Siddhartha

I just finished reading Siddhartha, by Hermann Hesse. Since I'm taking a class on religion (Religious and Spiritual Traditions of the World), reading more religious books seems almost natural--hence The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. But it's also because my mom started me on this path by giving me Walk On for Christmas. It's a book about "the spiritual journey of U2." I used to be a huge U2 fan, and my mom likes to try and connect to me through that, even though I don't think quite so highly of them as I used to. But I guess I could go even further and say that this all started when I read Life of Pi last year, and was both intrigued and annoyed by the way religion was used in that novel.

Anyway, we were about to start our section on Hinduism in my class, and it looked like I would have time to read something I actually wanted to for once, so I decided to read Siddhartha. (I was thinking about buying it once, when I got The Canterbury Tales and considered doing Barnes and Noble's Buy 2 Get 1 Free deal, but I figured I should read it first. Plus, when I was trying to think of a random book to mention in a short story I was mapping out, Siddhartha was the first to come to mind. So it felt like this book was calling to me.)

It's a lot shorter than I thought it would be. Plus, the writing style is very simple, almost like that found in fairy/folktales, with just the essentials of the story, and usually very plain dialogue. At first I was disappointed by this, feeling like it was more of a short story than a novel. But as I continued reading, I felt like this writing style was actually good for this kind of story. The story itself was pretty good. It's basically the life of a Brahmin who leaves home to go on a pilgrimage, seeking truth, enlightenment, and above all, peace. He continually shifts from one path to the next, not letting himself get tied down in dogma or the silly concerns of normal people (not for too long, anyway). It's a story of the yearning for meaning in life.

The philosophical and religious aspect of it was interesting, especially since I was reading about Hinduism for class already, so I grasped all of the concepts touched on in the book (like the fact that Siddhartha was from the tradition that followed Shankara's teachings, made blatant by his reference to Maya, the confusion caused by material reality that stops us from realizing the fact that everything is connected). It really stressed, for me, the fact that Hinduism is so varied and so open-minded that Siddhartha was allowed to break way from one tradition after another in search of his own truth...something which most other major religions would frown upon. No one in the book said that Buddha was wrong, even though his teachings were pointedly breaking away from Hinduism. Likewise, no one stopped Siddhartha from going on his way (his father took a while to approve it at first, but this was mostly because he didn't want to see his son leave him. And Govinda questions him a lot, but this is merely to understand Siddhartha, and perhaps learn something by questioning his choices).

Rating: 6.1/10