Steppenwolf

De: Hermann Hesse

Narrado por: Peter Weller

Harry Haller is a sad and lonely figure, a reclusive intellectual for whom life holds no joy. He struggles to reconcile the wild, primeval wolf and the rational man within himself without surrendering to the bourgeois values he despises. His life changes dramatically when he meets a woman who is his opposite, the carefree and elusive Hermine.

With its blend of Eastern mysticism and Western culture, Steppenwolf, Hesse' best-known and most autobiographical work, originally published in English in 1929, continues to speak to our souls as a classic of modern literature.

©1927 S. Fischer Verlag A. G., Berlin. Renewal copyright 1955 Hermann Hesse. English translation copyright B 1929 Henry Holt and Company. Renewal copyright 1957 Hermann Hesse. Revised translation copyright 1963 Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, Inc. Author's note copyright 1961 Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt Am Main (P)2008 BBC Audiobooks America

Save this Hesse novel for your midlife crisis.

There is this bourgeoisie period in every man's life. This midpoint between birth and death where man is trapped alone. Unable to exist in hot or cold of the absolutes he tries to find his way between the extremes in the comfortable center. Fearing life and death, he just exists ... barely. This is not a novel for the young. Just like it is better to save King Lear for late in one's life, it is better to save Steppenwolf for those crisis years of the midlife.

Hesse's novels seem to flirt between the edge of memoir, scripture, prose poem and Eastern philosophy tract. This isn't a book you want to read in a hot bath with scotch in one hand and a razor blade in the other. You will either spill your drink or spill your blood or lose every printed word, the hot water erasing pages and pickling your fingers, toes and time.

There are parts of me that get super irritated by Hesse and parts of me that absolutely love him. It depends, I guess, on what part of me is dominating at the time, which of my selves is dislocated and which is demanding the most.

Somedays, I wonder if I had my druthers I'd be a shepherd and write poetry on rocks. Unfortunately, I am a bourgeoisie bitch cloaking myself in cashmere and not a mangy wolf from the steppes.

Weller and Hesse? I say YES

I could listen to Peter Weller narrate the phone book. Here he narrates one of the classics of European literature and it is so good. So so so good.

More than I expected

Would you consider the audio edition of Steppenwolf to be better than the print version?

No, but Peter Weller did an amazing job bringing Haller to life.

What did you like best about this story?

Hesse captures what it means to live, and if read (or listened to) properly, offers a hopeful warning for the young, while also presenting a means of communal acceptance for those who have lived much of their years already.

Which scene was your favorite?

Not the magic theater--it was too "beat you over the head with moralizing symbolism"--although, I would never suggest it isn't a necessary component of the piece. I liked the bar scene where Haller went to avoid his apartment in an attempt to forestall his suicide.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

A film could never do the book justice.

Any additional comments?

After reading Hesse's Siddhartha, I expected a good deal of musings on life. However, where Siddhartha presents ideas in a simplistic archetypal fashion, Steppenwolf has nuance and depth. Excellent, raw emotional exposure.

Good writing but either wacko or over my head

The voice acting was well done. The story and main character were intriguing enough for me to finish the book. I wanted to know where it was headed. Nothing of consequence truly happens in the book. You read it to understand the main character, not because there is a plot. The author's explanation at the start of the book that it's not as dark as it seems, because hope is a key element, helped me read the book from a better point of view to try to understand what the author was trying to express. Unfortunately, some aspects of the story just didn't appeal to me, characters did not seem realistic, and the end of the book lost me completely - I have know idea what it was supposed to mean and it soured me to the whole story.

Great story narration is...

Hesse still stands the test of time, even through translation, but is less engaging on audio.
Weller’s voice has a nice timbre, but can easily become monotonous after the first hour or so. Little inflection sounding like a first time read through. Also, pet peeve’s like the pronunciation of pleasure as “playzure”, treasure as “trayzure” are a distraction to me. A petty demerit, but enough to irk.
The book is a wonderful story of a Renaissance man’s place in the vastly changing world and the impressions made by and left on Harry the protagonist. Part transcendentalism, part Goethe worship, but all Hesse and his character’s search for attainment.

Steppenwolf

I have read steppenwolf several times over the years, but listen to it as always made me enjoy it in a slightly different way.

great Hesse book

overall pretty good, but the narrator's intonation was a bit annoying and out of place for some of the material.

Best Novel on Intellectual Male's Midlife Crisis

I likely would have ridiculed this novel at 20, when I was unconquerable, infinite, the world my oyster. Thirty years on, having been through the process of disenchantment called life, and survived the tragic ends (de facto and de jure) of each chapter of my personal myth--the perfect job, a huge house, insane wealth, and adoration of both my looks and smarts--I find this novel profound.

Hermann Hesse wrote this in his late 40s and I can see parts of myself--now and in my recent past--in his fictional alter ego, Harry Haller, a self-isolated intellectual who thinks of himself as a steppenwolf (or a wolf from the steppes), experiencing an ongoing existential crisis, bouts of acute loneliness, fleeting thoughts of death, and a continuing coming to terms with a bourgeois society which he hates yet needs. I can see the wisdom of a life lived, in terms spiritual and at times--even still--animalistic.

I found fascinating the magic theatre to which Harry was invited, a place which serves as a reminder of why he should want to live, allowing him to experience encounters (not necessarily sexual) with females from his past, meetings with these unrequited loves or lusts in which he's no longer shy nor suffering the hangups and insecurities of a young man or boy.

Variations of this magical venue often pepper my dreams. Call them my subconscious yawps for immortality, or maybe, on a deeper level, my psyche's nocturnal pursuits of prurient propagation.

I highly recommend this novel to men in their 40s and 50s, and to their spouses/partners for possible enlightenment.

Masterpiece

Weller's delivery of this potent work is spot on in every way. This novel is a favorite of mine, but I will be looking into other audio books Weller narrates on the strength of this performance.

No thrill of discovery

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

yes, the book. Not the audio.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Steppenwolf?

When it was discovered that Steppenwolf was meeting a beautiful lady, and who she was.

How could the performance have been better?

The mysterious parts could have sounded more mysterious and intriguing.

Could you see Steppenwolf being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

Not for Americans. It is too heavy for the general public. Maybe on PBS< though.