Monday, March 21, 2005

There was a quote from Narziss And Goldmund that was playing at the back of my mind ever since I finished reading it. On more than one occasion, I tried flipping through to find it, but alas, to no avail. But today, I felt determined that I could find it if I tried hard enough. So I took the book out, and as though it were some magic sleight of the divine hand, I opened it on the exact page I was looking for. These are the times when I question whether there is an interventionist God or not, and for some reason, it makes me believe that everything's going to be alright.

5 comments:

Meera said...

Pray, what is the quote? :-)

Meera said...

Is it the one on the side?

AKM said...

Hi Meera, yeah it is the one on the side. Maybe not by any means the most memorable or beautiful words from the book, but for some reason when I read these lines, it had quite a unique resonance, especially "...these, in any one of their movements, might be as full of pictures and histories as Virgil.." :)

I notice in your profile that you list the book as one your favourites! (Easy to see why) :) Any recommendations of books in a similar vein?

Meera said...

Hesse's Siddhartha is like a gentle breeze. N & G is more like a storm, don't ya think?
I revisit Hesse often, though desultorily.
I am currently reading Hesse's Demian. So far it has been really good :-)

AKM said...

Mm it's been a while since I read Siddharta, and certainly at the time I read it, a lot of it was lost on me. It did strike me as being very mellow and subdued, "gentle breeze" sounds about perfect in fact, but I simply could not appreciate the deeper aspects of the book. I think the foreword mentioned that Hesse said he was at a loss to finish the book, because he said he could not write of an epiphany without first experiencing it himself. Perhaps then I am unable to appreciate epiphany without experiencing one! :)

At the point I read the book, I had no exposure at all to any form of serious writing, so I considered it merely "interesting", and then moved on (although making a mental note to come back to it later). Maybe now I will be able to better appreciate the writing and the book as a whole. I intend to re-read it properly in the very near future!

Funnily enough, I am also mid-way through Demian, as you might have guessed from a quote I posted a few days ago :) So far it hasn't disappointed in the least!