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Jeszcze nigdy w żadnej książce nie przeczytałem tak pięknego wyznania miłości! Co za lektura!
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At the time of reading, this was my favorite Hesse book and, indeed, it is probably his quintessential novel, the one to recommend for anyone wanting to check him out. I have given away copies of it for this purpose to several persons over the years.
Contrary to the description in Wikipedia, I read the novel from the perspective of Goldmund being lost and then found. Seduced by the snares of the world, he leaves the peace of the monastic life for a life of trial and error, ultimately, as an old man, returning to where he began. Since in his case experience led to wisdom, Goldmund represented to me the via positiva, the path to enlightenment which leads through lovingly appropriated experience, while Narcissus, remaining behind in the monastery, represented the via negativa, the path to enlightenment obtained by critical thinking and contemplative withdrawal. This, the essential identity behind two ostensibly very different paths along life's way, reminded me also of the two main schools of Buddhism, the big and little boats, Mahayana and Hinayana Buddhism. One is also reminded of the same distinction when the lives of Christian saints as different at Francis of Assisi and Simeon of the Desert are sympathetically compared. There is truth to it.
This is not to say that the reference made by the Wikipedia writer to Nietzsche's Apollonian and Dionysian is incorrect. Given the intellectual influences obtaining in Hesse's circles and the nature of his missionary family it is likely that both were considered. My own reading was influenced by having studied mysticism by this time and not yet having read Nietzsche's The Birth of Tragedy.
What I really like about Hermann Hesse, here and elsewhere, is that he really cared, cared about people, cared about culture and cared about the natural world. Most everything he wrote, from his novels and short stories to his political essays, attempts to be constructive, to share something of what he had learned of importance with others. He wrote to the better side of our natures, both emotional and intellectual. I am so glad that young people are still reading him despite the many years which have passed since his last great work, The Glass Bead Game, in 1943.
Contrary to the description in Wikipedia, I read the novel from the perspective of Goldmund being lost and then found. Seduced by the snares of the world, he leaves the peace of the monastic life for a life of trial and error, ultimately, as an old man, returning to where he began. Since in his case experience led to wisdom, Goldmund represented to me the via positiva, the path to enlightenment which leads through lovingly appropriated experience, while Narcissus, remaining behind in the monastery, represented the via negativa, the path to enlightenment obtained by critical thinking and contemplative withdrawal. This, the essential identity behind two ostensibly very different paths along life's way, reminded me also of the two main schools of Buddhism, the big and little boats, Mahayana and Hinayana Buddhism. One is also reminded of the same distinction when the lives of Christian saints as different at Francis of Assisi and Simeon of the Desert are sympathetically compared. There is truth to it.
This is not to say that the reference made by the Wikipedia writer to Nietzsche's Apollonian and Dionysian is incorrect. Given the intellectual influences obtaining in Hesse's circles and the nature of his missionary family it is likely that both were considered. My own reading was influenced by having studied mysticism by this time and not yet having read Nietzsche's The Birth of Tragedy.
What I really like about Hermann Hesse, here and elsewhere, is that he really cared, cared about people, cared about culture and cared about the natural world. Most everything he wrote, from his novels and short stories to his political essays, attempts to be constructive, to share something of what he had learned of importance with others. He wrote to the better side of our natures, both emotional and intellectual. I am so glad that young people are still reading him despite the many years which have passed since his last great work, The Glass Bead Game, in 1943.
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I enjoyed Hermann Hesse's novel of two medieval German men. The story centers on two friends: Narcissus and Goldmund. The two meet and become friends early in the cloister. Narcissus matures and finds his path in the cloister, takes his vows, and devotes to a monastic life. Goldmund, earthly and taken hold of by the beauty of women, leaves the cloister to undertake an endless search for worldly salvation. Narcissus is the teacher, the pious, and the man of God; Goldmund is the lover, the artist, and the creator of beautiful things.
The author does a great job of showing living dichotomy between the two friends.
I was very moved by the story of venturing out into the world, discovering new people and places, and only to discover yourself. Only in doing so you always end up back where you started. For me it was like when people say "you always go back to the beginning" in some fashion or another.
That was my interpretation of the story: you always come full circle in life.
I truly enjoyed this story and would definitely recommend it. Thanks!
The author does a great job of showing living dichotomy between the two friends.
I was very moved by the story of venturing out into the world, discovering new people and places, and only to discover yourself. Only in doing so you always end up back where you started. For me it was like when people say "you always go back to the beginning" in some fashion or another.
That was my interpretation of the story: you always come full circle in life.
I truly enjoyed this story and would definitely recommend it. Thanks!
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بعد تجربتي السابقة القريبة مع هيرمان فى روايته داميان و بعد أن كان بدأ الرواية بهدوء وسحر و كان مع التقدم بها تزداد الصعوبة حتى تهت منه فى النهاية تماما . كنت هنا اخطو خطوات بطيئة بحذر ، "مثلما يقولون اقدم رجل واؤخر الاخرى" خوفا مما سيفعله بى هيرمان .
لكن هنا لم تكن بدايته بنفس العذوبة والسهولة لذا كنت غير واثقة انى سأكملها ، فالبداية مع حديث نرسيس كانت تحتاج لاعادة قراءة وتركيز لكن بعد ذلك ومع حديث وحياة غولدمند اصبح اسلوب الرواية اكثر سلاسة وظل يتراوح مابين السهولة والصعوبة مابين احداث الحياة والافكار ، فى مزيج رائع سحرني واعجبني اسلوبه .
نرسيس وغولدمند نموذج لصديقين مختلفين ليس فقط مختلفين بل متناقضين :
كان نرسيس يعتمد على الفكر والعلوم ، يمثل العقل ، يمثل الشخص الذى اختار الانعزال عن العالم ليحفظ نفسه من شروره .فبالنسبة إليه كان كل شئ يدخل في خانة الفكر ، حتى الحب .
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اما غولدمند يمثل القلب ، الاحساس والفن ، الطبيعة، الشخص الذى يخوض الحياة بكل جمالها ومساوئها .
n n
لكن هل اختلافهم يجب ان يكون سبب لفراقهم ؟ بالطبع لا ، فهم يكملون بعضهم بعضا ، ويكتمل الإنسان نفسه بالجمع بين العقل والعاطفة فنرسيس وغولدمند ليس فقط صديقان بل هم انفسنا ، الجانب العقلى والعاطفي داخل كل منا .
“ ليس مهمتنا أن نلتقي إلا بقدر ما هي مهمة الشمس والقمر أو البحر واليابسة. نحن الاثنان يا صديقي شمس وقمر بحر ويابسة ، ليس قدرنا ان نغدو شخصا واحدا بل ان يرى كل منا الآخر على ما هو عليه ان يعي ذلك ويجله في الذي أمامه ، أن يجد فيه إنجازه واكتماله "
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كم انت محظوظ يا غولدمند بتعارفك على نرسيس ، ان تجد صديق يفهمك ويتفهم احتياجاتك وافكارك حتى حين لم تكن انت شخصيا تعرفها و يتفهم اختلافك عنه ويرشدك لطريقك حتى وإن كان بإرشاده لك سيفقدك لكنه يعرف ان مكانك ليس بجانبه فيرشدك ويساعدك دون أحكام دون محاولات لتغييرك ، يتقبلك ويحبك كما انت رغم اختلافك عنه ، كم انت رائع يانرسيس صديقه ، لم يكون له في الواقع اذا لم يرشده الى معرفة ذاته
غولدمند ساحر النساء من النظرة الاولى يقعون فى غرامه ويسلمون أنفسهم له
n n
أيقظه نرسيس إلى الحياة ،ومنحته النساء حكمتهن . وازال التشرد عنه تورده
n n
هذا حال الدنيا ، الحزن يتلاشي ، وحتي يأسنا يذوب . والألم ، مثل أفراحنا ، يختفي ويغادر ، ويفقد كل اعماقه وقيمته إلى أن يأتي يوم أخيرا وننسى ما وخز قلوبنا لسنوات عديدة قبلها . حتى الألم يتفتت ويفنى
في غالبية الرواية نحن مع غولدمند وهو يدور ويرتحل ويغامر ويحب ويرى الحياة والموت ، يرى حياة التشرد والأمان، يشعر بالشبع والجوع ، الحب والشهوة ، يتراوح ويجرب حياة التشرد وحياة الاستقرار لكن دوما ذكر نرسيس لايختفى كما اننا لاننسى ان نرسيس هو من اخبره ان ليس مقدر له ان يصبح مفكر بل هو شاعر ، فنان لكننا نتعرف ايضا على افكار نرسيس وطريقة حياته .
العقل ام القلب !
التشرد ام الاستقرار !
العزلة ام خوض غمار الحياة !
الفكر والعلوم أم الفن !
نرسيس ام غولدمند ؟!
ايهما تختار ؟
كلاهما اجد اننا مزيج من كل هذا ، وكل منا يتراوح مابين الحالتين لكن يغلب جانب على الآخر فيحدد شخصيته واتجاهاته ، كلاهما جميل ، ولا يوجد يينهم مصيب ومخطئ . المهم ان تكون انت نفسك وان لاتحاول تزييف ما انت عليه ، ان تعمل بما تمليه عليه قناعاتك وقلبك وعقلك .
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لكن هنا لم تكن بدايته بنفس العذوبة والسهولة لذا كنت غير واثقة انى سأكملها ، فالبداية مع حديث نرسيس كانت تحتاج لاعادة قراءة وتركيز لكن بعد ذلك ومع حديث وحياة غولدمند اصبح اسلوب الرواية اكثر سلاسة وظل يتراوح مابين السهولة والصعوبة مابين احداث الحياة والافكار ، فى مزيج رائع سحرني واعجبني اسلوبه .
نرسيس وغولدمند نموذج لصديقين مختلفين ليس فقط مختلفين بل متناقضين :
كان نرسيس يعتمد على الفكر والعلوم ، يمثل العقل ، يمثل الشخص الذى اختار الانعزال عن العالم ليحفظ نفسه من شروره .فبالنسبة إليه كان كل شئ يدخل في خانة الفكر ، حتى الحب .
n n
اما غولدمند يمثل القلب ، الاحساس والفن ، الطبيعة، الشخص الذى يخوض الحياة بكل جمالها ومساوئها .
n n
لكن هل اختلافهم يجب ان يكون سبب لفراقهم ؟ بالطبع لا ، فهم يكملون بعضهم بعضا ، ويكتمل الإنسان نفسه بالجمع بين العقل والعاطفة فنرسيس وغولدمند ليس فقط صديقان بل هم انفسنا ، الجانب العقلى والعاطفي داخل كل منا .
“ ليس مهمتنا أن نلتقي إلا بقدر ما هي مهمة الشمس والقمر أو البحر واليابسة. نحن الاثنان يا صديقي شمس وقمر بحر ويابسة ، ليس قدرنا ان نغدو شخصا واحدا بل ان يرى كل منا الآخر على ما هو عليه ان يعي ذلك ويجله في الذي أمامه ، أن يجد فيه إنجازه واكتماله "
n n
n n
كم انت محظوظ يا غولدمند بتعارفك على نرسيس ، ان تجد صديق يفهمك ويتفهم احتياجاتك وافكارك حتى حين لم تكن انت شخصيا تعرفها و يتفهم اختلافك عنه ويرشدك لطريقك حتى وإن كان بإرشاده لك سيفقدك لكنه يعرف ان مكانك ليس بجانبه فيرشدك ويساعدك دون أحكام دون محاولات لتغييرك ، يتقبلك ويحبك كما انت رغم اختلافك عنه ، كم انت رائع يانرسيس صديقه ، لم يكون له في الواقع اذا لم يرشده الى معرفة ذاته
غولدمند ساحر النساء من النظرة الاولى يقعون فى غرامه ويسلمون أنفسهم له
n n
أيقظه نرسيس إلى الحياة ،ومنحته النساء حكمتهن . وازال التشرد عنه تورده
n n
هذا حال الدنيا ، الحزن يتلاشي ، وحتي يأسنا يذوب . والألم ، مثل أفراحنا ، يختفي ويغادر ، ويفقد كل اعماقه وقيمته إلى أن يأتي يوم أخيرا وننسى ما وخز قلوبنا لسنوات عديدة قبلها . حتى الألم يتفتت ويفنى
في غالبية الرواية نحن مع غولدمند وهو يدور ويرتحل ويغامر ويحب ويرى الحياة والموت ، يرى حياة التشرد والأمان، يشعر بالشبع والجوع ، الحب والشهوة ، يتراوح ويجرب حياة التشرد وحياة الاستقرار لكن دوما ذكر نرسيس لايختفى كما اننا لاننسى ان نرسيس هو من اخبره ان ليس مقدر له ان يصبح مفكر بل هو شاعر ، فنان لكننا نتعرف ايضا على افكار نرسيس وطريقة حياته .
العقل ام القلب !
التشرد ام الاستقرار !
العزلة ام خوض غمار الحياة !
الفكر والعلوم أم الفن !
نرسيس ام غولدمند ؟!
ايهما تختار ؟
كلاهما اجد اننا مزيج من كل هذا ، وكل منا يتراوح مابين الحالتين لكن يغلب جانب على الآخر فيحدد شخصيته واتجاهاته ، كلاهما جميل ، ولا يوجد يينهم مصيب ومخطئ . المهم ان تكون انت نفسك وان لاتحاول تزييف ما انت عليه ، ان تعمل بما تمليه عليه قناعاتك وقلبك وعقلك .
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Some books speak to you; this one dialogues with me. There are books that "move" you; this one upsets me. Hermann Hesse evokes poetry, elegance, realism, the difficulty of being human, and living the contrary aspirations attached to our essence.
The author has chosen to dissociate in this novel the two significant male inclinations, on the one hand, the aspiration towards the intellect and the religious, order and the scientist, meditation, and prayer, and on the other, the enjoyment of life in all its animality, in a hymn to death and life, to love and sadness, to beauty and ignominy, personifying them in two antithetical but complementary. Goldmund will transcend his sensual nature by investing it in art, which he then takes on a sacred character.
However, "Narcissus and Goldmund" is also a fable about the duality of the human being, in which the two characters represent the opposing forces of the same psyche. Between their appetites, aspirations, necessities, and the outside world's demands, humans have made choices and, in doing so, give up to amputate part of what they are. But Hesse brings us a solution to this endless dilemma: one can, at best, only become what one is, and it is by transcending the experience of the senses that one reaches spirituality. In this sense, it joins Carl Gustav Jung's conceptualization of the sacred, of which Hesse was the friend and the patient (moreover, "Narcissus and Goldmund" presents throughout the work the most magnificent evocation of the Anima that I had given a chance to read).
In my opinion, "Narcissus and Goldmund" is a masterpiece, more successful than, for example, "Siddharta" (which seemed to me more suitable, less surprising, in its treatment) or the "Glass Bead Game," whose Master appears to me too intellectual, not human enough… This book has an idea of reconciliation and peace that I have never found elsewhere in this author.
It is, for me, a work both major and masterful, which I place without hesitation at the top of the pantheon of books that have marked me the most.
The author has chosen to dissociate in this novel the two significant male inclinations, on the one hand, the aspiration towards the intellect and the religious, order and the scientist, meditation, and prayer, and on the other, the enjoyment of life in all its animality, in a hymn to death and life, to love and sadness, to beauty and ignominy, personifying them in two antithetical but complementary. Goldmund will transcend his sensual nature by investing it in art, which he then takes on a sacred character.
However, "Narcissus and Goldmund" is also a fable about the duality of the human being, in which the two characters represent the opposing forces of the same psyche. Between their appetites, aspirations, necessities, and the outside world's demands, humans have made choices and, in doing so, give up to amputate part of what they are. But Hesse brings us a solution to this endless dilemma: one can, at best, only become what one is, and it is by transcending the experience of the senses that one reaches spirituality. In this sense, it joins Carl Gustav Jung's conceptualization of the sacred, of which Hesse was the friend and the patient (moreover, "Narcissus and Goldmund" presents throughout the work the most magnificent evocation of the Anima that I had given a chance to read).
In my opinion, "Narcissus and Goldmund" is a masterpiece, more successful than, for example, "Siddharta" (which seemed to me more suitable, less surprising, in its treatment) or the "Glass Bead Game," whose Master appears to me too intellectual, not human enough… This book has an idea of reconciliation and peace that I have never found elsewhere in this author.
It is, for me, a work both major and masterful, which I place without hesitation at the top of the pantheon of books that have marked me the most.
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- افضل الروايات، بالنسبة لي، تلك التي تذكرني بروايات قريبة الى قلبي او عقلي، فكيف اذا كانت البداية قد وضعتني في جو "اسم الوردة"، والتفاصيل ذكرتني بـ "اله المتاهة"، والديالكتيك اعادني الى "المعلم ومرغريتا"، وتعدد السبل احالني الى ابن طفيل ورائعته "حي بن يقظان"!هذا العبق اللذيذ مع السرد البسيط والإستطرادات الفلسفية المبنية على ثنائيات عديدة (سأفصلها لاحقاً) جعل من هذه الرواية احدى الكلاسيكيات الرائعة التي ستبقى في ذاكرتي لوقت طويل جداً!
- تبدأ القصة مع وصول غولدموند الى الدير حيث نرسيس، نرسيس فرّيسي (يمتلك الفراسة) فيسبر اعماق غولدموند وينصحه بإيجاد مسلكه فلا هو راهب وليس بإستطاعته ان يكون مفكراً، يغادر غولدموند وتبدأ مغامراته التي لا تنتهي، ينغمس بمتع الحياة ويتخلل مساره الكثير من الحب والجنس والتشرد والسير والموت والفن والنحت والرسم كما يتخلله استنتاجات من كل تجربة حياتية مرّ بها واستخلاص نتائج وتفسيرات... يلتقي الصديقان بعد سنوات فينقذه نرسيس من الموت ويعود به الى الدير حيث يعصر غولدموند خلاص تجربته في بعض المنحوتات ويستقر اخيراً مطمئناً على فراش الموت تاركاً نرسيس ليبدأ رحلته الخاصة من دون اي تفاصيل من الكاتب.
- القصة بظاهرها قصة صديقان تجمعهما المحبة ورغم ان القسم الأكبر كان عن غولدموند الا ان نرسيس كان حاضراً بين سطور الرواية بمجملها. هذان الصديقان متناقضان احدهما يمثّل العقل (نرسيس) او الفكر والجانب الأبوي والآخر (غولدموند) يمثّل العاطفة والجانب الأمومي (او الانثوي)، نرسيس يمثّل المجردات الباردة وغولدموند يمثّل المحسوسات الدافئة، نرسيس يمثّل الفكرة وغولدموند يمثّل الصورة!
- القصة بباطنها تحمل العديد من التفسيرات والطبقات، خصوصاً مع الفلسفة الدائرية التي اعتمدها "هيسه" مع غولدموند حيث بدأ من الدير ولفّ الأرجاء وعاد الى نقطة الإنطلاق بإرتكازه على محور "الأم" والعاطفة. كما ان الإعتماد على الديالكتيك والثنائيات وفلسفات نيتشة من جهة وتصوف إيكهارت من جهة ثانية قد اغنى الرواية واعطى لها ابعاداً جديدة وتمخّض عنها اسئلة كثيرة.
- نرسيس قد يمثّل الفكر المجرّد لكنه بذات الوقت قد يمثّل التديّن السلبي حيث لا تجارب حياتية بل انعزال وابتعاد وانعتاق، على النقيض لغولدموند الذي قد يمثّل الطريق الى التديّن الإيجابي او "الشك في اتجاه اليقين" حيث خاض غمار كل التجارب الممكنة من اجل الحصول على الخلاص! لكن بذات الوقت فإن نرسيس يمثّل الفكر المتنور الصافي الذي يترك الناس تعبر عن ذاتها بدون فرض واكراه وتخويف وابتزاز ( ص330"لا تحاول ان تقلد الزهاد والمتفقهين، بل كن ذاتك، واعمل على تحقيق ذاتك") كما انه لا يتصرّف كمن يمتلك الحقيقة المطلقة بل ان تواضعه يسمح له بقول الآتي (ص344:"كم من دروب تؤدي بنا الى المعرفة، وان الدراسة ليست الدرب الوحيد المؤدي اليها. ولعلها ليست ألأفضل في ذلك")
- اما على الصعيد الشخصي فقد رأيت نرسيس وغولدموند يشكلان جزئين لإنسان واحد، العقل والعاطفة، وهذان الجزءان لا يتوقفان عن العبث داخل كل انسان فأما ان يجذبه نرسيس اليه واما ان يسحبه غولدموند بإتجاهه، لكن هذه العملية ليست بعملية ارتقاء او انحدار بل مسلكين اثنين يؤديان الى النتيجة عينها، المعرفة والخلاص. ولا شكّ بأننا نحتاج لقليل من نرسيس وقليل من غوادموند في هذه الرحلة القصيرة على الأرض.
- ختاما، هل كان غولدموند هو هيرمان هيسة الذي ترك الدير في صباه؟! ام كان نرسيس بما يمتلكه هيسة من نرجسية ام انهما اقنومان لهيسة واحد!؟
- الترجمة كانت جيدة جداً، لدي تعليق بسيط على استعمال كلمة "الحب" فقد اتت بمعنى: المحبة، والعشق، والشهوة، والوله وكان من الأفضل استعمال المفردات المتاحة (والكثيرة) للغة العربية الا اذا كان هيسة قد عبّر بمفردة واحدة (الحب) عن كل هذه الأحاسيس!
- تبدأ القصة مع وصول غولدموند الى الدير حيث نرسيس، نرسيس فرّيسي (يمتلك الفراسة) فيسبر اعماق غولدموند وينصحه بإيجاد مسلكه فلا هو راهب وليس بإستطاعته ان يكون مفكراً، يغادر غولدموند وتبدأ مغامراته التي لا تنتهي، ينغمس بمتع الحياة ويتخلل مساره الكثير من الحب والجنس والتشرد والسير والموت والفن والنحت والرسم كما يتخلله استنتاجات من كل تجربة حياتية مرّ بها واستخلاص نتائج وتفسيرات... يلتقي الصديقان بعد سنوات فينقذه نرسيس من الموت ويعود به الى الدير حيث يعصر غولدموند خلاص تجربته في بعض المنحوتات ويستقر اخيراً مطمئناً على فراش الموت تاركاً نرسيس ليبدأ رحلته الخاصة من دون اي تفاصيل من الكاتب.
- القصة بظاهرها قصة صديقان تجمعهما المحبة ورغم ان القسم الأكبر كان عن غولدموند الا ان نرسيس كان حاضراً بين سطور الرواية بمجملها. هذان الصديقان متناقضان احدهما يمثّل العقل (نرسيس) او الفكر والجانب الأبوي والآخر (غولدموند) يمثّل العاطفة والجانب الأمومي (او الانثوي)، نرسيس يمثّل المجردات الباردة وغولدموند يمثّل المحسوسات الدافئة، نرسيس يمثّل الفكرة وغولدموند يمثّل الصورة!
- القصة بباطنها تحمل العديد من التفسيرات والطبقات، خصوصاً مع الفلسفة الدائرية التي اعتمدها "هيسه" مع غولدموند حيث بدأ من الدير ولفّ الأرجاء وعاد الى نقطة الإنطلاق بإرتكازه على محور "الأم" والعاطفة. كما ان الإعتماد على الديالكتيك والثنائيات وفلسفات نيتشة من جهة وتصوف إيكهارت من جهة ثانية قد اغنى الرواية واعطى لها ابعاداً جديدة وتمخّض عنها اسئلة كثيرة.
- نرسيس قد يمثّل الفكر المجرّد لكنه بذات الوقت قد يمثّل التديّن السلبي حيث لا تجارب حياتية بل انعزال وابتعاد وانعتاق، على النقيض لغولدموند الذي قد يمثّل الطريق الى التديّن الإيجابي او "الشك في اتجاه اليقين" حيث خاض غمار كل التجارب الممكنة من اجل الحصول على الخلاص! لكن بذات الوقت فإن نرسيس يمثّل الفكر المتنور الصافي الذي يترك الناس تعبر عن ذاتها بدون فرض واكراه وتخويف وابتزاز ( ص330"لا تحاول ان تقلد الزهاد والمتفقهين، بل كن ذاتك، واعمل على تحقيق ذاتك") كما انه لا يتصرّف كمن يمتلك الحقيقة المطلقة بل ان تواضعه يسمح له بقول الآتي (ص344:"كم من دروب تؤدي بنا الى المعرفة، وان الدراسة ليست الدرب الوحيد المؤدي اليها. ولعلها ليست ألأفضل في ذلك")
- اما على الصعيد الشخصي فقد رأيت نرسيس وغولدموند يشكلان جزئين لإنسان واحد، العقل والعاطفة، وهذان الجزءان لا يتوقفان عن العبث داخل كل انسان فأما ان يجذبه نرسيس اليه واما ان يسحبه غولدموند بإتجاهه، لكن هذه العملية ليست بعملية ارتقاء او انحدار بل مسلكين اثنين يؤديان الى النتيجة عينها، المعرفة والخلاص. ولا شكّ بأننا نحتاج لقليل من نرسيس وقليل من غوادموند في هذه الرحلة القصيرة على الأرض.
- ختاما، هل كان غولدموند هو هيرمان هيسة الذي ترك الدير في صباه؟! ام كان نرسيس بما يمتلكه هيسة من نرجسية ام انهما اقنومان لهيسة واحد!؟
- الترجمة كانت جيدة جداً، لدي تعليق بسيط على استعمال كلمة "الحب" فقد اتت بمعنى: المحبة، والعشق، والشهوة، والوله وكان من الأفضل استعمال المفردات المتاحة (والكثيرة) للغة العربية الا اذا كان هيسة قد عبّر بمفردة واحدة (الحب) عن كل هذه الأحاسيس!
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Perhaps this book is interesting as an example of the dichotomization of body/mind, angel/whore, ascete/wayfarer. Put the dicktalk aside (which is no small task here) and you still have an enormous vine from which to swing back and forth from pole to pole. At best woman is subject here, at worst she so thoroughly blends into the background she's invisible. More than bleak considering this is a meditation on the roles of the artist and thinker (and never the twain shall meet mind you) in a modern world. While i suppose Hesse was trying to justify the new free-thinking, free-loving, long hair wearing male artist of the twentieth century, he really does less to exhort new modes of being and more towards the reinforcement of woman-loathing Cartesian dualism. She is both giver and taker away and yet completely and utterly powerless as an entity free of him, the center; she has no option but to be both the beginning and end of him. No no no. Nope.
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I guess they didn't have “Penthouse Letters” on the magazine racks in 1930, so a publisher must have approached Hermann Hesse and asked him if he'd write an early version of what would letter become known as “soft porn.”
This is the most overrated, ridiculous book I have almost ever been tasked to read, right up there with Jim Harrison's Dalva, a book that so many men claim to love for its “literary merit.”
It's not that this book is “sexy” or “scintillating” and that I am a prude. . . it is that this book is trying, cleverly, to disguise what is perverse as natural. . . it tries, under the guise of literary fiction, with pretty lines like these in the background. . . “brown, sunny butterflies rose and vanished capriciously in ragged flight” to make you believe you are reading something worthy, rather than soft porn. You're not.
The story starts with Narcissus, the obviously gay monk who tells Goldmund early on, “Your dreams are of girls; mine of boys.”
Narcissus's problem isn't that he's gay. . . it's that he claims to be celibate, committed to the life of a monk, yet he is in a constant state of being tempted by the boys around him, thus showing his moral superiority by denying himself. He is arrogant, a potential pedophile, and is completely ruled by his ego, while boasting to be devoted to God.
Goldmund's problem isn't that he's a sensualist (as Hesse describes him, over and over again, ad nauseam); he's a predator, a man who justifies sleeping with married women and virgins he has no plans to marry (these are Medieval times--ha! Don't even get me started on the "historical time period"). Every married woman who succumbs to him is a personal triumph of his; every virgin he defiles is a conquest.
When Goldmund arrives at the home of two teen-aged sisters who live with their father, a knight who has taken in Goldmund as an apprentice (in the 1980s, his role would be modernized to a “pool boy”), I was hanging on by a thread to this “novel.”
Sure enough, as Goldmund tries to get both teen-aged girls to sleep with him, he consoles one “with gentle caresses, only by holding her head against his chest, humming soft, meaningless, magic sounds that nurses hum to comfort children when they cry.” Of course, silly, because he was comforting AN ACTUAL CHILD he was trying to have sex with!
And. . . sure enough. . . you guessed it. . . another entry in “Penthouse Letters,” the ultimate male fantasy: he gets to have his way with two teen-aged sisters. Spoiler alert? Nah! He sleeps with every woman under the age of 30. (Everyone over 30 was, naturally, a toothless hag).
Truly. . . this was a revolting read for me, one that I wish I could erase right out of my mind. This novel is a celebration of everything that women and children have suffered since the beginning of time.
This is the most overrated, ridiculous book I have almost ever been tasked to read, right up there with Jim Harrison's Dalva, a book that so many men claim to love for its “literary merit.”
It's not that this book is “sexy” or “scintillating” and that I am a prude. . . it is that this book is trying, cleverly, to disguise what is perverse as natural. . . it tries, under the guise of literary fiction, with pretty lines like these in the background. . . “brown, sunny butterflies rose and vanished capriciously in ragged flight” to make you believe you are reading something worthy, rather than soft porn. You're not.
The story starts with Narcissus, the obviously gay monk who tells Goldmund early on, “Your dreams are of girls; mine of boys.”
Narcissus's problem isn't that he's gay. . . it's that he claims to be celibate, committed to the life of a monk, yet he is in a constant state of being tempted by the boys around him, thus showing his moral superiority by denying himself. He is arrogant, a potential pedophile, and is completely ruled by his ego, while boasting to be devoted to God.
Goldmund's problem isn't that he's a sensualist (as Hesse describes him, over and over again, ad nauseam); he's a predator, a man who justifies sleeping with married women and virgins he has no plans to marry (these are Medieval times--ha! Don't even get me started on the "historical time period"). Every married woman who succumbs to him is a personal triumph of his; every virgin he defiles is a conquest.
When Goldmund arrives at the home of two teen-aged sisters who live with their father, a knight who has taken in Goldmund as an apprentice (in the 1980s, his role would be modernized to a “pool boy”), I was hanging on by a thread to this “novel.”
Sure enough, as Goldmund tries to get both teen-aged girls to sleep with him, he consoles one “with gentle caresses, only by holding her head against his chest, humming soft, meaningless, magic sounds that nurses hum to comfort children when they cry.” Of course, silly, because he was comforting AN ACTUAL CHILD he was trying to have sex with!
And. . . sure enough. . . you guessed it. . . another entry in “Penthouse Letters,” the ultimate male fantasy: he gets to have his way with two teen-aged sisters. Spoiler alert? Nah! He sleeps with every woman under the age of 30. (Everyone over 30 was, naturally, a toothless hag).
Truly. . . this was a revolting read for me, one that I wish I could erase right out of my mind. This novel is a celebration of everything that women and children have suffered since the beginning of time.
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Narcissus and Goldmund is a beautifully written story of two medieval men who search for the meaning of life. They meet each other in their early youth in a cloister and then undertake their separate journeys - Narcissus in the spiritual world and Goldmund in the worldly world. Gradually, both of them, in their separate and interlaced experiences, find the truth they seek.
Hermann Hesse is well known for his philosophical fiction. All of his novels thematically expose the search for "light", the "real" world, from an imaginery and illusionary world. They are brain-stimulating and can be enjoyed by those who have a soft spot for philosophy. I have read both his Demian and Steppenwolf, and while I enjoyed his theories and the writing, storywise, they missed the spark. In , not only has he mastered the art of storytelling, he has also become more elucidating in his philosophical theories. Simply put, the writing is clear, mature, masterful and firmly bind the reader to the story.
Narcissus and Goldmund is by far the best work I have read of Hermann Hesse. It is inspiring and beautifully written. There is so much discussion on art and life that I found to be thought-provoking and inspiring the writer in me. The story and the philosophical views he expresses so clearly through the story blend harmoniously. Moreover, Hesse's belief that the truth lies somewhere in the middle of spiritual and worldly worlds I found to be fascinating, for, I too believe that the "truth" is a blend of spiritual and material worlds where you develop your mind to see the truth behind the illusory world so glamorously presented. All these different aspects, co-existing in perfect harmony, made the reading experience extremely pleasurable for me. Recommending books is not something I normally do, but I make an exception for this beautiful work of Hesse. So dear readers, if you have an inclination for philosophical wonderings, check out this little gem by Hermann Hesse.
More of my reviews can be found at http://piyangiejay.com/
Hermann Hesse is well known for his philosophical fiction. All of his novels thematically expose the search for "light", the "real" world, from an imaginery and illusionary world. They are brain-stimulating and can be enjoyed by those who have a soft spot for philosophy. I have read both his Demian and Steppenwolf, and while I enjoyed his theories and the writing, storywise, they missed the spark. In , not only has he mastered the art of storytelling, he has also become more elucidating in his philosophical theories. Simply put, the writing is clear, mature, masterful and firmly bind the reader to the story.
Narcissus and Goldmund is by far the best work I have read of Hermann Hesse. It is inspiring and beautifully written. There is so much discussion on art and life that I found to be thought-provoking and inspiring the writer in me. The story and the philosophical views he expresses so clearly through the story blend harmoniously. Moreover, Hesse's belief that the truth lies somewhere in the middle of spiritual and worldly worlds I found to be fascinating, for, I too believe that the "truth" is a blend of spiritual and material worlds where you develop your mind to see the truth behind the illusory world so glamorously presented. All these different aspects, co-existing in perfect harmony, made the reading experience extremely pleasurable for me. Recommending books is not something I normally do, but I make an exception for this beautiful work of Hesse. So dear readers, if you have an inclination for philosophical wonderings, check out this little gem by Hermann Hesse.
More of my reviews can be found at http://piyangiejay.com/
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What an ironical prig this Narcissus guy is!
Narcissus and Goldmund, as I look back on it now in my old age - far from my youthful love for it - is one of Hesse’s near-misses. Close, but no cigar, as they used to say at the Fair. This novel could have been perfect.
But no - it misses the boat. At least to someone like me who’s a tiny bit older and wiser...
Why?
To find that out, let’s go back to the medieval era, in which this book is set...
There once was an ‘almost-Narcissus’ back then. His name was Desiderius Erasmus.
A Catholic and Monkish gentleman (and a scholar) of the world, he acted as a facilitator for the catholicism of Catholicism, and as a friend of Church nobility and peacemaker. He purportedly was a friend of poor ordinary souls. It’s true, I think, that he envied their spontaneous ease!
He wanted, you see, to silence his own bête noire: Martin Luther, an almost-Goldmund.
You see, Luther was an semi-innocent, like Goldmund - who was impulsive and passionate, like his real-life archetype. And both Luther and his fictional doppelgänger Goldmund were deeply conflicted. And Luther, like Goldmund, was ready to suffer eternal torment, if needs be, for following his own star. Erasmus? Never!
And spontaneous! And Erasmus was not.
For if in conflicted souls spontaneity is dammed up in the heart the result is spiritual entropy!
There, though, the near-similarity ends... and while Goldmund‘s outlet was art, Luther’s was the defence of simple faith and warm married love.
If Erasmus more nearly approximates to the coolly rational but envious Narcissus...
Hesse is ALSO a Narcissus, like Erasmus.
A wannabe free spirit!
A sophisticated pan-European man of the world, he resented and perhaps envied passionate, mystical artists - like Rainer Maria Rilke - and his own creation, Goldmund.
These are men who live by the free spiritual self-replenishment of pure inspiration!
Rilke, like Luther and Goldmund, could do no wrong in the eyes of his admirers. He could also do as he liked. And did it, though, always within the bounds of decency. Like the other two, he was also conflicted:
As we see in his great, final Duino Elegies.
And that masterpiece shows, like Luther and Goldmund before him, he could be mystical in a way few other men were.
Few men, and that includes Hesse.
Hesse was partly a lie to the world, for he, like so many, was so precisely and tormentedly that to himself.
He wasn’t an ingenuous, mystical guy like Rilke. A guy who saw ultimate, peaceful death in the sex act. Death - the end and beginning - of life!
And perhaps Hesse's outré habits, like those of his protagonist in Demian, bound his soul to self-contradiction. And the complications of a Narcissus or Erasmus.
But a he was a true barometer of his times.
And that is the reason this near-masterpiece is close, but no cigar... he TRIES too hard for perfection.
Perfection wasn’t to Rilke like an endless Glass Bead Game - but, rather, like being out on the open water of imagination and feeling the Pneuma of Inspiration catch your sails.
It must, you see, come from the heart - but it can’t, with Hesse.
Perhaps Hesse’s Heart was just too constricted and dark a place.
Because it was formed of his endless anxieties and boredom, which NEVER gave him Answers of the Spirit but only Excuses for possible Escape - and further intellectual exploration.
Like Erasmus - while Luther’s Faith was a constant Breeze from a sincere Heart. How frustrating!
And the heart has its reasons, of which the brain knows nothing!
That, at least, is one old guy’s two cents worth.
Even though, as a kid, I LOVED it, lulled by its twin themes of rebellion and creativity.
But I hadn’t then seen the Source of those two Inspiring emotions...
In the very Life Force that moves the Universe -
But I do now.
***
NOW, watch the Trailer for the German fillm... Narcissus and Goldmund!
https://youtu.be/xnHrfYp6HCI
Narcissus and Goldmund, as I look back on it now in my old age - far from my youthful love for it - is one of Hesse’s near-misses. Close, but no cigar, as they used to say at the Fair. This novel could have been perfect.
But no - it misses the boat. At least to someone like me who’s a tiny bit older and wiser...
Why?
To find that out, let’s go back to the medieval era, in which this book is set...
There once was an ‘almost-Narcissus’ back then. His name was Desiderius Erasmus.
A Catholic and Monkish gentleman (and a scholar) of the world, he acted as a facilitator for the catholicism of Catholicism, and as a friend of Church nobility and peacemaker. He purportedly was a friend of poor ordinary souls. It’s true, I think, that he envied their spontaneous ease!
He wanted, you see, to silence his own bête noire: Martin Luther, an almost-Goldmund.
You see, Luther was an semi-innocent, like Goldmund - who was impulsive and passionate, like his real-life archetype. And both Luther and his fictional doppelgänger Goldmund were deeply conflicted. And Luther, like Goldmund, was ready to suffer eternal torment, if needs be, for following his own star. Erasmus? Never!
And spontaneous! And Erasmus was not.
For if in conflicted souls spontaneity is dammed up in the heart the result is spiritual entropy!
There, though, the near-similarity ends... and while Goldmund‘s outlet was art, Luther’s was the defence of simple faith and warm married love.
If Erasmus more nearly approximates to the coolly rational but envious Narcissus...
Hesse is ALSO a Narcissus, like Erasmus.
A wannabe free spirit!
A sophisticated pan-European man of the world, he resented and perhaps envied passionate, mystical artists - like Rainer Maria Rilke - and his own creation, Goldmund.
These are men who live by the free spiritual self-replenishment of pure inspiration!
Rilke, like Luther and Goldmund, could do no wrong in the eyes of his admirers. He could also do as he liked. And did it, though, always within the bounds of decency. Like the other two, he was also conflicted:
As we see in his great, final Duino Elegies.
And that masterpiece shows, like Luther and Goldmund before him, he could be mystical in a way few other men were.
Few men, and that includes Hesse.
Hesse was partly a lie to the world, for he, like so many, was so precisely and tormentedly that to himself.
He wasn’t an ingenuous, mystical guy like Rilke. A guy who saw ultimate, peaceful death in the sex act. Death - the end and beginning - of life!
And perhaps Hesse's outré habits, like those of his protagonist in Demian, bound his soul to self-contradiction. And the complications of a Narcissus or Erasmus.
But a he was a true barometer of his times.
And that is the reason this near-masterpiece is close, but no cigar... he TRIES too hard for perfection.
Perfection wasn’t to Rilke like an endless Glass Bead Game - but, rather, like being out on the open water of imagination and feeling the Pneuma of Inspiration catch your sails.
It must, you see, come from the heart - but it can’t, with Hesse.
Perhaps Hesse’s Heart was just too constricted and dark a place.
Because it was formed of his endless anxieties and boredom, which NEVER gave him Answers of the Spirit but only Excuses for possible Escape - and further intellectual exploration.
Like Erasmus - while Luther’s Faith was a constant Breeze from a sincere Heart. How frustrating!
And the heart has its reasons, of which the brain knows nothing!
That, at least, is one old guy’s two cents worth.
Even though, as a kid, I LOVED it, lulled by its twin themes of rebellion and creativity.
But I hadn’t then seen the Source of those two Inspiring emotions...
In the very Life Force that moves the Universe -
But I do now.
***
NOW, watch the Trailer for the German fillm... Narcissus and Goldmund!
https://youtu.be/xnHrfYp6HCI
...
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Narcissus and Goldmund tells the narrative of two men (although Goldmund gets a bigger chunk of the story), each seeking a higher fulfillment in his own way. The novel chronicles the life of an aimless wanderer breaking free, and one strongly binded to faith living in the Mariabronn monastery. The novel is both a journey and an awakening that takes the reader over the course of many decades. Living in a hidden cloister in medieval Germany, Narcissus is a most learned and pious young acolyte pursuing knowledge, and the contemplation of logic, philosophy and theology. When the younger boy Goldmund arrives at the cloister, he recognizes him as his counterpart, his opposite. Reckless, wild and passionate. Narcissus is fascinated with the boy, and takes him under his wing. Goldmund makes other friends, but none becomes as dear to him as Narcissus. A great bond is set in place. But Goldmund comes to realize that his fate does not lie solely with the Church, but with the wider lands. It's his nature to seek pleasure and joy from God’s creation. All bought on after sneaking off to a village and receiving a kiss from a young Gypsy. He feels remorse, but wants more, as his virgin heart aches to pursue this love affair. With this he opens up into his true self, and wishes to leave the confinements of Mariabronn. After Narcissus gives his blessing and releases his friend out into the wide world, the novel truly takes hold.
And so begins Goldmund’s travels as vagrant. Wandering around the country for years he discovers the ways of love, and seduces countless women. He would encounter death and violence, the beauty of art and labor, and the agonizing sadness of loss. He makes friends, but also enemies, and later witnesses the horrors of the ghastly plague. He does not live in the world of the mind, but in the physical world of love, music, art and mortality. After many years apart Goldmund and Narcissus reunite and discuss their differing lives. Narcissus tries to explain to his friend the meaning of his quest, the importance of the life of the flesh, and he begs him to imagine a thought devoid of an accompanying image. But Goldmund fails to understand because he is forever rooted in the rich earth, in life, and cannot cross the barrier into a pure thought, an imagination without objects and images. Each man seems to occupy one side of the other. This is the reason for their strong friendship and understanding of one another, both are somehow incomplete. But together, they become closer to enlightenment, closer to hard clay than to wet sand.
Hesse's poetic and emotive medieval coming-of-age story reads as the quintessential novel on the pains and euphoria of adolescence, forming a deep lifelong friendship, and succumbing to the desires of the opposite sex, of which, after years stuck in a Monastery, it's a case of making up for lost time. Even though there are many layers to this book - fairytale qualities, existentialism, philosophy, love and passion, and religion, it reads surprising easily, a world away from Steppenwolf. Hesse's enriched prose and beautifully ladened descriptions of the landscapes, had a slight resemblance to the writings Knut Hamsun, and for a novel first published in 1930 and set in Medieval Germany it still felt remarkably fresh, as it simply deals with the universal problems of growing up and finding one's true worth in the world. Regardless of place and time. Narcissus and Goldmund is ultimately a raging battle between the body and mind (and the plague!), a pandora’s box of contemplation, and a novel that lingered strongly well after it's closing pages.
And so begins Goldmund’s travels as vagrant. Wandering around the country for years he discovers the ways of love, and seduces countless women. He would encounter death and violence, the beauty of art and labor, and the agonizing sadness of loss. He makes friends, but also enemies, and later witnesses the horrors of the ghastly plague. He does not live in the world of the mind, but in the physical world of love, music, art and mortality. After many years apart Goldmund and Narcissus reunite and discuss their differing lives. Narcissus tries to explain to his friend the meaning of his quest, the importance of the life of the flesh, and he begs him to imagine a thought devoid of an accompanying image. But Goldmund fails to understand because he is forever rooted in the rich earth, in life, and cannot cross the barrier into a pure thought, an imagination without objects and images. Each man seems to occupy one side of the other. This is the reason for their strong friendship and understanding of one another, both are somehow incomplete. But together, they become closer to enlightenment, closer to hard clay than to wet sand.
Hesse's poetic and emotive medieval coming-of-age story reads as the quintessential novel on the pains and euphoria of adolescence, forming a deep lifelong friendship, and succumbing to the desires of the opposite sex, of which, after years stuck in a Monastery, it's a case of making up for lost time. Even though there are many layers to this book - fairytale qualities, existentialism, philosophy, love and passion, and religion, it reads surprising easily, a world away from Steppenwolf. Hesse's enriched prose and beautifully ladened descriptions of the landscapes, had a slight resemblance to the writings Knut Hamsun, and for a novel first published in 1930 and set in Medieval Germany it still felt remarkably fresh, as it simply deals with the universal problems of growing up and finding one's true worth in the world. Regardless of place and time. Narcissus and Goldmund is ultimately a raging battle between the body and mind (and the plague!), a pandora’s box of contemplation, and a novel that lingered strongly well after it's closing pages.
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... Artist, Smartist
Herman Hesse's brilliant philosophical novel (1930) involves two friends in medieval Germany. Largely metaphorical, this has the feel of a cautionary fairy tale with no true compass as to geography or time. The story begins when Goldmund, a student, and Narcissus, a teacher only a few years older, become friends at a cloister school. At first, Goldmund earnestly focuses on his studies, but then a few fellow students invite him to go off campus, where he's seduced by a young Gypsy girl. From that day forward, his mind never wanders far from thoughts of women, their sheer beauty and the pleasures of the senses.
He leaves and on his journeys he has numerous affairs with women of all ages, statuses and sizes (similar to Wilt Chamberlain in legion and legend). All women find him irresistible. Yes, the novel is sexist. Goldmund falls for the first young lady to say no, loses her to the serpent of lust for her younger, prettier sister, and then travels far and wide. He settles to become a sculptor for several years, able to brilliantly capture the beauty he has seen. He becomes restless, continues his travels and runs into the unmitigated ugliness of the Black Death. I'll add no more so I don't spoil the story, except to say that when both Goldmund and Narcissus, now an abbot, are much older, they visit and converse at length with each other.
This is an excellent classic.
“We fear death, we shudder at life's instability, we grieve to see the flowers wilt..., and the leaves fall, and in our hearts we know that we, too, are transitory and will soon disappear. When artists create pictures and thinkers search for laws and formulate thoughts, it is in order to salvage something from the great dance of death, to make something last longer than we do.”Probably the most vivid contrast I've read between, on one hand, the beauty of the skin, visual art and sensual pleasures, and, on the other, the splendors of the spirit, stability, science and logic.
Herman Hesse's brilliant philosophical novel (1930) involves two friends in medieval Germany. Largely metaphorical, this has the feel of a cautionary fairy tale with no true compass as to geography or time. The story begins when Goldmund, a student, and Narcissus, a teacher only a few years older, become friends at a cloister school. At first, Goldmund earnestly focuses on his studies, but then a few fellow students invite him to go off campus, where he's seduced by a young Gypsy girl. From that day forward, his mind never wanders far from thoughts of women, their sheer beauty and the pleasures of the senses.
He leaves and on his journeys he has numerous affairs with women of all ages, statuses and sizes (similar to Wilt Chamberlain in legion and legend). All women find him irresistible. Yes, the novel is sexist. Goldmund falls for the first young lady to say no, loses her to the serpent of lust for her younger, prettier sister, and then travels far and wide. He settles to become a sculptor for several years, able to brilliantly capture the beauty he has seen. He becomes restless, continues his travels and runs into the unmitigated ugliness of the Black Death. I'll add no more so I don't spoil the story, except to say that when both Goldmund and Narcissus, now an abbot, are much older, they visit and converse at length with each other.
This is an excellent classic.
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