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Hermann Hesse

The Glass Bead Game

The Glass Bead Game by Hermann Hesse is the story of a society where the various kinds of academic study - in particular mathematics, music and history - have been absorbed into the playing of a particularly complicated game.

The book tells the story of Joseph Knecht, one of the legendary players of the game. We hear of his life in elite schools, his years of study of obscure parts of history and his gradual rise in the heirarchy of the game until he reaches its pinnacle - the position of Magister Ludi or Master of the Game. But Knecht begins to have his doubts about how much the game players have become cut off from society and warns that their way of living cannot last forever.

One tends to see the book as a comment on the separation of academia from 'real life', but I felt that this doesn't really work - the split between them just seems false. For instance astronomy and physics are supposedly part of the game, but Hesse just seems to see them as playing with formulae, rather than eagerly awaiting data from newly built telescopes. The book seems much more to do with the choices of an individual - do you become a hermit, is it better to be an 'organisation man', or is there another alternative. In the end I felt that the message wasn't really worth the effort of reading 400 pages - it would be more suited to a shorter story. The 3 'lives' at the end of the book, which are, effectively, short stories with a similar message, are definitely worth reading though.

Amazon.com info

Paperback 576 pages
ISBN: 0312278497
Salesrank: 42136
Weight:1.06 lbs

Published: 2002 Picador

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Amazon.co.uk info

Paperback 544 pages
ISBN: 009928362X
Salesrank: 9952
Weight:0.79 lbs

Published: 2000 Vintage

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Amazon.ca info

Paperback 576 pages
ISBN: 0312278497
Salesrank: 2183
Weight:1.06 lbs

Published: 2002 Picador

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Product Description

The final novel of Hermann Hesse, for which he won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1946, The Glass Bead Game is a fascinating tale of the complexity of modern life as well as a classic of modern literature

Set in the 23rd century, The Glass Bead Game is the story of Joseph Knecht, who has been raised in Castalia, the remote place his society has provided for the intellectual elite to grow and flourish. Since childhood, Knecht has been consumed with mastering the Glass Bead Game, which requires a synthesis of aesthetics and scientific arts, such as mathematics, music, logic, and philosophy, which he achieves in adulthood, becoming a Magister Ludi (Master of the Game).

A leap out of faith *****

Set in an undefined but obviously distant future (the papacy of Pius XV is mentioned), Hermann Hesse's novel "The Glass Bead Game" (1949) is not so much science fiction as philosophy fiction, taking place in a monastic yet secular realm where life is balanced by the cerebral excercises of the mysterious titular Game. (I don't know why the alternate title "Magister Ludi" was given to the English translation. The original German title "Das Glasperlenspiel" translates directly as "The Glass Bead Game".) The fact that the Game is never described in detail only adds to its mystery. Evidently it is not a regulated game of strategy like chess, not an execution but rather an inspiration based on a single concept, be it a detail in Chinese architecture or a passage from a Mozart andante. Castalia,the realm where this game is idealized, is outside the everyday world of business and society and has been inaugurated for the very purpose of maintaining spirtual and educational ideals after a long period of destructive wars and facile culture referred to as the Digest Age. By having his futuristic characters look back on this epoch with distaste, one can only assume that Hesse was referring not only to the 20th Century but to the 21st as well. If there is satire intended here, it has eluded me. Within Castalia is the Vicus Lusorum (Game Town) where the Game is played and polished and where the Master of the Game (the Magister Ludi) is in serene control. The novel's central character is Joseph Knecht, who during the course of the story becomes Game Master. Oddly enough, the word Knecht in German means servant, and at one point he reveals that as Master he associates himself with Christopher, the saint who gladly accepted burdens. Thus it is partly out of intellectual curiosity and partly out of political spying he visits a Confucian hermit and a Benedictine monk in order to understand their viewpoints, visits which are not completely approved of by the pedagogy in Castalia. He also holds long discussions with Plinio Designori, a civilized but somewhat decadent man from the outside world (shades of "Steppenwolf"!), and eventually becomes tutor to the man's son. In order to take this worldly position, he must renounce Castalia and the Glass Bead Game, leaving his colleagues and superiors shocked and saddened. (At this point I can't resist stating that in many ways "The Glass Bead Game" resembles Mann's "The Magic Mountain".) Hesse's book closes with13 poems and "three reincarnations", supposedly student works of Knecht's published posthumously. The three stories (the third one, a study of Yoga, is especially interesting) are reminiscent of the novelle of Conrad Ferdinand Meyer, a writer probably admired by Hesse in his youth. Speaking of youth: I attempted to read this book when I was in my 20s. Personally I was not prepared, but that doesn't mean other young readers can't appreciate it. Though it requires serious concentration and some patience, particularly in the opening pages, "The Glass Bead Game" is a fascinating example of Hesse's ideals, what one reference book calls his "spirtual search for new goals and values to replace the no longer valid, traditional ones."

A painful and unpleasant reading experience *

A respected friend of mine recommended I read this book and I tried so hard to like it, but in the end (and the beginning and middle) I just didn't. I agree with several other reviews who admit the first 50-100 pages are difficult to get past. My problem with the rest is NOTHING HAPPENS! At least nothing important or relevant. After turning each page I kept asking myself, "What's the point? What's the plot?" For me-and probably a lot of others out there-there isn't enough dialogue or action to keep me interested. And in the beginning it was much too confusing and complicated (vague?) to consume my interest.

New Book, minor secondary publisher ***

I wanted a hardback copy of "The Glass Bead Game" I hoped it would be from the main publisher. It was like a bookclub edition which was kind of cheezy. New, in good shape, yes. A library shelf addition, not much better than a paperback.

Literature with Constructive Meaning *****

It's a synthesis. Imagine the sum of human perspectives and knowledge reduced into symbols and played like a symphony to permute meanings and explore conclusions. That's the glass bead game, which approaches a spiritual experience if played correctly. Frankly, it's a wonderful dream.

Despite the flaws of old literature and translations, I found this book riveting. The first fifty pages of background is not absorbing, and the style makes it hard it get into. The wonderfulness is because rather than the soul-crushing themes hedonism and nihilism present in so much modern 'literature,' this book is a celebration of living life and the best of man. The conceptualization of the Glass Bead Game itself overshadowed the flaws in plot structure and the overwhelming use of telling over showing into unimportant considerations.

A classic work that's stood the test of time, much more than the sum of it's parts. Recommended read for intellectuals.

ZZZZZZZ..... *

Can I rate it zero stars? Definitely not a "page turner!"

Having read Siddhartha some years ago and as I recall enjoying it, I thought I would like this book.

However, I am plodding through and keep hoping it will get better, pick up, become interesting. It has so many shortcomings I don't know where to begin but to summarize I will use a sentence from a 5-star review "Absent from Castalia are action, creativity, originality, and experiment" substituting "the book" for "Castalia." Where is the action? the creativity? originality? (one person says the main theme is the giving up of self to reach enlightenment - what's original about that? it's Buddhism in a nutshell!)

Hesse uses (overuses) "big" words in a way that makes it seem we are to be impressed. I reminds me of someone I went to high school with who would write a paper and then go to the Thesaurus to find as many big word substitutes as possible, even though it made the paper awkward and pretentious.

Another person who gave a low rating of this book hit upon one thing that I find to be not only a shortcoming but downright offensive - that is the fact that women are totally out of Hesse's thinking.

I find it ludicrous that the book is supposed to be set in the 23rd century - so far nothing gives any feeling of its being futuristic! One of the ways that it completely lacks any creativity. In fact, much of the book feels ancient.

The plot (?) is weak, the characters uninteresting, the writing cumbersome, arcane and esoteric (in the most negative sense of the word). There is no poetic or descriptive language. Hesse alludes to what "the game" is but never fleshes out the idea or gives any real description. It's all very vague, ambiguous, and unconvincing! Again a lack of creativity.

In spite of the fact that I am an intelligent person who enjoys philosophical thinking and writing as well as poetry, so far this book is nothing but a dull struggle. I'm determined to finish it - and maybe, just maybe I'll change my mind. Perhaps I should try (as one reviewer suggests) reading it backwards!

The past is another country **

Hesse's novel won the Nobel Prize and joins the ranks of strangely overrated works that are now not much read but hit the right spot at the time. In this case the creation of an imaginary world of delicate formal relations, whether it is a utopia or an anti-utopia, was a validation of culture and the life of the mind born of Hesse's discovery of Switzerland as an escape route from his native land, Germany, which was historically compromised by the the horrors of Nazi dictatorship. No one could decribe it as a good read, but its period fascination is enormous.

A fascinating mass of contradictions ****

I first read 'The Glass Bead Game' in my late teens, and it left a lasting if vague impression. I very very rarely reread books - being of the opinion that life is just too short - but twenty-odd years later I felt compelled to revisit it, if only because I remember it being a very 'grand' and mysterious book, and because I could remember so little about it.

What a strange experience it was. I'm a lot older and a little wiser than I was back then, so the impression it made on me was less of awe and more of wonder. Specifically, I kept wondering why on earth Hesse wrote it? What, exactly, was its point? I found it maddeningly discursive, didactic, amibiguous - and yet nonetheless 'a great novel'.

That said, I could only imagine what a modern day agent or editor would make of it. There is little plot to speak of, and it's almost impossible to discern whether Hesse intended it as satire or homage or just plain narrative. The sudden and untimely end of the protagonist seems to leave the story in mid air, and then, almost as an afterthought, Hesse tags on three short stories, in the guise of Joseph's posthumous writings.

I found the novel fascinating, but its meaning rather obscure - although Hesse's fascination with Eastern religion comes through as a strong theme, particularly towards the end. So ultimately I'm left wondering what on earth I do think about this book, other than it is perhaps as flawed, perplexing and bewitching as life itself.

Glass bead Game book *****

if you are into ...sci fi...gaming... or just thinking then this is the book for you....:-)

Not the masterpiece it wishes to be... **

It was an easy read, but quite thin on the ground in terms of depth - the conclusion of the book is so painstakingly obvious it's hard to envisage a whole novel just to prove it. The only other Hesse book i've read is Narcissus and Goldmund, and whilst i think this is on par in terms of content, the latter is about one third of the size and hence a lot more immediate. On a brighter note, the book has three short stories at the end, of which i think the last, is particularly good.

Good idea, possibly a bit too long... ***

This is often regarded as Hesse's masterpiece. I wouldn't necessarily disagree with that - it's a philosophical novel with a profound and relevant message. It's also more readable than one might think.

However, the problem to my mind is that the basic thesis Hesse outlines in this novel can be reduced to a few sentences. On the one hand, he gives us the players of the Glass Bead Game, who are cut off from ordinary society and entirely devoted to abstract & purely intellectual pursuits which have little to do with real life (the Game). On the other hand, he gives us the inhabitants of the towns below, who are entirely devoted to material ambitions (busines and politics) which have no basis in intellectual thought.

The thesis, therefore, is that those who conduct their lives purely on an intellectual level are out of touch with real life and tend towards unreality, while those who live their lives purely on a material level can never achieve any form of enlightenment, insight or spiritual progress. It would be desirable to fuse these two elements so that they are interdependent, but there are many difficulties in achieving this.

The novel explores these issues at great depth and length, through the life of the main protagonist (whose name I can't recall...). My problem - possibly it's a matter of temperament - was that having grasped the basic conflict over the course of the first 100 pages, the next 400 seemed rather superfluous.

Hesse's short stories are great, though - definitely recommend those in 'Strange Light from Another Star' (also the title of a Blur track).

The Life of Intellect *****

A tribute to the life of the mind. Of interest to anyone connected in any way with academia. It is the biography of one Magister Ludi ("Master of the Game"), inhabiting a fictional Order, parallel to the university and church orders of Europe. Central to this Order is the Glass Bead Game, an intellectual pursuit which codifies the themes of great art, literature, and music into the motifs of a symbolic game format. Masters and apprentices, the Order, the Hierarchy, the Game, and the decorum surrounding them populate the novel. How the life of the intellect can be lived with depth and integrity.

His best work *****

Although Hesse is not in fashion among academics these days, this book (unlike some of his earlier more romantic stuff) deserves to be noticed as a great work of the 20th century. It's very complex, and can be frustrating (especially if you have little or no knowledge of German history, literature and music); it's nevertheless an important, and often very moving reflection on the nature of modern society (and isn't yet outdated), and equally on some of the dangers of trying to escape that society.

Hesse Capitivates ****

The Glass Bead Game is another excellent novel by Hesse. I have read and very much enjoyed both Siddhartha and Demian years ago, and found The Glass Bead Game to be a equally enjoyable, though clearly more sophisticated book. Told from the perspective of an anonymous biography, the story revolves around a rather likable character named Joseph Knecht and his ascent throughout the rather esoteric hierarchy of the Order.

The tale is presented in a rather fragmented style, highlighting various part's of Joseph's life and the relationships he develops with various figures throughout. Although the book begins slowly, I found it does gradually pick up, and becomes completely engrossing in the later chapters.

Like Hesse's other works, The Glass Bead Game offers plenty of insight into society, culture and the human spirit. If you enjoyed Demian or Siddhartha, with a bit of effort, you should enjoy the Glass Bead Game.

The ideal teacher in a decayed system ****

This is a really important book that unfortunately has too often been misunderstood by both its supporters & detractors. I've been looking through all of the reviews to Hesse's "Glass Bead Game"(Magister Ludi), and one important theme that most have missed is the theme of education--an issue which Hesse has consistently introduced into his work from the very beginning, "Beneath the Wheel", to the end of his writing career. This book is, I believe, Hesse's exploration of what the ideal teacher (the magister) and ideal educational society (Castalia) should be like. However, it seems that through the course of writing about this ideal society, and writing from within it by using the masks of genre (i.e. Knecht's poems & writings), Hesse comes to the conclusion that even an ideal society is doomed to fail if the educational system ROTS from within. Seen in this light, the Glass Bead game, which many readers are disappointed to find only lightly sketched-out, is really not that important to the story; it's only a curiousity demonstrating the end-process of the Castalia system. The real issue is the methodology of teaching & the problems facing an ideal society that has lost touch with the real world. Indeed, Knecht admits that as he gets older he prefers to teach younger & younger students in order to reach them earlier. A hint that maybe all is not right with the process of educating those who become members of the "order". The book is, as many readers know, quite a feat of the imagination and a feat of literary mastery, but at it's heart are basic questions: how do we educate ourselves and others, how do we use what we've learned, and how do we balance the real world with the imagined world? These are difficult questions, but they are the ones that Hesse tries to solve with this book; the game itself is but a convenient vessel with which to explore these issues.

Serenely Beautiful *****

This book is unlike any other; the slow, songlike development and lucid style, which lend the book its awesome beauty, are quite unparalleled.
It is not a 'good read', nor is it a book to read when you are still at school, as 'Siddartha' might be. Neither do you need to agree with, appreciate or even necessarily understand Hesse's philosophy. While his earlier novels are full of force, angst, and dramatic desire, this is as simply serene, peaceful, and beautiful as its main character. It must not be missed.