, very few people go through the gate and abandon the beautiful phenomenon of the outside world for the interior reality that they intuit…

A visitor to a zoo discovers he can understand the animals talking, a young man turns into a mountain and a bird guides a boy to another planet in this selection of dream-like and visionary fairy tales from the great German-Swiss master.

Genres: Classics, Short Stories, Fiction, 20th Century, Fantasy, German Literature

144 pages, Paperback

Published April 17, 2025

About the author

Many works, including Siddhartha (1922) and Steppenwolf (1927), of German-born Swiss writer Hermann Hesse concern the struggle of the individual to find wholeness and meaning in life; he won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1946.

Other best-known works of this poet, novelist, and painter include The Glass Bead Game , which, also known as Magister Ludi, explore a search of an individual for spirituality outside society.

In his time, Hesse was a popular and influential author in the German-speaking world; worldwide fame only came later. Young Germans desiring a different and more "natural" way of life at the time of great economic and technological progress in the country, received enthusiastically Peter Camenzind , first great novel of Hesse.

Throughout Germany, people named many schools. In 1964, people founded the Calwer Hermann-Hesse-Preis, awarded biennially, alternately to a German-language literary journal or to the translator of work of Hesse to a foreign language. The city of Karlsruhe, Germany, also associates a Hermann Hesse prize.

Reviews

[Andy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding. Six short stories with a dream like quality, parables and allegories full of wisdom and wonder. Food for the soul.

[Keiralika · Rating 4.75 out of 5]

When I close my eyes, because I feel drowsy, I hope the story of Augustus and the prince from another planet lives inside my head. I would want to hear the tiny angels singing across the fireplace in the winter, of course, in a dream I could go anywhere and live everywhere. The orange of warmth in the middle of snowstorms, the thick blanket that covers my whole body, leaving my eyes slightly open, just in a count of minutes I would fall asleep. Sleeping like a baby child, inside my mature mind, in the depth of my own sleep, the ultimate pleasure of rest. So when I close my eyes I can understand that even in my own sleep I deserve to get rest.

Hesse never disappoints me with his story, the opening was catchy and wonderful. Every chapter reminded me of something I didn’t know I recognized, only until I finished reading did I understand what it takes. What it taught me about change, destiny, dreams, and fantasy. The whole pillar of fantasy was straight standing in my unfocused eyes. Maybe slowly I could never grab the right picture from my vision anymore, but no, that’s too much to think of. Because these stories led me to sleep, a couple of times. Like I remember, truly remember how my posture changed to fit the exact atmosphere of reminiscing the moment.

The moment where I had to put my hands down, my feet to stop crumbling, and my face to stop melting. This is me the enjoyer, the magnificent storyteller, the grand consumer, and the conductor. I'm lying on my bed right now, ready to take my rest.

[Carolyn Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like many other short story collections, I enjoyed some of these stories more than others. With that said, I appreciated each one for their unique style and narrative.
Hesse’s authorial voice is brilliant, especially in the titular story Strange News From Another Planet, as well as Iris. I was fascinated by both plots and thought their underlying messages were profound and deeply moving.
This is magical realism at its most powerful and enchanting!

[Vetle]

Det er ikke noe hemmelighet at jeg er glad i Hesse. I liket med alt annet jeg har lest av ham, synes jeg denne eventyr-samlingen var en hit. Høydepunktene var nok "Augustus", "Faldum" og "If the War Continues", men likte også de tre andre historiene. Ser ikke bort ifra at jeg leser boken på nytt en annen gang, men da prøver jeg nok å finne en norsk oversettelse, da jeg generelt synes de norske oversettelsene jeg har lest av ham har vært litt bedre.

[Max Dowbenko · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection of short stories was quite good. The main messaged seemed to be that war is bad, which I found to be an interesting perspective.

I can see that good reads doesn’t seem to allow half stars - which is annoying! But I would score this book 7/10

[Olivia Russo · Rating 5 out of 5]

i really love his philosophical fiction, it makes me feel so many things!! my fave stories were: Augustus, Strange New From Another Planet, Faldum, and Iris.

[Movie Goer · Rating 5 out of 5]

(4.5) Reminded me of my childhood where stories such as Jataka Tales would be so fascinating; animals, humans and nature were all fluid in form and could transform at any moment into your wildest dreams or nightmares. You are left with a serene feeling after, similar to finishing Siddhartha

[Gabe Rutherford · Rating 4 out of 5]

an incredibly mystical set of stories, told as parables/fairy tales. invariably they feature a man who is lost or has become lost in life in modern society who is rescued by a spiritual or mystical force which removes him from alienation and connects him with the Real. very entertaining and very well written, if slightly formulaic.

[carla · Rating 5 out of 5]

els llibres llegits durant un viatge haurien de ser otorgats immediatament amb la maxima puntuació, o sempre escullo els millors llibres de viatge.

sigui com sigui aquesta recopilació de contes mha encantat. Hermann Hesse does it again.

El dia que em quedi sense llibres seus per descobrir serà un dia dur 💔

[SigridHejeHolst · Rating 4 out of 5]

Elsker eventyr historier. Smukt skrevet, alle med lidt sin egen stil - tænker det er fordi de blev skrevet fra 1908-1918. Fine moraler, det magiske 3, magisk realisme osv. Alt det der gør et eventyr godt

[Andreas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Flott!

[Tindra · Rating 4 out of 5]

6 fantastiska korta historier, alla med lite inslag av magisk realism! Så fint skrivna verkligen och jag älskar Hermann Hesses filosofiska stil. Av historierna skulle jag säga att Faldum var min favorit

Absolut ett stort tips att läsa denna!
4,5/5⭐️

[claudia o’hare · Rating 5 out of 5]

a really beautifully written collection of stories, not one of them was naff or a filler, they all had something really interesting or profound or just whimsical about them. this feels like a very gentle book, which is the only way i can really describe it, but the way he writes is like he’s whispering something incredibly sincere.

[Francesca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Strange News from another planet is a collection of short stories. My two favourites were the story of eponymous title which is initially set against the backdrop of a war torn town and then transitions to a magical kingdom where our protagonist must venture to ask the mythical god to bestow upon the town enough flowers to finish the graves of those died at war. Whimsical Religiosity is a central facet of Hesse’s writing and it comes out beautifully in this fable of ritual. It’s a magical voyage to collect English flowers to properly alchemise complete the ritual into the afterlife . Really impactful 50 something pages.

The second story that really stuck with me was ‘Iris’ it follows a young boy who grew up in adoration of all the nature around him. As he grows up he enters the academic world and looses sight of all that’s naturally around him. In order to get married and progress his life further he must reengage with that tree and the aura of childhood and freedom that it represents

[Sasjahouba · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whimsical strange stories for grown ups,
Especially loved the last story ‘Iris’

[Maxime Brandt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely, magical short stories! Especially loved iris !

[Catarina Falk-cerri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just brilliant

[lyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great stories; especially "Iris"

[totesintobooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5⭐️short stories on the human condition. i actually really enjoyed this collection! thank you dearest fina for the birthday gift!

[Christopher Walthorne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two of the stories in this collection, Faldum and Iris, are two of the best short stories I’ve ever read.

[Eleanor Wise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hesse never fails.
He has that kafkaesque nature but with a dreaminess which cannot be replicated.

[rikaaa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Augustus
“He was amazed each day to see how much misery there was in the world and yet how content people could be, and he found it splendid and inspiring to experience over and over again how sorrow could soon be followed by joyous laughter; a death knell, by the song of children; every redicament and mean act, by simple kindness, a joke, a comforting word, or a smile.”

Iris
“Every phenomenon on earth is symbolic, and each symbol is an open gate through which the soul, if it is ready, can enter into the inner part of the world, where you and I and day and night are all one. Every person encounters the open door here and there in the course of life, and it occurs to everyone at one time or another that everything visible is symbolic and that spirit and eternal life are living behind the symbol. Of course, very few people go through the gate and abandon the beautiful phenomenon of the outside world for the interior reality that they intuit.”

“He no longer read stories in the colorful veins of the stones and leaves. He no longer saw God and eternity dwelling in the mysterious blossoms of the blue iris. […] All of a sudden he felt the impact of many years sliding by that left him standing strangely alone and discontent in the middle of the world that he had always strived to attain.”

“‘That's how I feel,' she said to Anselm in her voice
that was as light as a bird, whenever I smell a flower.
Then my heart tells me each time that a memory of
something extremely beautiful and precious is connected to the fragrance, something that had been mine long ago and became lost. It's also the same with music, and sometimes with poems - all of a sudden something flashes, just for a moment, as if all at once I saw my lost home below in a valley, and then it immediately disappears and is forgotten. Dear Anselm, I believe that we are on earth for this purpose, for contemplating and searching and listening for lost remote sounds, and our true home lies behind them.'”

[Isabel Fontes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Few writers have pursued the secret cartography of the human spirit with the quiet intensity of Hermann Hesse. Strange News from Another Planet beckons the reader to cross the threshold from the visible world into that hidden interior landscape where myth and meditation intertwine.
Very few travellers, Hesse suggests, abandon the dazzling surfaces of life for the depth they half-perceive within—yet those who do will find these tales a revelation.

The stories begin with the recognisable rhythm of the European fairy tale: talking beasts, metamorphoses, enchanted journeys. But Hesse swiftly alters the course, transforming the familiar into an instrument of reflection.
The man who turns to stone, the boy guided by a bird to another world, the listener who hears imprisoned animals speak—each figure gestures towards transcendence and solitude, towards the tension between the finite and the infinite.

Composed across decades shadowed by war and personal disquiet, these fictions mirror Hesse’s evolving dialogue with the East and with the moral fractures of modernity.
The fragrance of mysticism drifts through them, not as ornament but as insight: a means to reimagine suffering and renewal. Even in the darkest of his pacifist allegories, a quiet radiance persists—the belief that consciousness itself is redemptive.

Jack Zipes’s translation preserves the lyric gravity of Hesse’s German, rendering his cadences in clear and resonant English.
What emerges is a work both timeless and inwardly modern, a sequence of parables for readers estranged from wonder.

To enter Strange News from Another Planet is to be reminded that Hesse’s truest landscapes were never of geography but of the soul. These are fairy tales for those who have begun to wake.

[Callum · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hesse was the main author of my formative years and has remained a guiding light throughout my life. So much so that while interrailing I visited his museum and grave in Montagnola, which felt like one of the most significant trips I've made in my life. Despite all this, it's been maybe several years since I read anything by Hesse, until now. I thought he was for one particular phase in my life, as he is so often associated with younger readers of a certain cloth, but reading this collection of short stories I realise how wrong I was. Reading this has felt like coming home. If anything, I connect to his ideas and pain and hopes even more now than back then, having been run down a bit more by the daily grind of life, and grown a bit more towards realising what is truly important in life. In general for the times we're in, Hesse is probably now as important and prescient as he has been since he completed his oeuvre as a German in those tumultuous years between before the beginning of World War 1 and the years after the end of World War 2. In this particular collection, the stories touch on themes typical of Hesse that are vital to the future health of our society: anti-war, the poisons of bureaucracy and materialism, authentic connection with nature, the search and fulfilment of the spiritual centre of ourselves, and enlightenment through creativity and love. Whether you want to have a first dip in Hesse's Nobel prize-winning world, or, like me, you want to reconnect with a long-lost friend, then I thoroughly recommend these short stories which hold up in quality to his later masterpiece novels.

[Henry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Found these stories really beautiful and profound. I was unsure after the first one but the other five got really interesting. When Claudia have it to me she described it as gentle and id agree.

6. A Man By The Name of Ziegler
I enjoyed this one but it didn’t seem near as deep or thought out as the other ones. Was a bit of fun and would’ve liked to see more of what the animals had to say but it kind of just finished abruptly.

5. Augustus
Really interesting idea that could’ve been really mean and cruel but I liked how soft it ended up being. Felt like people rather than shallow characters

4. Iris
Very beautiful story!! Maybe 5 stars on its own, this one and the next few are all top tier

3. Faldum
Loved how much this felt like a fairytale. Very nice

2. If The War Continues
Feels ahead of it’s time in both theme and story. He really predicted the future with this one lol

1. Strange News from Another Planet
Great! Felt like another fairytale.

I’m not good at ranking because the top four could all be interchangeable. Really enjoyed this whole book and glad I read them all in a few days

[Jack Molyneux · Rating 5 out of 5]

A man by the name of Ziegler (Man can talk to animals) - Short yet profound, really enjoyed it and had me hooked throughout.

Augustus (Mother wishes her son to be loved) - Not my favourite, had a good story line but didn't really see the meaning behind it. May need to reread.

Strange News from another planet (Boy rides bird to meet king of another planet) - I really enjoyed this book. Mix of whimsy with faith, war and cultural differences.

Faldum (Man wishes to become a mountain) - really enjoyed the start of the book with the descriptions of the village fayre and initial granting of wishes however I got somewhat lost in the story of the man becoming a mountain and the violinist.

If the war continues - Seemed to have very little story, just included lots of short details of a distopian world who's only joy was war. Felt like 1984 but told in 10 or so pages.

Iris (man tries to regain childhood wonder to marry his love) - Really nice story and imagery. Very sweet read.

[Documentally · Rating 4 out of 5]

Strange News from Another Planet by Hermann Hesse is a collection of philosophical fiction. Short pieces that became increasingly humane and relevant.

Themes of war, nationalism, mass thinking and the loneliness of the individual who refuses to conform.

Originally titled Strange News from Another Star, it was written over a hundred years ago, yet feels accidentally prophetic. Though perhaps Hesse is simply diagnosing recurring human patterns.

Whimsical and profound, it’s left me pondering conscience, individuality and the quest for inner freedom.

I'm already looking forward to reading it again.

[beatrice · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s been a while since I read Demian by Herman Hesse, and I had to search it up online again to remind myself of what Demian felt like before I started this book, just because I like to go into a book having some impression of the author, especially if I’ve read their work before. And I was so pleasantly surprised to see Emil Sinclair mentioned in one of the short stories. Herman Hesse’s stories are so philosophically rich and they read like parables to me, this collection was so wonderful and written with such captivating prose, I loved the mythical/legend-like settings of all of these stories, purely enjoyed this in its entirety!!

[Edward Polson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one took me 4 months to finish because the last short story opens with about 10 pages of a kid nerding out over flowers that I trialled and failed several times to get through.

Once I did though, beautiful story.

“With growing sorrow and fear, the poor man painfully saw how water and empty the live that lay behind him had become. It no longer belonged to him but was strange and disconnected, like something once memorised that could be recalled only with difficulty in the form of barren fragments.”

Read the day after Tolstoy’s ‘The Death of Ivan Ilyich’, the two make a rather fitting diptych.