به سختی تونستم برای خوندنش تمرکز کنم اما خب یکی از راه‌های دوام آوردن در متورم‌ترین کشور دنیا، پناه بردن به ادبیاته.

Not the easiest book to get through. It's pretty dark and sad. But definitely some of the most beautiful writing I've read. This is probably one of my favorite quote of all time:

"Fate was not kind, life was capricious and terrible, and there was no good reason in nature. But there is good and reason in us, in human beings, with whom fortune plays, and we can be stronger than nature and fate, if only for a few hours. And we can draw close to one another in times of need, understand and love one another, and live to comfort each other.

And sometimes, when the black depths are silent, we can do even more. We can then be gods for moments, stretch out a commanding hand and create things which were not there before and which, when they are created, continue to live without us. Out of sounds, words and other frail and worthless things, we can construct playthings - songs and poems full of meaning, consolation, and goodness, more beautiful and enduring than the grim sport of fortune and destiny. We can keep the spirit of God in our hearts and, at times, when we are full of him, he can appear in our eyes and our words, and also talk to others who do not know or do not wish to know him. We cannot evade life's course, but we can school ourselves to be superior to fortune and also to look unflinchingly uopn the most painfull things."

پیام داشت کتاب. در قالب خیلی از شخصیت ها می‌خواست به نتیجه گیری برسه. ولی در کل شخصیت اصلی و داستان عشقش و همه چیز درباره‌ش رو دوست داشتم.

هل يمكنُ لأحدٍ قرأ رواية دُميان لهرمان هسّه ألا يحتاج إليه في هذا الدّرب ، وقتاً ما ؟
هرمان يأتي بالنّفس ويفتحُ أبوابَها الظاهرة والخفيّة ، يفهّمها ويرعاها قليلاً ثم يدعها تنطلق لتختبر الحياة من جديد ، أو تختبرها الحياة من جديد ..

ممتنّة لهرمان

I thought this book was a beautiful example of the romantic, from the stormy opera singer, to the protagonist looking in on the outside, and of course Gertrude. Hesse tries and succeeds in expressing the inner turmoil of the artist in relation to youth and love.

I knocked off a star as he keeps trying to flog his buddhist mantras, but they felt awkwardly inserted and superfluous to the story. Nevertheless, a wonderful read, and I'm sure I'll revisit this book in the future.

"I think one can draw quite a distinct division between youth and maturity. Youth ends when egotism does; maturity begins when one lives for others... Young people have many pleasures and many sorrows, because they only have themselves to think of, so every wish and every notion assumes importance; every pleasure is tasted to the full, but also every sorrow."p.117

"The artist is not, as ordinary people think, a jolly sort of person who flings out works of art here and there... a real artist has to be unhappy. Whenever he is hungry and opens his bag, there are only pearls inside it."p.157

"On growing old, one becomes more contented than in one's youth, which I will not therefore revile, for in all my dreams I hear my youth like a wonderful song, which now sounds even sweeter and more harmonious than it did in reality."p.208

styl Hessego jest leksarstwem na dusze, ale fabuła jego książek zaraz tę dusze na powrót łamie

«به نظر می آید که زندگی انسان به شب دراز و کسالت باری شباهت دارد که فقط گهگاهی بارقه هایی از نور با نوید انوار خود
می توانند توجیهی برای سال های تاریک باشند.»

الآن شعرت قليلًا بسبب التقدير الذي يحمله تاركوفسكي لهيرمان هسه..
هيرمان هسه يحتاج لحالةٍ من الهدوء لقراءته هذا ما أحسست به,,تحتاج للهدوء لكي تتمكن من الاستمتاع بالهدوء المطلق الذي يسيطر على طريقته في السرد,على هدوء الأحداث في الرواية الهدوء الذي تفرضه أجواء الرواية التي تدور في محيط أرستقراطي في ألمانيا..
كل شيء بطيء ولكن في مرحلة معينة أثناء القراءة يجبرك على الامساك بالكتاب حتى النهاية..
الرواية لا تحمل أي نوع من الأمل الأحمق بالحياة كما يفعل باولو كويلو وكذلك لا تراجيديا هنا بل حياة فقط والاحساس بالأمل أو الراحة الذي يظهر لديك مع الانتهاء منها نابع من كونها حياة ولا شيء آخر

the typical Hermann Hesse novel, the talent, the outsider, the journey (inner and outer), the master, the friend, the lover. beautiful book.

"My friends did not really understand me. Gertrude was the only person with whom I could have had complete understanding and a perfect relationship. And was I not just chasing shadows and building castles in the air with the work for which I lived and which should have given meaning to my life?"

"He did many other things that made me realize how deeply and incessantly he had thought about Gertrude. It made me both happy and sad to observe this. Because of her, he no longer kept a dog and he lived alone, he who previously could never be without women for long. He had had a portrait of her painted. He asked me to buy the flowers she liked. It was as if he had taken off a mask and I saw a child's face behind the hard, selfish features."

The world of music differs from the world we live in – it is the realm of the sonic harmony…

Somewhere in my sixth or seventh year I began to feel that, of all unseen forces, music was to seize me most strongly and to master me most completely. After this I had my own world, my refuge and my heaven, which no one could take from me, and which I desired to share with no one. I was a musician, although before my twelfth year I had learned to play no instrument, and never thought to earn my bread, later, through music.

There is no harmony in the real world… Infatuation of youth… Unreasonable daring… Mournful misadventure… The leg is broken and the narrator becomes a limping cripple for life… He finds the comfort in composing music… He is talented… He is recognized… He begins to write an opera… In comes Gertrude…

No embarrassment came between Gertrude and me. We were carried on the same stream; we worked at the same work. It was for her, as it was for me, an unfolding, a ripening of our youth, a joy and a magic in which my passion burned unseen. She did not distinguish between my work and me. She loved us both and was ours. And for me, also, love and music and life seemed no longer distinct. Many times I looked on the beautiful girl in astonishment and wonder, and she returned my glance. When I came or went she pressed my hand more warmly than I dared to clasp hers. And in those balmy, summer days, when I went through the garden and entered the old house, I knew not whether it was my work or my love that so held me and uplifted me.

In the world of the living there is no harmony… His love remains unrequited… She falls in love with his friend… Storms of passions bring in distresses… Unhappiness… Misery… Tragedy… He is just a witness…

“You are entirely the type of the artist. An artist is not, as the Philistines think, a jolly fellow, who out of pure wild spirits flings down here and there a work of art. But instead he is a poor wretch, who suffers much, who is dying from too great an abundance, and, in order to live, must give of himself. The talk about happy artists amounts to nothing. That is pure Philistine babble!
That jolly Mozart kept himself up by means of champagne and suffered from lack of bread. And why Beethoven did not take his life in his youth, but instead wrote those master compositions, no man knows. A real artist must be unhappy in life. When he is hungry, and opens his sack, he finds nothing there but pearls.”

Destiny of a true artiste is to faithfully follow his star without looking around.

Ich sitze in der Bahn und heule weil mich dieses Buch so aus dem Nichts gehittet hat, ich habe es aus der Stadtbib ausgeliehen und weil das Cover so langweilig und die Inhaltsbeschreibung gleichermaßen langweilig waren wollte ich es schon ungelesen zurückgeben.
Ich kann sagen dass das ein typischer Hesse Roman ist, vom Stil her fast schon sowas wie der Prototyp Hesse Roman. Der Anfang ist auch wirklich nicht so spannend, wie oft ist es ziemlich vorhersehbar so als könnte man es nach jeder Seite einfach selbst weiterschreiben aber wie (ich finde) immer bei Hesse fühlt man sich deshalb so eigentümlich geborgen und die Geschichte fließt beinahe an einem vorbei, was in Ordnung ist, weil meist einfach Stimmungen vermittelt werden, die man auch aufnehmen würde, würde man zwei drei Sätze einfach überlesen. Thematisch ist das ein Incel-Roman, vielleicht ein Roman über eine Dreiecksbeziehung. In irgendeiner Beschreibung stand mal das sei ein Roman "über das Leben" und das ist es im Nachhinein wirklich. Das Buch hat mir sehr unerwartet sehr viel gegeben, Hesse spendet so oft Trost und hier auch und hier vielleicht besonders. Es geht keinesfalls nur um Gertrud, ich hätte es aber auch Gertrud genannt.

(**Sorry dass ich rede wie ein Streber im Deutsch LK aber ich konnts auf die Schnelle nicht besser ausdrücken**)

This one is on harmony. On concordance and discordance. This one passage, very early into the book, summarizes the theme best:

"Of all the conceptions of pure bliss that people and poets have dreamed of, listening to the harmony of the spheres always seemed to me the highest and most intense. That is where my dearest and brightest dreams have ranged - to hear for the duration of a heartbeat the universe and the totality of life in its mysterious, innate harmony. Alas, how is it that life can be so confusing and out of tune and false, how can there be lies, evil, envy and hate among people ... And how can I upbraid people and grow angry when I, myself, with all the good will in the world have been unable to make song and sweet music out of my life?"

The tragic story that begins following this passage revolves around this one conflict. Life promises purity and bliss - through music and through love for another. But human frailties, along with that one all powerful force called fate, debars them from experiencing it. Over and over again.
What is life but a constant reminder of this promise and its failure? Tragedy is inevitable.
But if that is so, why go on? What value is there in continuing to live?

Through a love triangle between three artists Hesse stresses on this and more. Music or no music, the discordance between inner and outer life, between self and society, between material and spiritual, and (with emphasis) between youth's potential and burden, that discordance is once again highlighted.

"Youth is a real swindle -- a swindle of the press and textbooks. 'The most wonderful time of one's life!' Old people always seem much more contented to me. Youth is the most difficult time of life. For example, suicide rarely occurs among old people."

"Young people have many pleasures and many sorrows, because they have only themselves to think of, so every wish and every notion assumes importance; every pleasure is tasted to the full but also every sorrow, and many who find that their wishes cannot be fulfilled, put an end immediately to their lives. That is being young. To most people, however, there comes a time when the situation changes, when they live more for others, not for any virtuous reasons, but quite naturally."

Overtly, this is a story of young people in love, unrequited love, and there is nothing extraordinary in that - art or craft wise, in what what is said or shown. What is worth praising though is the maturity with which Hesse handles progress of Kuhn's (Hesse's alter-ego's?) music career, for beside standing as a love story, it is a memoir of a promising artist.

I loved this novel for one specific reason: its two male personality archetypes. I want to believe that the male friendships in this novel and in Narcissus and Goldmund were inspired by his personal experiences - there is no way he could have written about them with such psychologically accuracy. I have closely known a person who confirms to one of the two archetypes, and well, to some extent, I confirm to the second. For years I have struggled to understand our friendship (for the lack of a better word) and our influence on each other, but through this novel and N&G, I get strong hints.

Despite giving it 5 stars, I would recommend this novel strictly to Hesse fans or those who do not mind love stories. Hesse called this novel a "miscarriage". He wasn't wrong. Except that he is.

P.S. As a love story, a GR reviewer said the book reminded him of Knut Hamsun's Victoria. Happy to learn that!!

P.P.S. Unaware of the Nietzsche-ian elements but apparently the book derives a lot from 'The Birth of Tragedy'. So, if that interests you, do read.