Aus Indien

by Hermann Hesse

Resoconto di alcuni mesi di viaggio (dal settembre all'inverno del 1911) trascorsi da Hesse nel lontano Oriente e precisamente nella Malesia occidentale, a Sumatra e nell'isola di Ceylon, quest'opera, pur nei limiti di un rapido anche se lucido e intelligente ritratto dei paesi visitati, contiene già, nelle sue pieghe, quelle Indie minori, quel fantasma dell'Oriente mitico, «casa e gioventù dell' anima e unione di ogni tempo», che tanto peso avrebbe avuto sul suo futuro sviluppo di narratore e, attraverso i suoi romanzi, sui giovani delle ultime generazioni che lo hanno oggi imprevedibilmente riscoperto. «La vera passione per i viaggi non è niente di più e di meglio della voluttà di pensare intrepidamente, di mettersi il mondo sossopra, di voler avere risposte da tutte le cose, uomini e avvenimenti. Non la si può tacitare con progetti, ne soddisfare con libri: chiede e costa di più, bisogna impegnarvi il cuore» (H. Hesse)

Genres: Classics, Fiction, Literature, Nobel Prize, German Literature, Travel

363 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1980

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

[Деница Костова · Rating 4 out of 5]

Пътешествието навън винаги е по-кратко от това навътре, но възможно ли е едното без другото?
Книгата представлява разкритие на съкровени мисли и чувства на една душа бленуваща за азиатската простота, затворена в сложното тяло на европеец.

[Nikolai Markovic · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dieses Buch setzt sich aus mehreren Erzählungen, Berichten, Gedichten und Tagebucheinträgen Hesses, doch im Fokus liegt seine Reise durch Südostasien 1911.

Hesse war sehr am Buddhismus und Hinduismus interessiert sowie allgemein an dem was man damals als Indien zusammenfasste. Doch sein Wissen basierte aus Erzählungen und Büchern und die Reise bekam ihm nicht sehr wohl. Ein weiterer Beweis für die Diskrepanz zwischen Theorie und Praxis.

Da ich ein neugieriges Interesse für Anthropologie besitze, fand ich das Werk höchst bemerkenswert und konnte mehr über koloniale Strukturen, den Umgang eines Außenseiters mit kulturellen Differenzen, (Nicht-)Anpassungen der Europäer und asiatischen Praktiken und Traditionen erfahren.

Es war auch das erste Mal, dass ich Hesses Gedanken roh lesen konnte, keine erfundene Geschichte, die für ein Publikum „präpariert“ wurde und das zog mich näher an ihn heran.

[Nona Krastnikova · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting till the middle than a lot of things are repeated, but a good book by a great author.

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

My rating is intended only for the travel part of this edition of the book. Hesse recounts and relates his impressions of his months of travel through some parts of Asia in the first decade of the twentieth century. I found it very interesting especially because I've been in those places myself, so many years later.
I didn't read the stories included in this edition since I don't generally like short stories.

[Yan Shen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read the Chinese version
Hesse is such a China maniac😂

[Jonas Daßler · Rating 2 out of 5]

Teilweise sehr interessant, teilweise stark geprägt von europäischer Arroganz, teilweise unglaublich repetitiv