Why I Love and Reread Siddhartha

Introduction

I've read Siddhartha every year since I first read it in 2010. It's a short and easy read. My relationship with the book says more about me than the book, especially who I was when I first read Siddhartha.

I usually read it in one to a few days. I enjoy it. I often fast. I reflect on how and why I'm unsatisfied with my life; how and why I'm seeking or thirsting for something else; how and why I'm living a meaningful life. As life and time passes, I forget my ambition and desire to think, fast, and wait. I return to my baseline, pretty much the hedonic treadmill.

Where I Was

I was 27 years old when I first read Siddhartha. I related with the young man Siddhartha's quest and dissatisfaction in life.

I wasn't as extreme as Siddhartha, but I was righteous and idealistic. My family and friends were proud of me. I served four years in the military after graduating high school. I graduated college four years after that. I was a milder version of Christopher McCandless (see why I love Into the Wild). I hitch hiked for fun. I backpacked and road tripped around the country on summer breaks. The Mark Twain quote was my life motto, “In twenty years you'll be more disappointed with the things you didn't do than the things you did: live, sail, explore.”

My Transformation Part 1

(8-2 years prior to Siddhartha) Part one of my young adulthood, I was an exercise junkie and party animal. I was a product of my environment, and I didn’t realize how abnormal my friends’ and my drinking was. Running and working out were my primary sober activities.

My Transformation Part 2

(2-0.5 years prior to Siddhartha)

Part two of my young adulthood, the party animal was replaced with an experience junkie. Traveling and site seeing overtook partying. In addition, living a meaningful and socially impactful life became increasingly important with time.

My third year of college I had a Norwegian neighbor. We became good friends. Through him, I enjoyed meeting people from other cultures.

After graduating college, I spent the summer backpacking Europe. In Europe, I acquired a prejudice for Europeans from the backpackers and friends I met. I saw Europe as culturally and intellectually superior to the US. The people I knew, and was comparing from the US, were socioeconomically different from the people I met in Europe. I failed to recognize how I was creating assortative relationships with people who were backpackers and travelers. I concluded that Europeans were smarted, more thoughtful, and better people than Americans. That might be true for some measures, but I was creating imaginary distinctions and using selection biases and confirmation biases.

On a Norwegian cruise, I met a girl. We traveled together. We fell in love. This was the first time in my life I was in love. At the time I thought I lacked emotions and was abnormal. Falling in love was emotionally and psychologically a major milestone in my development.

Before I returned home from Europe, I was determined to leave the US again as soon as possible. I wanted to be more like the Europeans I envisioned. I wanted to be smarter and more cultured. So when I got home, I started reading books. Reading books was the smart thing to do.

At that time, I could easily have counted all the books I'd read in my life, close to 10. There were three books that had a large impacts on me: It's Not About the Bike, Jarhead, and Into the Wild. I started with books like The Alchemist, The Celestine Prophecy, and The Little Prince. I got hooked. The more I read, the more I wanted to read. As my reading and vocabulary skills improved, it further fueled my desire to read. (In hindsight, it's embarrassing to US lower and higher education that I graduated with the reading and writing skills I had when I graduated.)

(6-1 month prior to reading Siddhartha)

I was in a long distance relationship with a European. I applied to the Peace Corps after I realized the US government would be the only organization that would support me overseas. Peace Corps had several placements in Easter Europe that would unite me, well closer, with the girl I loved. While I waited, I read and grew more unsatisfied with American life and culture.

In less than two months of long distance, the so called love of my life dumped me. I was in denial and moderately depressed. Reading was the best medicine. Peace Corps was Plan A: go back to Europe and reconnect with my true love (yes, I was that naive). As the process dragged, I slowly realized my previous relationship was done. Plan B was to teach science in the US.

I returned to college to attain the qualifications for Plan B: to teach science. Taking physics and astronomy, along with reading philosophical fiction, led me to recalculate my beliefs. In Europe, I remember thinking everything in my life happened for a reason. There was a something guiding my purpose in life. I doubt I believed in a God at the time, and I definitely didn't believe in any religion. I never believed in any religion. (In boot camp, I didn’t know what my religion was. I copied a Marine in front of me.) Still, I was a spiritual person, especially about running, nature, and experiencing life to the fullest.

Once I fully grasped that I wouldn't be getting back together with my first love, I went from believing everything happened for a reason to seriously questioning whether the universe had any meaning.

This is roughly where I was when I first read Siddhartha.

I Saw Myself in Siddhartha

Like millions of others, I empathized with Siddhartha. Even more, I related and saw myself in Siddhartha. I was a young man trying to find myself, trying to find my path and purpose, trying to find a meaningful life. I was unsatisfied with my society, culture, country, and daily life. I was split between wanting to help people and wanting to live a simple life. I wanted to be one with nature, a good steward, and help others realize what I realized.

It's a shame I wasn't writing when I first read Siddhartha. I'm not sure how well my memory will match what I first thought. I know my dad and brother, neither readers, both read Siddhartha because of me.

When the narrator described Siddhartha's dissatisfaction, I must have felt similar. I wasn't interested in what my family, friends, and society had to offer me. I wanted to find myself, my passion, and my purpose. I was similarly cocky and arrogant. (Until my recent read, I thought Siddhartha was a universal character, with dilemmas that everyone could relate. I realize my connection is more personal than universal.)

As I read Siddhartha, I took the book everywhere just in case there was a chance to read. At the gym, I'd read a paragraph or two between sets.

Every time Siddhartha learned and experienced something, it made perfect sense. Teachers cannot pass wisdom. We should pay attention and appreciate the world around us. “To think, to wait, to fast” was the best thing one could do. Live a simple life. Love everyone and everything. See everything as impermanent. We should “love the world, not despise it.”

Hesse's writing spoke directly to me. I ironically possessed wisdom from the book that stated wisdom cannot be transferred. I wanted to be like Siddhartha. That continued for years.

Vasudeva > Siddhartha

As I approach 40 years old, I admire Vasudeva more each read. What was his journey? Besides his wife's death, what else did he “have to” suffer? I want to listen like Vasudeva. I want to be a poor old banana eater who is as wise as the Buddha. A content and happy old man who radiates the light.

My last few reads I have grown more critical of Siddhartha. Not just the young, arrogant Siddhartha, but even the old wise Siddhartha. He is too content, complacent even. His acceptance of the world is a step too far. Vaseudeva confronted Siddhartha when Siddhartha struggled to raise his son. Vaseudeva gave unsolicited advice and criticized Siddhartha. But when Govinda seeked Siddhartha, Govinda had to pester Siddhartha for advice and explanations. This small gap in Siddhartha may be a flaw in Hermann Hesse, who lived a life of isolation. A difficult person who preferred painting and writing. Or, more simply, it may be my bias towards helping others. I'm not sure I could be content or happy as an old man Siddhartha. I'll have to wait and see.

Why Do I keep Reading Siddhartha

I love the book. I love the story and philosophy. It's an easy read. If one is focused and without distractions, an average reader can finish Siddhartha in 4-6 hours.

After 12-13 years, I have yet to lose interest in Siddhartha. I read it twice in the last two months of 2022, and the book was as engaging as ever. I've started to dig deeper into Hesse's influences, Hinduism, and similar philosophical ideas. I look forward to reading it again in 2023.

Other Siddhartha Writings and Discussions by Jimbo

• Siddhartha on the Hedonic Treadmill
• The First Sentence: Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse
• The Small Gap
• Jimbo on What People Do
• Siddhartha Book Club 2023

The First Sentence: Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse

This is a close read and deep dive into the first sentence of the novel Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse. Here is a podcast version of the blog post for anyone who would rather listen than read.

Special thanks to the Redditors who helped me along the way. Below is the first sentence in German as Hesse originally published it, and then the English translation I prefer, at the bottom of the post are four other English translations.

Original German

Im Schatten des Hauses, in der Sonne des Flußufers bei den Booten, im Schatten des Salwaldes, im Schatten des Feigenbaumes wuchs Siddhartha auf, der schöne Sohn des Brahmanen, der junge Falke, zusammen mit Govinda, seinem Freunde, dem Brahmanensohn. (audio)

English Translation by Gunther Olesch, Anke Dreher, Amy Coulter, Stefan Langer, and Semyon Chaichenets

"In the shade of the house, in the sunshine of the riverbank near the boats, in the shade of the Sal-wood forest, in the shade of the fig tree is where Siddhartha grew up, the handsome son of the Brahmin, the young falcon, together with his friend Govinda, son of a Brahmin."

First Impression

The first sentence isn't going to make many best first sentence lists. It doesn't hook or instantly engage readers: nothing funny, nothing paradoxical, nothing witty, nothing exciting, nothing exceptional, etc. But, it isn't bad either. In fact it's quite informative.

It is a long sentence with numerous details to set the scene. The setting is rural Indian. It confirms Siddhartha is the protagonist. It describes Siddhartha. He is young, handsome, educated, and shares attributes with a falcon. Falcons are predators with great vision. The Peregrine falcon is the fastest moving creature on Earth. It appears Siddhartha has a privileged life in the shade, near a river. What more could he possible want??

Repetition

Repetition is a literary and poetic device. Repetition reinforces and or brings attention to an idea. Let's follow the repetition down the rabbit hole.

The "In the... of the..." structure repeats four times. This structural repetition mimics a prayer, chant, or mantra. Here is a one of the most popular vedic mantras on youtube. This is the type of mantra that the Brahmins during Siddhartha's time would have chanted. Below are the lyrics of the first mantra in the video.

Om, Sarve bhavantu sukhinaḥ
Sarve santu nirāmayāḥ
Sarve bhadrāṇi paśyantu
Mā kashchit duḥkha bhāgbhavet
Oṁ

The meaning of the mantra is beside the point. But this mantra has a structural repetition of "sarve." Readers could easily read Siddhartha's first sentence using a sing song rhythm. The lyrical structure further establishes the setting of the story in India with characters that would be chanting mantras while following their religious customs.

The Brahmins

Brahmins are the highest social class in the traditional Hindu caste system. Brahmins are the priestly class and the spiritual leaders. Both Siddhartha and Govinda are Brahmin. That's important. They can chill in the shade while they study.

Another aspect, Branmins are spiritual leaders. Siddhartha and Govinda are spiritual leaders for the readers. In the story, Siddhartha's and Govinda's approaches/philosophies are contrary to each other. Govinda is introduced as "his friend," Govinda is second to Siddhartha, as the title suggestions. Siddhartha is philosophically and literarily (literature, not literal) superior to Govinda.

The Shade

India is hot, and shade is a lot more pleasant than the sun in hot conditions. So the shade is further displaying Siddhartha's privilege as a Brahmin. As mentioned above, Siddhartha is the top of the social food chain. He gets to read, write, learn, and think in the shade.

"In the shade of the" is repeated three times and "In the sunshine of the" is only used once. The repetition of shade is a blatant signal by Hesse. In German, the word "schatten" is used for both shade and shadow. four of the five translators I shared choose to use "shade" instead of shadow. But the double meaning in German with shade and shadows should be remembered. Shade is a nicer word than shadow. A stranger in the shade sounds a lot more friendly than the stranger in the shadow. As all English speakers know, shadows are darker than shade, literally and figuratively. Shade and shadows are powerful images. Hesse is making a powerful statement in the first sentence.

The philosophy behind shadows is immense. A recent biography of Herman Hesse is subtitled, The Wander and His Shadow. This is a direct link to Friedich Nietzsche' Human, All Too Human, where the third part of the book is titled "The Wander and His Shadow," using the German word "Schatten." (I'm going to dive deeper into Nietsche and shadows later) Philosophers and literary authors cannot discuss shadows without alluding to Plato's Allegory of the Cave. Nietzsche, a philosopher, and Hesse, a Nietzsche fan and philosophical fiction author, do not use shadows lightly, pun intended. They both know that shadows link to Plato's Cave.

For Plato's prisoners in the cave, the shadows on the wall of the cave are reality. As far as the prisoners know, the material objects casting shadows do not exist, so they assume the shadows are the true reality. But the shadows are illusions. Plato extends this analogy to suggest that humans are only seeing shadows of the real world. There is more to Plato's allegory, and I strongly recommend anyone unfamiliar with the Allegory of the Cave to go read it! One sentence summary for the first sentence of Siddhartha: shadows represent illusions.

It only takes one small step for readers to connect the shade of the objects to implied illusions. Siddhartha, Govinda, the Brahmins, and company, see below, are living in the shade, the shadows, the illusionary world. I'm cherry picking below to create a literary analysis that fits with the remainder of the novel. This is not a philosophical argument. Let's keep going.

The House

The house provides security and shelter. The house is their home, their way of life. The house and where they live is the Brahmin lifestyle. They're living in a shadow. The Brahmins don't realize they're living an illusion because they do not see the world as it is. They only see the world as they see it. The Brahmins are somewhat aware of this, but their customs and traditions are practices to an illusion. The Brahmins are prisoners in a cave. Siddhartha needs to escape the cave; he needs to leave his house; he needs to look for the light, the truth, enlightenment.

The Sal-wood Forrest

In Hinduism the Sal-wood is a scared tree that is associated with Vishnu, a main God. In Buddhism, the Buddha's mother was grasping a sal tree when she gave birth to the Buddha. And when the Buddha died, he was lying between sal trees.

Vishnu, the god of gods, is casting a shadow, implying further that Hinduism is an illusion keeping prisoners in their caves. And so is the The Buddha's birth, death, and Buddhism.

The Fig Tree

There is a native fig tree in India called a cluster fig. The fig tree produces the fig fruit. It's one of the most successful fruit trees. There is a lot of diversity in the species, and figs are huge global producers. The fig is sweet, and people like sweets.

The fig tree has roots in both Hinduism and Buddhism. But the most well know religious roots of the fig tree go back to Adam and Eve. The fig is the most likely fruit an Adam and Eve would have ate. In Genesis, Adam and Eve covered themselves in fig leaves after eating the forbidden fruit. Adam and Eve, the first humans, the original sinners, are eating figs and covering themselves in fig leaves. Even Muhammad, the last prophet, boasted about the fig tree being from paradise.

A biblical phrase, Micah 4:4, "Each man under his own vine and fig tree," is a phrase that has been used to signal peace and prosperity.

All these allusions to the fig, peace and prosperity. Adam and Eve, original sin, the tree of knowledge of good and evil, are all ideas casting shadows and illusions.

Between the three objects presented in the shade, Hesse successfully casts the major world religions as illusions. Religions are keeping people in their caves, imprisoned. So what's left? What's in the light?

The Light

There is one object in the sunshine, in the light, the river. This is a huge signal to readers. I double checked to see if enlighten and light share similar root words in German, and they do! see below for the German translations. The connection between light and enlightenment is present in German. In fact the word "leuchten" (to shine) is the root word for "erleuchten" (enlighten). So in German, sunshine is directly linked to enlightenment. The light is enlightenment. The light will free the prisoners from the cave.

The river is in the light; the river should be the path. Hesse is telling readers in the first sentence that the river should be the solution. Siddhartha and Govinda must lead the readers to the river. And if the first sentence is correct, the river will be the path.

The River!

The river is a symbol that speaks for itself. But this close read wouldn’t be complete without mentioning: one can’t step in the same river twice. That is a paraphrase of Heraclitus. Heraclitus’ concept of the unity of opposites is a philosophical idea that German language thinkers have greatly expanded. Hegal has a synthesis of opposing ideas; Carl Jung’s concept of the shadows (which I need to investigate further) is related to opposing forces; Friedrich Nietzche’s ideas revolve around opposing forces competing for the will to power. And these great intellectuals all had significant influences on Herman Hesse.

Readers can apply any other river ideas that come to mind.

Next Step

To find if this first sentence analysis is correct, follow Siddhartha and Govinda on their journey, and read the book! 

More Siddhartha from Jimbo:

Why Jimbo Loves Siddhartha⁠

⁠Siddhartha on the Hedonic Treadmil⁠l

⁠The First Sentence: Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse⁠

⁠The Small Gap

Click here for a pre-reading guide

 

Other English Translations

"In the shade of the house, in the sunlight on the riverbank where the boats were moored, in the shade of the sal wood and the shade of the fig tree, Siddhartha grew up, the Brahmin’s handsome son, the young falcon, together with his friend Govinda, the son of a Brahmin." Translated by Joachim Neugroschel

"In the shade of the house, in the sunshine on the river bank by the boats, in the shade of the sallow wood and the fig tree, Siddhartha, the handsome Brahmin’s son, grew up with his friend Govinda." Translated by Hilda Rosner

"In the shadow of the house, in the sun on the riverbank by the boats, in the shadow of the sal-tree forest, in the shadow of the fig tree, Siddhartha, the beautiful brahmin's son, the young falcon, grew up with his friend, the brahmin's son Govinda." Translated by Sherab Chodzin Kohn

"In the shade of the house, in the sun on the river bank by the boats, in the shade of the sal forest, in the shade of the fig tree grew up Siddhartha, the beautiful son of the Brahmin, the young falcon, together with Govinda, his friend, the son of the Brahmin." Translated by Google

German Translations