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“Words do not express thoughts very well. They always become a little different immediately after they are expressed, a little distorted, a little foolish.” Set in ancient India, a young and curious Siddhartha moves to the wilderness on a quest to understand the meaning and purpose of our existence in this world. Siddhartha, as a young Brahmin had become discontented with the superficiality of life, where the chase was for more personal gain and wealth, never for a lasting impact of one’s actions. As a wandering ascetic, Siddhartha’s search for fulfilment leads to the realization that enlightenment is a deeply personal journey, and that traditional teachings and societal norms may not necessarily lead to true wisdom and contentment. Siddhartha is a timeless and meditative narrative that urges one to take a journey of self-realization, to find their individualistic path to inner happiness.

Hermann Hesse was born in Calw, Germany, in 1877. As a child, he lived for a time in Basle. He spent a short period studying at a seminary in Germany but soon left to work as a bookseller in Switzerland. After a first volume of verse (1899), Hesse established his reputation with a series of lyrical romantic novels―Peter Camenzind (1904), Unterm Rad (The Prodigy, 1906), Gertrud (1910) and the short story, Knulp (1915). His humanity, his searching philosophy developed further in such novels as Siddhartha (1922), Der Steppenwolf (1927), Narziss and Goldmund (1930) and Das Glasperlenspiel (The Glass Bead Game, 1943), while his poems and critical writings won him a leading place among contemporary thinkers. Hesse won many literary awards, including the Nobel Prize in 1946.