I actually read an English translation (and not such a good one) of this German book on my phone. Instead of killing minutes playing games, I decided to try to use my (small screen) telephone to read books. I installed an ereader application and browsed through the free books. I knew about this book for a long time, but I seldom read novels. Perhaps because of “The Ferryman’s Dream” that is somewhat of a continuation of Hesse’s classic novel, I decided to read it nonetheless. I must say, reading on the phone, if it is in short bits, is not so bad (and better than playing games) and for a novel “Siddharta” is not that bad either. Siddharta is, of course, the name of the most famous Buddha. Initially the novel seems based on the life of the prince of Siddharta, but about halfway the main character of the novel takes paths that we would not associate with the life of the Buddha. Siddharta is born as the son of a Brahman, decides to become a Samana (a begging monk) but later wants to learn the vices that he rejects and thus he throws himself in the ‘real world’. The book goes on an on, but the story is quite moving at times and as Siddharta grows wiser, the often pointed-at spiritual undertone of the book is very apparent. Not a bad read.
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