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This is a collection of Hesse’s short stories, and it was truly fascinating for me. Up until this point, I had only read his novels. The issue is that Hesse has such an extraordinary writing style. Even though these stories don't seem to be directly related to each other, it still gave the impression of reading a novel. But perhaps, they do have some connection. They are all fairy tales and fables, or at least the Hessian equivalents. While I'm not typically fond of that kind of thing, Hesse executed it masterfully with his signature brand of surrealism. I discovered from the introduction that Hesse had aspired to be a magician when he grew up. And I would say that this book demonstrates that he achieved just that. There are numerous authors whose works I desire to read in their entirety. However, Hesse is the only one I can think of where, after reading his books, I'm always left pondering what I actually just read. Nevertheless, as far as Hesse's works go, these short stories are quite understandable. In fact, I think I might even prefer his short fiction to his longer-form pieces. It's really nice!
