Herman Hesse

[kuranes]

I remember enjoying some of his books when I was just entering university. Anybody else like him ? Which were your favorite books ?

 

[Wade Wilson]

Well, I only read Steppenwolf so far and it certainly clicked with me. I do want to read some of his other stuff when I get the chance.

 

[kuranes]

I enjoyed that one a lot. Also "Siddhartha" and "Demian".

Did you identify with the main character of the story or with someone else ?

 

[Wade Wilson]

Definitely the main character. The frustration of feeling alienated and the fact that he COULD enjoy life but he was holding himself back from it because of past experiences that left him disillusioned. Also feeling "out of time", born in the entirely wrong era.

 

[kuranes]

I wonder if the rock group Steppenwolf named themselves after that ? Hesse's original ambition was to be a painter, but he eventually turned to writing. One of his books has a painter as the main character. I can't remember which one. "Rosshalde" maybe ? I thought of Charlie Parker and Rahsaan Roland Kirk when I read the part about the horn player. That was an unusual segment of the book, where he is being taught through strange experiences. I thought of it later when reading John Fowles' "The Magus" and when Carlos Castaneda was being put through his paces by Don Juan.

 

[zago]

I've only read Siddhartha, and I really fuckin liked it.

 

[kuranes]

Also feeling "out of time", born in the entirely wrong era.

Like H.P. Lovecraft ?

I've only read Siddhartha, and I really fuckin liked it.

Was it this book that got you interested in "enlightenment" ? Or something else like "The Razor's Edge" ?

 

[zago]

Was it this book that got you interested in "enlightenment" ? Or something else like "The Razor's Edge" ?

Nah. I actually only read it a couple months ago. I haven't even heard of "the Razor's Edge," what's that? Really I have no idea how I got interested in enlightenment. It was a very gradual thing so I can't even remember when I first heard about it.

In Siddhartha, I really like the metaphor of the river. It's interesting cause one time after (and I mean after the trip was over) I took shrooms about a year ago, I saw something which I later referred to as "the river." I just think that a river is an awesome analogy for this magic that runs through everything. Not that I've been able to re-create it or anything

 

[kuranes]

I haven't even heard of "the Razor's Edge," what's that? ............................................
In Siddhartha, I really like the metaphor of the river.

"The Razor's Edge" is a book and it was made into a movie at least once, about a Western guy who decides he needs to seek enlightenment.

I enjoyed the river metaphor, too.

I wonder if Terence McKenna read it also ? Or Alan Watts ?

 

[Wade Wilson]

Like H.P. Lovecraft ?

Ya know, I was thinking to myself just last night... ten years ago my interests, taste in music and preference of clothing made me quite the target of ridicule and torment. Now they're all, in some way or another, acceptable parts of popular culture.

I also find myself growing evermore displeased with technology compared to my previous fascinations with it. People are making life far too complex for their own good.

 

[kuranes]

People are making life far too complex for their own good.

+1

 

[violaine]

To the OP, I've only read Steppenwolf... I loved it. I read it when I was quite young so it made a huge impression.

 

[Wade Wilson]

On a generally related topic of enlightenment, I'm really looking forward to my camping safari to Ngorongoro crater this summer. For a little while I flip-flopped on it because of cost but I really need to be there. No technology whatsoever. Just nature and me.

The closest I've come to that so far was when I was on my way back to the east coast from California. We stopped off in Nevada for awhile and I wandered out to the desert. It was one of the most self-affirming moments of my life. In the middle of nowhere surrounded by sand & stars in every direction. It really makes you feel tiny and insignificant when you're surrounded by that kind of majesty.

 

[kuranes]

I'm really looking forward to my camping safari to Ngorongoro crater this summer. ........................................................ In the middle of nowhere surrounded by sand & stars in every direction. It really makes you feel tiny and insignificant when you're surrounded by that kind of majesty.

Where's Ngorongora crater ? ( What is special about it? )

I remember that same feeling when I was in the "Four Corners" area. At night in a campground, too excited about going out the next morning with my Indian guide, I stood at Monument Valley with a sky above me so clear that I could see all of the stars. That may be ho-hum to country people, but here in Chicago, we don't get that very often.

A few days prior I had gone out on to an obscure trail in Canyonlands National Park/Monument, beyond the "Elephant Hill" trail's end, IIRC. There were rocks there that looked like crumbled Egyptian statues sometimes, if the shadows caught them right, and you knew that they were waaaay older than any statues made by man.

It was a beautiful place; well off the tourist byways, even if this had been tourist season, which it wasn't. Beautiful, but dangerous, too. If I had hurt myself, there would have been no one who knew where to find me, or even that I was missing. I had the car that day. ( My friend and I took turns with it. ) I had left it parked way back at the road. I was well off even the trails that four wheel drive rugged jacked-up vehicles drove. ( No, I've never owned a cell phone. )

To the OP, I've only read Steppenwolf... I loved it. I read it when I was quite young so it made a huge impression.

Were you never tempted to read any more ?

 

[Wade Wilson]

Ngorongoro crater is in Tanzania.

It was created when a giant volcano exploded and collapsed in on itself.

http://www.amani-tours.com/images/ngorongoro1.jpg

You know something though no matter how dangerous it might be, you don't even think about it because it's just so breathtaking. Maybe it's a city thing. When you're finally detached from that element and your senses are completely opened, there's some kind of instinctual need to experience that kind of thing regardless of any risk.

 

[kuranes]

Hmmm. I read about a kind of spiral crater the other day which is so big that the astronauts used it as a guide to where they were above the earth. That picture didn't look like it, though. Still, it was pretty. Lots of trouble in Tanzania right now, isn't there ? Or am I confusing it with somewhere else ? Do you know people in Africa ? Or will you be using some kind of safari outfit ? ( I wish I could have gotten to Tsumeb before it was flooded. )

There are some areas in China that I would still love to get to, as far as rock/land formations that are awe inspiring. Some have only recently been open to the public.

When you're finally detached from that element and your senses are completely opened, there's some kind of instinctual need to experience that kind of thing regardless of any risk.

Yeah. I didn't hesitate. I'm a claustrophobe anyway. I hate being around crowds most of the time. Canyonlands is nowhere near as popular as the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, even during season. Getting stuck behind a line of mobile homes on a long one lane road........ugh. That's the kind of thing that can happen in places like that.

 

[Wade Wilson]

Nope. Don't know anyone there. I'm going with a safari group. As far as military trouble, I really couldn't tell you but I haven't seen anything specifically that would deter me from going there.

I also wanted to go to Nepal but I'm a little wary about it so I might wait on that one. I was originally planning a trip to Peru but it's way too touristy I've heard and Lima can be very dangerous to foreigners.

 

[kuranes]

Have you read up on what it was like for the first European explorers in Africa ? I created a thread where you can choose music to go with your words about that subject, as though you were making a soundtrack for an imaginary movie of your own about it. I was also thinking of Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" story, as I created this, and so it has some weirdness to it, as well as adventure, which is why they used that as a touchstone in the movie "Apocalypse Now", with the boat going further and further from civilization.

I have a great non-fiction book written long ago too, about a crew of German businessmen who were stopped and put in a prison to await the end of "unexpected" hostilities that broke out while they were off the Southern coast of Africa, at the start of WW 1. They escaped the prison and then attempted to walk North through all of Africa ! The title of the book, "And Only One Lived to Tell the Tale" also contributed to the atmosphere I decided to go after.

Feel free to add something of your own - it seems you enjoy adventure stories.
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