Siddhartha (Enriched Classics) - Softcover

Hesse, Hermann

Softcover

ISBN 10: 141656148X ISBN 13: 9781416561484

Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 2008

Synopsis

This allegorical novel, set in sixth-century India around the time of the Buddha, follows a young man on his search for enlightenment.

THIS ENRICHED CLASSIC EDITION INCLUDES:

• A concise introduction that gives the reader important
• background information
• A chronology of the author's life and work
• A timeline of significant events that provides the book's
• historical context
• An outline of key themes and plot points to guide the reader's
• own interpretations
• Detailed explanatory notes
• Critical analysis, including contemporary and modern
• perspectives on the work
• Discussion questions to promote lively classroom and book
• group interaction
• A list of recommended related books and films to broaden
• the reader's experience

About this title

Review

In the shade of a banyan tree, a grizzled ferryman sits listening to the river. Some say he's a sage. He was once a wandering shramana and, briefly, like thousands of others, he followed Gotama the Buddha, enraptured by his sermons. But this man, Siddhartha, was not a follower of any but his own soul. Born the son of a Brahmin, Siddhartha was blessed in appearance, intelligence, and charisma. In order to find meaning in life, he discarded his promising future for the life of a wandering ascetic. Still, true happiness evaded him. Then a life of pleasure and titillation merely eroded away his spiritual gains until he was just like all the other "child people," dragged around by his desires. Like Hermann Hesse's other creations of struggling young men, Siddhartha has a good dose of European angst and stubborn individualism. His final epiphany challenges both the Buddhist and the Hindu ideals of enlightenment. Neither a practitioner nor a devotee, neither meditating nor reciting, Siddhartha comes to blend in with the world, resonating with the rhythms of nature, bending the reader's ear down to hear answers from the river. In this translation Sherab Chodzin Kohn captures the slow, spare lyricism of Siddhartha's search, putting her version on par with Hilda Rosner's standard edition. --Brian Bruya

From the Publisher

This book is perfect for AP classes and is often selected for inclusion on the AP exam. The notes, reading pointers, and vocabulary in this addition will also help students at a lower reading level get the most out of these classics.

About this edition

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 141656148X
• ISBN 13: 9781416561484
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• Number of pages: 192