Hermann Hesse: Pictorial Biography

by Volker Michels

Book Overview

This book is an album of unknown photographic and textual material which was first discovered among Hesse's literary effects after his death. Over 200 photographs chronicle his family background,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0374512280
• ISBN13: 9780374512286
• Release Date: January 1975
• Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux
• Length: 238 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.

Customer Reviews

A Wonderful Look at Hesse's Entire Life

Translated by Theodore and Yetta Ziolkowski. Including Hermann Hesse's "Life Story Briefly Told," translated by Denver Lindley. The book begins with Hesse's own words, then the bulk of its pages contain over 200 photographs that chronicle his family background, his school and apprentice years, his first literary efforts and initial successes, his travels to India and throughout Europe, his continuing growth as a writer. This is not a large book, only 5x7, and the photographs are printed on less than desirable paper -- neither acid free, nor glossy -- however, the photographs are useful (in the cases of his various homes, book covers, and friends) or wonderful (in the case of pictures of Hesse in his surroundings. It is well worth having. Just reading through the captions on the over 200 pictures gives one a unique sense of his life and works. Places described in his works are all carefully noted. It seems that Hesse was lucky to have always lived in charming surroundings. His friends were the great writers and painters and musicians of Germany. One gets the sense that he was most often considered a great poet rather than a novelist. Though Thomas Mann considered his own "Dr. Faustus" to be a companion work to Hesse's "The Bead Game." He lived a long and fruitful life, and it is instructive to see him pass through the stages of his remarkable incarnation. Recommended wholeheartedly!