Siddhartha Paperback – June 2, 2014

Enjoyed the hell out of it, quick fluid read with just enough substance to keep me engaged.

I’m reading this at a point in time in my life where I want to change myself while also seeking to learn more on what I already know and what I didn’t know. This was my first time reading this book, and throughout, I can admit it changed a bit of the way I was previously thinking. I am only in my early 20s now, and I had been reminded by this book that I have much still to learn in life. The only thing I seem from other reviews prior to reading was that what is written tends to often get repeated over. This I can somewhat agree as it’s doubled down and reiterated at times. I think in defense of this, I can say some of the passages written the first confused me, having me to reread it, but the second sentence would reiterate and slightly expand more on the first sentence making it more fulfilling. In the end, I loved how the characters all have something to give, something worth taking from, and something worth discovering when looking inward and outward.

A modern classic so I'd be loathe to give this book less than 4 stars. Generally an intriguing story about a young man seeking wisdom about the nature of the universe and his place in it, but I found it a bit rambling at times often repetitious. Perhaps, if I read it in the original German, I wouldn't find it such a slog to read, but I can't read German, so ... I chose this edition. This book tells the story of Siddhartha, a wealthy Brahmin's son who is disillusioned with his entitled life of wealth, privilege and leisure who, unsatisfied with the results of his meditations and sacrifices, leaves his father's home on a quest to find the deeper meaning of EVERYTHING--and over the course of his long life, Siddhartha experiences many ways of being and many paths to enlightenment, from ascetic monk, to courtesan's lover, to businessman, to ferryman, to father, only to discover that he always possessed within himself the keys to the wisdom he sought.

Yes, the Kindle edition has some typos and translation issues, but these are the sorts of issues that are par for the course reading translated texts, you can certainly get the overall gist of the story. It's an acceptable edition.Siddhartha is beautifully written, and worth reading. It's essentially a collection of essays, each trying to explain and illustrate concepts of Buddhist thought. The first story stands alone, and is as close to perfectas literature gets. The short version of the story is that a young boy named Siddhartha is trying to learn to lead a more perfect life, and after many trials and tribulations he comes to meet a mystic by the name of Gautama. For anyone who doesn't know, Siddhartha Gautama is the full name of the Buddha. This story serves as a biography for how the young Siddhartha came to be the Buddha, while at the same time serving as a metaphor for how people of the time- or indeed you as the reader- can come to understand the Buddha and his teachings. From that description alone you should be able to see all the layers in this book, it's wonderful.The book does everything right. It's a good story on its own, but it's also written in the style of Buddhist literature. There is a lot of repetition, as were present in the Buddha's own words, without getting annoying. There is adventure, metaphor, allusion, and biography. It's food for thought. Anyone worried about this sounding overly religious or hokey need not worry- the stories here are just as powerful if you read them in a perfectly secular way where the Buddha was just a wise man and not any kind of deity.As someone who's advanced in Buddhist/Zen thought myself, the message of the opening chapter is absolutely perfect. This continues through the book. If you want a play-by-play for exactly what "Englightenment" is supposed to be, how to attain it and how to live with it, the first story is one of the best examples I've ever read. I'd almost go so far as to say that you can't read the first chapter without "getting it"- it's just too perfect of a description of what Enlightenment is- but human beings have an amazing ability to miss the point.So this book is great prose in and of itself, read as pure fiction it's lovely. As a biography of the Buddha and his travels, it's light on detail but rich in imagery. As a how-to manual for meditation and better living, it's similarly amazing. An all-around class act, I wish this text- in a better translation- would be mandatory reading for anyone who wants to consider themselves "learn-ed".

Compared with other Hesse’s book I bought the other day, this book is unbelievably cheap. Not a very thick book, nor too difficult to keep reading. Print is good and I don’t find why this book is this cheap. Maybe Siddartha is a lot easier to acquire? I like reading Hesse so have no complaint. Thank you.