Book Review: Magister Ludi

Magister Ludi
Author: Hermann Hesse
(tr. by Richard & Clara Winston)
Mass Market Paperback, 520 pages
Published by Bantam, October, 1970
(Originally published as Das Glasperlenspiel,
1943, by Fretz & Warmuth Verlag AG,
Zurich, Switzerland)
Genre: Literary Fiction, Science Fantasy,
Utopian Literature

AWARDS: Nobel Prize in Literature, 1946


The great German-born writer Hermann Hesse had a profound impact on me during my college years.  I am now trying to re-read the books that so fascinated me back then, although I don't expect I'll ever really be able to plumb their depths.  Hesse was much influenced by the Swiss psychiatrist Carl Gustav Jung, so his novels are full of symbolism and the hidden workings of the human psyche.  They also portray the workings of the archetypes -- those universal denizens of Jung's collective unconscious, which is shared by the entire human race.  Adding to this is Hesse's luminous, lyrical prose, which extends itself into long, descriptive passages of great literary beauty.

In other words, this is not an easy read.  It is, however, a rewarding one, if one is willing to invest the time necessary to savor the book, since it obviously does not lend itself to fast reading.  This is by no means the type of book that one "can't put down".  In fact, one must indeed put it down, and often, so as to ponder the things Hesse is saying.  Then one is inevitably drawn back to it.  At least, this is what happened with me. 

I would call this a rather unique hybrid of novel and philosophical treatise.  In that respect, it reminds me of the classic Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, by Robert M. Pirsig, a book that, among others, was very influential in the development of the American counter-culture several years ago, and which I also intend to re-read.   Another book that comes to mind is Sophie's World: A Novel About the History of Philosophy, by Jostein Gaarder, which I have yet to read. 

These are books that use the format of a novel to present philosophical ideas.  Therefore, the plot, if any, is driven by such ideas.  Obviously, this is not the typical novel that contains the basic elements of fiction writing as we have come to expect them.   There's no heart-pounding suspense, no fast action, little to no character conflict.  At the risk of sounding repetitious, I must again state that we are instead presented with a banquet of intellectual concepts to be pondered and enjoyed for the sheer enjoyment of doing so.   So this is literary pleasure of quite a different order. 

Through the fictional character named Joseph Knecht (whose last name in German means "servant"), Hesse presents the theme that dominates all of his books -- the intellectual life as contrasted with the active life.  Knecht undergoes an evolution in this novel, coming to the point of accepting that the intellectual life alone cannot satisfy completely, if entirely divorced from life in the sensory world.   In the process, the reader is given an intimate look into Knecht's -- and therefore, Hesse's -- inner world.  

The novel's predominant metaphor is the Glass Bead Game, invented by Hesse.  He never provides a clear picture of it, however, although he does say that, in its beginnings, the game was, indeed, played with glass beads.  Eventually, it evolved into a complex interrelationship of ideas, taken from certain fields of human knowledge, such as music, mathematics, languages, and science.   The purpose of each game is to find ways to link core concepts in these fields into one grand, symphonic whole.

There are at least two important sources of conflict in the novel, although said conflict is on a strictly intellectual level.  It's not of the action-oriented variety.  Instead, it's a clash of ideologies.  Knecht has two opponents here -- Plinio Designori, a guest student in the fictional province of Castalia, where the Glass Bead Game was developed, and Father Jacobus, a member of the Benedictine Order, whom Knecht meets when he is assigned to tutor monks in the basics of the Game.   Designori, who eventually returns to the outside world, represents the active life; he later becomes involved in politics.  Jacobus, on the other hand, represents the life of the spirit.  He is concerned about the fact that Castalia has no religion or belief in a Supreme Power.  Both of these men have a great influence on Knecht, who will eventually make the decision to fully integrate his intellectual life with that of the senses, of action.  This is despite the fact that he had been chosen to be the Magister Ludi -- the Master of the Glass Bead Game, at the age of 40.  As Magister Ludi, one of his duties includes leading the annual celebration of the game, an occasion of great ceremony in Castalia, attended by heads of state and other influential people in Hesse's futuristic world.

The novel also includes several poems "written" by Knecht in his student years, as well as three fictional lives he was required to complete as part of his studies.  These further demonstrate Hesse's power as a lyrical writer.  I only wish I knew German, so I could read this book in the original, thus getting the true "feel" of the work!

The perfect culmination to Hesse's literary work, this novel will repay the reader with some very interesting, profound concepts that will indelibly imprint themselves in his/her mind.  I would especially recommend it for those times when one does crave something to really engage the intellect.  Not that there's anything wrong with reading less challenging works, however.  It all depends on what the mind and the emotions are open to at any given point in time.  At least, this has been my experience, although I'm sure I'm not unique in this respect.


MY RATING: 


My "Favorite Authors" post about Hermann Hesse is HERE.

Here's a list of links related to the Glass Bead Game:

The Glass Bead Game - Alexander Sidorkin

The Glass Bead Game - Wikipedia

Webmagister Ludi and the Glass Bead Game - Willard van de Bogart

The Glass Bead Game: Cosmic Play in a Symbolic Universe

The Waldzell Glass Bead Game: Overview

Favorite Author: Stephenie Meyer

Stephenie Meyer

( Born December 24, 1973)

Some time back in 2006, I was doing my customary browsing on Amazon, in search of something new to read.  This is a compulsive ritual I engage in every single day.  Most of the time, I buy a book.  Other times, I merely torture myself with all the books I'd like to add to my collection, and know I won't be able to.  On that fateful day, I first came across Twilight.

As I've done on so many other occasions, I opened the site's reader, and sampled an excerpt.  As I read, my interest fascination increased to the point that I knew I needed to own this novel!  So I hurriedly closed the reader, and ordered the book .  I had never heard of Stephenie Meyer at the time, but I knew I had found something incredibly good!!

When I received it in the mail, I began at once to read it, falling headlong into Meyer's fascinating, utterly compelling world.  I felt that I was part of that world, somehow.  I lived the novel.  So, of course, I devoured the book in a very short time.  Then I ordered the next one, New Moon, only to have the same experience. 

Five years later, I have read Twilight three times, and the entire Saga twice.  I will never grow tired of the timeless romance of Edward and Bella, nor will I ever grow tired of a certain werewolf named Jacob Black, whom I love almost as fiercely as the vampire Edward Cullen.

The four books in the series are Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn.  They tell the enthralling story of the love between a vampire boy and a human girl, who is also loved by a shapeshifter/werewolf. 

We are introduced to all three of them in the first book, in which Bella also has a chilling, nearly fatal encounter with a ruthless vampire who doesn't share the Cullen family's firm ethical code of not harming humans. 

In the second book, Edward leaves Bella, and she seeks solace in her deepening friendship with Jacob, the werewolf, who ends up falling hopelessly in love with her.  Later in the novel, she must rescue her despairing beloved from the clutches of the Volturi, a coven of ruthless vampires who have no qualms about killing humans for their blood. 

In the third book, the two groups -- the Cullen family and the werewolf members of the Quileute tribe -- have to form an uneasy alliance in order to deal with the Volturi, and a renewed threat to Bella's life. 

The fourth book portrays the wedding of Bella and Edward, as well as the birth of their very gifted, very unusual daughter.  Things come to a head with the Volturi as well, and the series reaches a satisfactory resolution, leaving its devoted fans happy, and yet wanting more...

Some of us -- myself included -- have even written Twilight-inspired fan fiction, so as to savor our beloved characters as many times as we wish...  We simply can't get enough of them!

Meyer hails from Hartford, Connecticut, USA, but grew up in Phoenix, Arizona.  She graduated from Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, with a major in English.  She and her husband, Christian Meyer, whom she married in 1994, have three sons -- Gabe, Seth, and Eli.

In addition to The Twilight Saga, she has written Midnight Sun , which tells the story of The Saga from Edward Cullen's perspective.   The book needs more work, but Meyer has put the project on hold because several chapters were leaked and appeared on the Internet.  It is available, however, on the author's official website, which you can access HERE. 

Other books include The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner, a novella set in the Twilight universe,  The Host: A Novel, a science fiction novel for adults, and The Twilight Saga: The Official Illustrated Guide, released in April, 2011.

A graphic novel adaptation of the first book has also been released --- Twilight: The Graphic Novel, Volume 1, as well as The Twilight Journals, which are blank diaries adorned with quotes from The Saga. 

There are several critical analyses of the series, most of them favorable.  The one I consider best so far is Spotlight: A Close-Up Look at the Artistry and Meaning of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight Saga.  The book, written by John Granger, who has also authored an analysis of the Harry Potter series, presents a penetrating look at The Saga, discussing it as serious literature. 

I was delighted when I discovered, about a year ago, that the story had started with a dream that Meyer had one night -- a dream in which she clearly saw Edward and Bella, standing in a meadow, discussing their unusual relationship.  Edward was sparkling in the brilliant sunlight...

This dream refused to drift back into the recesses of her mind.  Instead, it blossomed and grew.  As she went about her daily duties at home with her children, it stayed with her.  So she sat down one day and began to write...and the dream flowed...

The magic of literature always begins with a dream, whether the dreamer is asleep, fully awake, or in some kind of in-between state more receptive to images from the unconscious.  In this case, Meyer's unconscious proved especially fertile!

This is the beautiful white edition of The Twilight Saga,

released only in the UK.

Of course, I own one of them!

(As well as the original one, with the black covers!)

Stephenie Meyer has profoundly touched the hearts and souls of millions of girls and women.  There are those who will disagree, criticizing the books as "cheesy", poorly written, and of no literary value whatsoever.  Stephen King, for instance, whose work I enjoy detesting with every fiber of my being, has stated that Stephenie Meyer, in contrast to J.K. Rowling, "...can't write worth a darn."  These are very unfair words indeed.  Those of us who love The Twilight Saga pay such critics no mind, however.  We have been indelibly marked by the beauty and magic of these four books, and will always treasure them!

The first three books have been made into movies, and the fourth is being filmed in two parts, the first of which will be released in November of this year. 

Many of us fans would be thrilled, of course, if Meyer published more books.  However, I would venture to say that for us, there will never be anything to equal The Twilight Saga.  It will firmly retain a place in our hearts as a testament to the power of true, unconditional love!

Favorite Author: Charlotte Bronte

Charlotte Bronte

(April 21, 1816 - March 31, 1855)

I must have been around 17 or 18 when I first read my all-time favorite classic, Jane Eyre.  I was immediately struck by the novel's masterful prose, its lyrical beauty, its enthralling passion. So, of course, I fell head over heels for Edward Rochester, in spite of his boorish, brooding personality.  Or perhaps because of it. 

I was much like Jane then -- rather shy, with my own private little world, into which I would escape when I felt threatened by the outside world.  Like her, I had a capacity for fierce passion, and not just the romantic kind.  However, I did not display it openly.  Again like Jane, I was a very private person.  Needless to say, I was not in any of the popular school cliques.

Bronte's lushly passionate novel consumed me for a very long time, and, indeed, has had a permanent influence on my life.  I wanted to be Jane Eyre.  Indeed, I felt that I really was.  I hated living in Miami, back then.  I wanted to fly away to the tempestuous English moors, to a mysterious mansion whose brooding owner would mesmerize me with his piercing eyes....

I read this book.  I lived this book. It became the food of my soul.  Some of my readers might think I'm overdoing my praise for this novel, but any who are unabashed romantics, like me, will smile as they read this, and understand.  Bronte has truly captured the essence of a woman's mind and heart. 

Born in Thornton, Yorkshire, England, she was the third of six children, whose father, Patrick Bronte, was an Irish Anglican clergyman.  In 1820, the family moved to the nearby town of Haworth, where Charlotte's mother, Maria Bronte (nee Branwell), died, in 1821. 

Two of Bronte's sisters died while attending the Clergy Daughters' School in Lancashire.  The infamous "Lowood" mentioned in Jane Eyre was patterned after this real school, which had deplorable living conditions for the students.

The remaining Bronte children -- Branwell, Emily, Anne, and Charlotte -- filled their time with writings related to their imaginary kingdoms, Angria and Gondal.  Later on, Emily and Anne would become authors in their own right. 

This is one of my several copies of the novel.

It was published by HarperTeen

on Feb. 1, 2011, 

and has the so-called "Twilight-inspired" cover.

Whatever or whoever was the inspiration for this cover, 
I think it's absolutely beautiful.

Click HERE for more information about this edition.

Bronte wrote several novels, but Jane Eyre is her undisputed masterpiece.  Published in 1847 under the pseudonym of Currer Bell, the novel was initially a bestseller.  Speculation arose as to whether the author was a man or a woman.  When it became known that Bronte was a female, the reviews then took a negative turn.  The novel was in some quarters criticized for its 'coarseness'.  A contemporary critic, Eliza Rigby, writing in Quarterly Review, penned the following ridiculous assertion: "Jane Eyre is throughout the personification of the unregenerate and undisciplined spirit..."

Time has vindicated Charlotte Bronte, for this novel is now a standard in any English Literature course.  Although her sister Emily's novel, Wuthering Heights, is considered superior by many critics, I totally disagree.  I much prefer Charlotte's novel, which to me is a courageous exposition of a woman's spiritual resilience.

Charlotte Bronte's other works include Shirley: A Tale (1849), Villete (1853), and The Professor: A Tale (1857).  A novella, The Green Dwarf: A Tale of the Perfect Tense, was published in 1833.  She also published poetry together with her sisters Emily and Anne in Poems by Currer, Acton and Ellis Bell (1846). 

For a bibliography of Charlotte Bronte's works, as well as a list of sites, click HERE.

Here are some additional Bronte websites:

The Victorian Web: Charlotte Bronte


The Bronte Parsonage Museum and Bronte Society


The Bronte Family


The Brussels Bronte Group

Favorite Author: Hermann Hesse

Hermann Hesse

July 2, 1877 - August 9, 1962

Along with Tolkien, Hesse was one of my favorite authors during my college years.  (In fact, both of them still are.) 

I read several of Hesse's books in quick succession, immediately becoming obsessed with them.  Moreover, they struck me as peculiarly strange.  As a lifelong fan of the fantastic and unusual, I felt quite pleased, while recognizing, at the same time, that Hesse's brand of fantasy was not quite of the fairy tale variety.  Instead, his works deal with such existential issues as the spiritual/psychological search for meaning, deriving their characters and plots from archetypal myths.  The reason for this is Hesse's close affiliation with the great Swiss psychiatrist, Carl Gustav Jung, whose seminal work on the unconscious mind and its affinity for myths gave birth to his famous theories of the archetypes, as well as the collective unconscious, which have proved to be highly accurate depictions of the workings of the human psyche.

Born in Germany, Hesse later moved to Switzerland, becoming a Swiss citizen in 1923.  He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1946.

As a young man, he read Goethe, Schiller, and other German Romantics such as Holderlin and Novalis. He also read several texts on Greek mythology.  He thus began his writing career as a poet, although he would later write several novels.  He was also influenced by Hindu and Buddhist philosophy to some extent, as is apparent from one of his most popular novels, Siddhartha, which was very influential during the 1960's counter-culture movement in the United States.

Hesse also produced several paintings and drawings, but is known primarily as a writer.

Here are some notable quotes from this great author:

“You are only afraid if you are not in harmony with yourself. People are afraid because they have never owned up to themselves.”

“In each individual the spirit is made flesh, in each one the whole of creation suffers, in each one a Savior is crucified.”

“It is not our purpose to become each other; it is to recognize each other, to learn to see the other and honor him for what he is.”

These are my favorite Hesse books.

This novel, first published in 1930, beautifully depicts the

tension and conflict between the flesh and the spirit.

It tells the story of two medieval men,

named in the title, one of whom is a contemplative,

content with the spiritual life,

while the other is a restless artist,

 whose quest is of another type: that of art and the emotions.

 Also known as The Glass Bead Game,
this utterly fascinating novel

chronicles the life of Joseph Knecht, a young musician

who is chosen to reside in Castalia,

a fictional European province reserved strictly
for the life of the mind.

The Castalian Order is a quasi-monastic group of men who devote themselves to playing The Glass Bead Game,
mastery of which requires

years of study in music, mathematics, and cultural history.

My only quibble with this plot is that women are not included

in this intellectual utopia!

The novel was first published in 1943.

This is the story of Siddhartha, the son of a Brahmin,

whose search for enlightenment

takes place during the time of Gautama Buddha

(most likely between the fourth and seventh centuries, BC).

In order to write this profound novel, Hesse

immersed himself in the study of Hindu and Buddhist philosophy.

The book was first published in 1922.