Knulp

Knulp is the eternal drifter, a true drop-out of an earlier time. Originally published in Germany in 1915, Knulp was Hermann Hesse's most popular book in the years before he published Demian. During the 1950's, the book was influential on Jack Kerouac author of "On the Road" and "The Dharma Bums" as well as othe Beat Generation authors.

During the 1960s and 1970'sn Hesse became a cult figure among young American readers and in 1968 the Californian rock group Steppenwolf, which was named after Hesse's other classic, released 'Born to be Wild', which was featured in the film Easy Rider.

With profound understanding and sympathy, but also with some irony, Hesse portrays Knulp's life journey, his love affairs and his questioning of life. The novel reaches a final powerful climax when God reveals to Knulp that the purpose of his life was to bring a little nostalgia for freedom into the lives of ordinary men.

Hermann Hesse, who is ranked with the great masters of contemporary literature, was born in Wurttemberg in 1877. He intended to follow in the footsteps of his father, a Protestant pastor and missionary, but rebelled against traditional academic education and worked as a bookseller, antique dealer and mechanic.

After his first novel, Peter Camenzind, was published in 1904 he devoted himself to writing. In 1919, as a protest against German militarism, he moved to Switzerland, where he lived in self-imposed exile until his death in 1962.

Hesse was strongly influenced by his interest in music, the psychoanalytic theories of Jung, and Eastern thought. He wrote: "My political faith is that of a democrat, my world outlook that of an individualist."

Hesse's best-known works include Knulp, Demian, Steppenwolf, Siddhartha, Klinsor's Last Summer, and The Glass Bead Game, each of which explores an individual's search for authenticity, self-knowledge and spirituality. In 1946, Hermann Hesse received the Nobel Prize in Literature.