This is weird. I’m sitting in the library hall of my university, writing a book review..!!
So jobless I am. I’ve been thrown out of the class by the faculty because I was trying to help a friend answer a question (not that I knew the answer, someone told me it’s the answer and I was trying to convey that to my friend. Result => out of class).

The other day I read a book. A very famous one. Siddhartha by Nobel laureate, Herman Hesse. It was so gripping that I read it in a day, which is not what I usually do. And for the same reason, I thought of writing a honest review of the same.

The book was written by Hesse in the year 1922. Originally written in German, it was later translated to many languages. Anyone’s first thought will be that the story is about Gautam Buddha (whose real name was Siddhartha) going by the name and the cover picture. But the story is about Siddhartha(meaning “one who has found the meaning of his existence) a boy who sets out to find the truth, the purpose of his atman, as mentioned in the story.

This is simply one of the best classical spiritual novels written. Its written is a very lucid and crisp language, easy to comprehend and just have around 170 pages. But I must say that most of the writers will take above 600 pages to deliver the content so aptly like Herman Hesse. Hats off to the writer.

SUMMARY

Siddhartha was a well natured boy even from his childhood. Everyone loved him. He had everything. He was well versed with the Holy Scriptures. But he was not satisfied. He wanted to go beyond the material world and find the truth of the world. One day he met some samanas(saints) who had come to his village, begging for food. Hearing about them, he decided to be one of them. He was adamant. His parents had to agree to his decisions in spite of their discontent. His friend Govinda also joined him. They joined the samanas and learned a lot of feats. They learn to live without food, thoughts and desires. They learned a lot of mantras and magic tricks. But even after all these physical feats and self-discipline and dedication, he could not get what he wanted. One day he heard about Gautam Buddha. He then decided to detach himself from the samanas and go and seek knowledge from Buddha himself. Siddhartha and Govinda went to the place where a multitude was waiting to hear the teachings of Buddha. After listening to buddha, both were thrilled. Govinda decided to join as a disciple of Buddha, whereas Siddhartha continued his journey alone. He crossed a river with the help of a ferryman who predicts that one day siddhartha would return. Then Siddhartha reached a city, fell in love with a beautiful courtesan named Kamala, learned how to do business from a businessman called Kamaswami. His biggest asset was the ability to think, wait, fast and this made him different from others. He became very respected and famous among the common people. But soon he too fell for the worldly attractions. He became a drunkard and gambler and lost everything. Years went by and he became old. One day he realized his mistakes and ran away from the city (actually ran away from life). In the meanwhile, Kamala became pregnant with Siddhartha’s kid. Siddhartha decided to commit a suicide by drowning in the river. But then he heard the sound Om and fell asleep. He woke up with a new awakening. He found that there is no past and future, everything exists at the present. He then met Vasudeva, the ferryman whom he had met long before on his journey to the city. Vasudeva told him how he learns everything from the voices coming out of the river. Siddhartha reunites with Vasudeva and decides to spend the rest of his life in the presence of the spiritually inspiring river. He learned some of the biggest lessons of his life from the river. He understood that nothing was ever created, nothing is actually learned, everything is in oneself; all starts and ends with Om. Then one day news spread that Buddha was ill and people from all the places started to flock into the village. Kamala, by then had renunciated all her possessions and became a disciple of Buddha. She, along with her son came to see Buddha for the last time. On the journey, when she reached the river bank, she got bit by a snake. She was brough into Siddhartha’s hut by Vasudeva. Siddhartha and Kamala met and he realized that he had a son. Soon Kamala died in his bed. After Kamala’s death, Siddhartha attempts to console and raise the furiously resistant boy, until one day the child flees altogether. Although Siddhartha is desperate to find his runaway son, Vasudeva urges him to let the boy find his own path, much like Siddhartha did himself in his youth. Listening to the river with Vasudeva, Siddhartha realizes that time is an illusion and that all of his feelings and experiences, even those of suffering, are part of a great and ultimately jubilant fellowship of all things connected in the cyclical unity of nature. With Siddhartha’s moment of illumination, Vasudeva claims that his work is done and he must depart into the woods, leaving Siddhartha peacefully fulfilled and alone once more.

Toward the end of his life, Govinda hears about an enlightened ferryman and travels to Siddhartha, not initially recognizing him as his old childhood friend. Govinda asks the now-elderly Siddhartha to relate his wisdom and Siddhartha replies that for every true statement there is an opposite one that is also true; that language and the confines of time lead people to adhere to one fixed belief that does not account for the fullness of the truth. Because nature works in a self-sustaining cycle, every entity carries in it the potential for its opposite and so the world must always be considered complete. Siddhartha simply urges people to identify and love the world in its completeness. Siddhartha then oddly requests that Govinda kiss his forehead and, when he does, Govinda experiences the visions of timelessness that Siddhartha himself saw with Vasudeva by the river. Govinda bows to his wise friend and Siddhartha smiles radiantly, having found enlightenment.

TAKE AWAY FROM THE BOOK

To be frank, I don’t really know how to say about the takeaways from the book. I’ve felt that each and every sentence conveys a message. This book can serve as a starter for the spiritual realization for many people. For those already in that path, the book presents some strong reinforcing messages. There’s nothing to quote wrong about the book. No part is dragging or misleading. A perfect read in all senses.

RECOMMENDATION AND CONCLUTION

I’d sure recommend this book to anyone who seeks an advice on what is the purpose of one’s life and also to someone who needs an invocation into the spiritual path. In addition to that this book any day serves as a self-help book to give you that spiritual and emotional boost that you require at times.

Being said all this, I’d suggest some books I’ve read which are also having similar theme and context.

• “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho
• “Eleven Minutes” by Paulo Coelho
• “The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari” by Robin Sharma.

Finally, ratings: I don’t know, but I guess I’m being just and unbiased giving it a 9 out of 10.

And that makes my first official book review.

PS: I’d plagiarized some words and sentences from Wikipedia for writing the summary part; not that I don’t remember, I was running out of time. Apologies and acknowledgements.