The Glass Bead Game by Hermann Hesse
Choosing my final read for Hermann Hesse Reading Week was very difficult; there are so many wonderful books by this author, and I could have gone for an early work, more poetry or autobiography. However, in the end, I felt I’d like to revisit his masterwork, “The Glass Bead Game” and so I dug out my old, frail Penguin Modern Class; as after my experiences with the “Steppenwolf” translation, I wanted to read again the work I’d read decades ago.
My Penguin has nothing but the bare text of the book (as they did in those days) and I actually found it very refreshing to read an older book not riddled with note, forewords and afterwords. Instead, I was a left as a reader to judge the work in isolation on its own merits, and treated as having enough intelligence to look up or work out any reference I didn’t understand – which I enjoyed very much.
“The Glass Bead Game” was Hesse’s final work, the one specifically cited by the Nobel Board when awarding him his prize, and is regarded by many as his finest book. Set in the future, in the elite world of Castalia, it tells the story of Joseph Knecht, a Master of the Glass Bead game, and his life and experiences and philosophies. Hesse uses a similar framing narrative structure to “Steppenwolf”, placing himself as biographer and editor of Knecht’s surviving works, and at times employing a similar authorial tone.
Knecht (the word in English can denote servant or knight) is a man with no family; brought up as a scholarship school pupil, he’s picked out by a visiting Music Master to be sent to the Castalian schools to study. Joseph shows a talent for music and does well at the school, even being picked as a kind of debating champion to defend it in argument against a guest student from outside, Plinio Designori. The debates between the two are enlightening, and their friendship will have an important effect on Knecht’s life.
The book goes on to trace Knecht’s path through the hierarchy to reach the high title of Magister Ludi, Master of the Glass Bead Game. His way is not as straightforward as many a Master, taking in a period of study with a reclusive Elder Brother in his Bamboo Grove, and also a series of politically motivated visits to a Monastery in the outside world. Here he encounters Father Jacobus, a renowned historian, who gives him a wider perspective on life than he receives from just Castalia.
Interestingly enough, the further Joseph progresses up the ladder of status, the more he finds himself questioning the raison of Castalia; and when he becomes Magister he carries out his duties brilliantly, all the while with a mind that is perhaps yearning to be elsewhere. He eventually reaches a decision about his future which will have dramatic consequences for him, but may lead to Castalia surviving as a repository of culture for a little longer than it might otherwise…
People know, or dimly feel, that if thinking is not kept pure and keen, and if respect for the world of the mind is no longer operative, ships and automobiles will soon cease to run right, the engineer’s slide rule and the computations of bank and stock exchanges will forfeit validity and authority, and chaos will ensue. It took long enough in all conscience for realization to come that the externals of civilization – technology, industry, commerce, and so on – also require a common basis of intellectual honesty and morality.
I’m not going to give more than a plot outline here, because I’m sure hundreds of theses have been written on “The Glass Bead Game” which barely scratch the surface. This is one rich, complex book chock full of ideas and I can see why it would have been cited by the Nobel committee. Published in 1943, at the height of WW2, it’s in many ways a cry out for civilisation and humanity. Castalia came into being after a period referred to as The Age of the Feuilleton, which is pretty much the 20th century, full of its wars and crises. It’s a country where civilisation and study and education have reached a high peak; and yet it’s an oddly sterile place. For example, they study the greats of classical music but don’t try to create any, and the same goes for the other arts. In fact, Knecht is unusual in writing poetry (some of which is presented at the end of the biographical section, along with some of his other writings.) It’s rather as if you can have a lively, messy, vibrant but violent world that creates great works of art, or a civilised world of the mind that cannot create, only study.
The game itself is a unique synthesis of several different artistic disciplines which is never completely defined but of which mathematics and musical seem to be the strongest threads. It’s never given a tangible, physical structure; instead, it exists as an abstract concept, an ideal which unites all the arts and sciences in one complete whole.
Generations ago this famous Game had begun as a kind of substitute for art, and for many it was gradually developing into a kind of religion, allowing highly trained intellects to indulge in contemplation, edification, and devotional exercises.
But despite the heights that Castalian culture has reached, it is not enough to hold a man like Joseph Knecht. For all its admirable traits and achievements, the inhabitants are living in an ivory tower, too detached from the everyday world; and I did wonder if Hesse was making an analogy here with the 20th century intelligentsia, many of whom spent the 1930s ignoring the forthcoming conflict.
The wave is already gathering; one day it will wash us away.
There is a very strong sense of a civilisation in decline and Knecht (and the reader!) is aware of the inability of intellect to resist the tendency of war. Throughout the book I also felt the subtle influence of Eastern religions, which is prevalent in so many of Hesse’s works, and it adds another element to Knecht’s journey through life.
The one flaw I found in this glittering gem of a book was the fact that the world of the Elite and the Glass Bead Game is entirely male; the constant analogies to religious orders seems to reinforce the ascetic, restricted world view held by the Castalians. However, there were female religious orders, and at the time Hesse was writing, women were a prominent feature in art, literature, mathematics and the sciences. So why Hesse chose to make his order entirely male is something that’s up for speculation.
The biographical story of Knecht ends dramatically, and perhaps a little unexpectedly; however, this is followed by the sequence of poems I mentioned above, as well as three biographical sketches supposedly penned by Joseph as part of his studies. These could be read as alternative lives of Knecht, and covering the life of a pagan shaman, a Christian hermit and a Prince. All are fascinating in their own right, but also shed light on the man as he was and as he could have been. There is a common theme in all the stories – one perhaps that runs through all of Hesse’s work – of searching; it’s a trait we humans have of wanting to look for more and certainly it seems as if Hesse’s spent much of his life searching for knowledge and wisdom. And the poems attributed to Knecht share that same kind of longing as those in the collection of Hesse’s verse I reviewed earlier this week.
There’s so much more you could say about this wonderful, luminous book but I’ll stop here. Hesse created a rich and complex mythology of an intellectual pursuit and its champion; a book full of philosophy and speculation, debate about the best way to live your life, and with a central character who is alive and loveable. It’s no wonder that this book has become such a classic, as the issues it discusses are still vital and important. I’m so glad to have revisited “The Glass Bead Game” and it’s been a wonderful way to finish off Hermann Hesse Reading Week!
Mar 13, 2016 @ 08:09:12
Great review as ever, Karen. I’ve enjoyed reading about Hesse’s works over the past week. Thanks for co-hosting this with Caroline – your posts have given me a much better understanding of his style and themes.
Mar 13, 2016 @ 08:23:45
Thanks Jacqui! It’s been an enjoyable reading week and if we’ve introduced a few more people to Hesse along the way, that’s a bonus!
Mar 13, 2016 @ 10:12:03
I kept picking up a copy of TGBG at my local library but never took the plunge. I’m not sure if it’s one for me – but there’s only one way to find out, right?
I’m hoping to get at least one Hesse post up today. I want to re-read some of the beginning of N&G.
Mar 13, 2016 @ 10:18:57
Absolutely – and if your local library has a copy there’s no excuse for giving it a try! Look forward to hearing what you think about N&G (and don’t worry if the review is late…) – I almost picked this one up for a re-read myself!
Mar 13, 2016 @ 11:05:18
Well, the copy of TGBG is no longer at my local library; they move them about between libraries quite a bit.
I’ll have to get the review done today as I won’t have time during the week.
Mar 13, 2016 @ 11:36:37
Oh dear… Maybe you can order it in?
Mar 13, 2016 @ 10:18:06
Great review. It’s a complex work, I read it many moons ago – but I’m sure a lot of it went over my head.
Mar 13, 2016 @ 10:19:45
I think the same is probably the case for me – I was quite young when I first read it, and I don’t think I read books quite so deeply then!
Mar 13, 2016 @ 13:34:35
Fantastic review, Karen. What a way to end this week.
I haven’ read The Glass Bead game yet but you really make a great case for it. I should read it as soon as possible.
When I first read Hesse, I didn’t notice the treatment of women in his work but now it does bother me.
Mar 13, 2016 @ 14:25:06
Thanks Caroline! Yes, I *do* think this is one worth reading and I’m glad I revisited it. Like you, I don’t think I picked up the lack of women on my first read, but I’m more aware this time round. Having said that, I did want to mention in my review (but ran out of space/time) that one of the three tales at the end is set in a primitive matriarchal society – which was an unexpected development in a Hesse book!)
Mar 13, 2016 @ 14:46:07
Indeed. That’s surprising. It sounds like such an intriguing book.
Mar 13, 2016 @ 15:55:11
It is – it’s got a lot more depth than just a simple tale of an elite Master’s rise to fame!
Mar 14, 2016 @ 19:10:27
One of the three tales? I’d this a short story collection? I’m unfamiliar with this work.
Mar 14, 2016 @ 20:24:29
“The Glass Bead Game” is a novel but the structure is unusual in that it’s portrayed as a biography of Joseph Knecht and also a collection of his autobiographical writings. The latter include poems and the three tales supposedly written by Knecht. It’s a complex and fascinating book!
Mar 13, 2016 @ 19:20:47
I really enjoyed reading your review. It’s along time since I read The Glass Bead Game – I hope I find time to re-read it some day.
Mar 13, 2016 @ 20:14:53
Thanks Grant! I think it’s definitely one that’s worth going back to!
Mar 13, 2016 @ 20:25:19
Something in blogland prompted me to choose whether I wanted to read Steppenwolf or this and although this sounded richer, I chose Steppenwolf because it was shorter! I did find it a bit turgid though, all that wandering around inside one rather self absorbed individual’s head, and I wonder if it is just the older translation, which I know from your other post you preferred. I think I could have done with the newer, more “sparkly” Steppenwolf. So I think I have still not got the best out of Hesse that I should read TGBG too.
Mar 13, 2016 @ 21:16:40
I was going to read a Hesse book and participate, but I came down with the flu this week. I still hope to get around to reading more Hesse soon though.
Mar 14, 2016 @ 19:13:14
What made you decide to do a week of Hesse? I’m not sure if I missed the motive or if I’m dense and didn’t see a link or something. I am wracking my brain, trying to remember if I’ve read this author, but nothing comes to mind! And you said you read him when you were young! At what point in life do most people encounter Hesse? High school? College?
Mar 14, 2016 @ 20:22:35
Hesse is a German author who won the Novel prize for Literature in 1946. His writings were very popular in the twentieth century – I first encountered him in my 20s via a recommendation of a friend who was at university. His Wikipedia page would fill you in on him, and I think we decided to do the week of reading his books as a rediscovery of his work and also to bring him to the attention of those who hadn’t read him.
Mar 15, 2016 @ 01:57:32
You certainly inspire me to get out my Hesse! I very much enjoyed this review and those of Steppenwolf and the poems. God only knows what translations I have! I picked up a couple of mass market paperbacks from the ’60s and the ’70s, but I do really want to read him now.
Mar 15, 2016 @ 08:39:26
If your books are from the 60s or 70s they may well be the same ones I read. I do recommend him – definitely worth your time!
Hermann Hesse Reading Week Wrap Up | Beauty is a Sleeping Cat
Mar 16, 2016 @ 08:14:39