Unbelievably, I have already finished, "Siddhartha." It was a fairly easy read and if not completely gripping at least interesting enough that it held my attention. After doing a bit more research about the novel, I found that it gathered a cult like following in the 1960s with the authors that became known as the beat generation and in fact Kerouc's "On the Road" was highly influenced by "Siddhartha." This isn't surprising when you consider that the youth of the 1960s were known for rejecting conformity and materialism and looking for freedom and meaning. This book is a hymn to those ideals.
I definitely related to Siddhartha's journey in this novel. It is filled with turmoil, confusion, depression, sadness, joy, wonder and peace. At any point in life we all experience these things and we all fight to resist temptation. He is in search of finding a peace within that will allow him to transcend material as well as bodily needs which he views as a temptation of sorts. I found his experience profoundly human. We all have the pull towards whatever tempts us and the need for tranquility of mind and the ease of being happy with what we have.
When he first starts out on his journey, he talks about rejecting the pains of hunger and the mask of clothing. At first he finds this extremely difficult but then learns the patience to live through discomfort. This allows his mind to open up to what is around him and he finds a higher level of being. He spends three years wondering the country, homeless and penniless but content. Then he encounters temptation in the form of a beautiful woman. He gives in to this temptation and soon he is living once again in luxury surrounded by material things and he becomes obsessed with getting and having more. I found this to be so true of our society now. The more money and the more "things" people have, the more they seem to want. We live in a time where many people are motivated by status and wealth. All you have to do to know that this is true is to turn on your TV and see shows like "Keeping up with the Kardashians," or "Real Housewives of (insert city here)." or watch professional athletes talk about how many cars they have. The greed is overwhelming but we are all guilty of it in some degree. Do you know anybody that doesn't have a cell phone, a car, a computer? We have come to a point where we think we NEED these things. Amazingly, being unemployed for so long actually was a good thing in many ways and one of them which I found so incredibly important is discovering the difference between what I want and what I need. I had no money and no income for quite a while and I realized that all of the things(pretty shoes, a cool cell phone, new clothes etc.) I thought I always needed, were actually wants. The only things I really need in life I already had. This is the ultimate message of "Siddhartha." Once he had "things" he became dependent on them and lost his center; lost his peace. The book warns of the danger or being seduced by these things and loses sight of what is actually important which are the things we can't see or touch but feel within us.
There is light and dark within us all and throughout the novel, Siddhartha goes through several cycles of events where he is seduced by the darker side of life and then comes back to the light. This theme has been written about throughout history and is one of the most common themes in literature. This novel really does an admirable job of describing this struggle.Overall, I enjoyed this book and thought it had so much relevance to today's society even though it was written in the 20s which is one of the hallmarks of classic literature. My rating: 3.5
I definitely related to Siddhartha's journey in this novel. It is filled with turmoil, confusion, depression, sadness, joy, wonder and peace. At any point in life we all experience these things and we all fight to resist temptation. He is in search of finding a peace within that will allow him to transcend material as well as bodily needs which he views as a temptation of sorts. I found his experience profoundly human. We all have the pull towards whatever tempts us and the need for tranquility of mind and the ease of being happy with what we have.
When he first starts out on his journey, he talks about rejecting the pains of hunger and the mask of clothing. At first he finds this extremely difficult but then learns the patience to live through discomfort. This allows his mind to open up to what is around him and he finds a higher level of being. He spends three years wondering the country, homeless and penniless but content. Then he encounters temptation in the form of a beautiful woman. He gives in to this temptation and soon he is living once again in luxury surrounded by material things and he becomes obsessed with getting and having more. I found this to be so true of our society now. The more money and the more "things" people have, the more they seem to want. We live in a time where many people are motivated by status and wealth. All you have to do to know that this is true is to turn on your TV and see shows like "Keeping up with the Kardashians," or "Real Housewives of (insert city here)." or watch professional athletes talk about how many cars they have. The greed is overwhelming but we are all guilty of it in some degree. Do you know anybody that doesn't have a cell phone, a car, a computer? We have come to a point where we think we NEED these things. Amazingly, being unemployed for so long actually was a good thing in many ways and one of them which I found so incredibly important is discovering the difference between what I want and what I need. I had no money and no income for quite a while and I realized that all of the things(pretty shoes, a cool cell phone, new clothes etc.) I thought I always needed, were actually wants. The only things I really need in life I already had. This is the ultimate message of "Siddhartha." Once he had "things" he became dependent on them and lost his center; lost his peace. The book warns of the danger or being seduced by these things and loses sight of what is actually important which are the things we can't see or touch but feel within us.
There is light and dark within us all and throughout the novel, Siddhartha goes through several cycles of events where he is seduced by the darker side of life and then comes back to the light. This theme has been written about throughout history and is one of the most common themes in literature. This novel really does an admirable job of describing this struggle.Overall, I enjoyed this book and thought it had so much relevance to today's society even though it was written in the 20s which is one of the hallmarks of classic literature. My rating: 3.5
Comments
Post a Comment