The Journey to the East

by Hermann Hesse and Hilda Hesse, Herman; Rosner

Book Overview

2011 Reprint of 1957 English Translation. Full facsimile of the original edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. "Journey to the East" is written from the point of view of a man who... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0374500363
• ISBN13: 9780374500368
• Release Date: January 1988
• Publisher: Noonday Press
• Length: 118 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 5.5" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

An Entertaining Book that is Hard to Pin Down

This allegorical book is made up of equal parts poetry and prose. On the surface it tells a simple tale of a man who starts on a journey with like minded souls in search of a mystical woman named Fatima. Part way through the journey he loses faith in his fellow travelers and their cause. The rest of the book is about the protagonist's attempt to write about his experience, and to discover the true nature of the league in which he had lost faith.Almost from the beginning the reader is forced to conclude that neither the league itself, nor the attempt to write about it, can be taken literally. Clearly Hesse wants the league of travelers to the east to be seen in a symbolic light. But what is it meant to represent? Given that this is the author of Siddhartha, one might suppose that the league represents a group of individuals in search of eastern mysticism. Yet the book says little or nothing about Buddhism, Hinduism or Islam. The league could also be taken as an allegory for the community of artists, and though there are numerous references in the book to support this point of view, it seems too shallow an interpretation to explain the entire text. For instance, there are clear and repeated references to religion, usually in a Christian context. These references belie a simple interpretation of the book as being about the life of an artist.The book also spends considerable time wrestling with the idea of whether or not it is appropriate to attempt to use a novel as means of exorcising one's personal demons, or whether such an undertaking is fundamentally selfish. On the surface, it appears that the author of the book denies the value of using writing as a means of working through a personal problem, and yet on one level the text clearly appears to be an attempt by the author to do exactly that. In this case, I am referring to the struggles for freedom by the fictional author of the text HH, and not to Hesse himself. But once again, it is not clear whether we are meant to take HH as Hermann Hesse or as simply an allegorical figure.Over and over again, the text leads us up to the door of a seemingly clear allegory or metaphor, only to send us back search of a more satisfying interpretation. In writing this review, I have no intention of trying to resolve any of these paradoxes. Rather, I simply want to draw attention to them. The great joy of this book is that it tells an enjoyable tale that can be interpreted in many different ways. These mysteries at the heart of the text make the book more interesting.There is, however, one important part of the book that is quite easy to understand. Fearful of spoiling the plot, I will simply point out that the most powerful character in the book is a servant. The idea that the humblest character in the book is also the most important has clear Christian overtones. However, seeing this character simply as a Christ figure is again perhaps too simplistic an interpretation. Certainly that is one viable level of mean

I am still on the journey,sir, I still belong to the League!

I have always suspected that this penultimate novel of Hesse's plays upon the myth of the Most Honorable Order of the Rosy Cross in certain German intellectual circles. Even today you can get an arguement, either way, about the existance of the Rosicrucians and Christian Rosencreutz. This is fitting, since even the protagonist (H.H.) is left wondering if the League that sent him forth on his quest really ever existed or if he hallucinated it all. At the begining H.H. has no doubt what-so-ever in the existance or purpose of the ancient League. He sets forth on the journey to the East with his brother members in pursuit of the Tao, Kundalini, and the other Eastern mysteries. In short, they are seeking union with the divine. Even when some member drops out during the quest and "takes the railroad back" to the mundane world, they simply bid him farewell and continue on, unshaken in their own faith. They travel on through time, myth, poetry, and magic towards their goal. It is at the gorge of Morbio Inferiore that everthing unravels. It is here that the loyal servant Leo suddenly departs and the expedition falls apart in squabbling over trifles. Morbio Inferiore is the dark night of the soul. It is also the historical cataclysm of WW1. You see, before the Great War Germans could still believe in magic, Mozart, and Goethe, after the war all magic and innocence were dead. All that remained was cynicism, machines, and monsters. H.H. is suddenly left alone wondering if the League ever really existed or if it was a dream. He searches and searches for the lost servant Leo- only to be surprised at what he eventually finds.... Ultimately we end up at the realization that despair serves a purpose in our own journey through life. For if we are still capable of despair then we must still, deep down, still believe in innocence, virtue, and justice. You cannot deeply mourn what never existed- somewhere, sometime!

One of Hesse's Best--A Must-Read

In many ways, this book serves as a humble yet profound companion to Siddhartha and the Glass Bead Game (whose dedication reads: "To the Journeyers to the East"). It is another of Hermann Hesse's beautiful tales of searching. The story is that of HH, a member of an apparently long-dissolved League, a League of travelers who traversed space and time to absorb the wisdom, culture, and secrets of the ages to find peace and unity. As HH tries to recount this story, he reaches a great obstacle: the unexplained disappearance of League servant. He cannot go on. The rest of the book shows how HH deals with this encumbrance, only to find out that the truth he has been searching for is simpler than he though, and it is right in front of him.What insight Hesse had, to be able to see that endless searching can blind us to what we already know, to be able to express the often-neglected value of humility and faithful servitude. Hesse's feel for communal and individual values shines forth in this brilliantly simple story, all of 117 pages.And so I invite you to read this short tale in the hope that you, too, will find what you are looking for.

Short, creative, interesting look at the Self

In this book, the master of philosophical fiction tells the tale of a man (initials H.H....) who goes on a wonderful and amazing journey throughout the world, experiencing so many wonderful and fantastic things. When he returns, he finds himself writing about the journey, but comes to a point in his story where he cannot procede. After an interesting turn in both the contents of the book and the focus, the narrator comes to powerful realizations about himself and the nature of things.Perhaps the only book I've read that rivals Siddhartha, it is one I will read over and over, and, as always, with this author, I'm sure all readers will find a piece of themselves in this masterpiece.