Despite having more books on Mount TBR than I care to acknowledge, I seem to find myself at the moment in the cast of mind to pick up whatever new volume happens to pop through the door. This is a Bad Habit, I know, as I should be reading all the books I already own, or some of my review copies – but I just can’t make myself read what doesn’t feel right! Today’s post is about a case in point; “Singapore Dream and Other Adventures” by Hermann Hesse was a recent discovery and when it arrived I just couldn’t resist it…
Hesse is, of course, an author with whom I have a long acquaintance; I first read him in my early 20s, have revisited his work many times over the year and even co-hosted a Hermann Hesse Reading Week back in 2016 with Caroline from Beauty is a Sleeping Cat (you can find details on the page on the blog). As you can see from the image on the page, I thought I already had pretty much everything which had been translated into English; however, I stumbled across mention of “Singapore Dream” earlier this month and went off into a fit of excitement, ordering a copy straight away. The excitement hadn’t dimmed by the time the book arrived, and so needless to say it didn’t even get a chance to get onto the TBR!
Most of the Hesse books I own are older copies/translations from my first splurge of buying his books all those years ago; “Singapore Dream”, however, was issued in 2018 by Shambhala Publications in the USA, and the work is translated by Sherab Chodzin Kohn. It collects together, as the subtitle reveals, a series of travel writings from an Asian journey Hesse took in 1911, as well as poems about that period and a short story. Although the blurb on the back of the book claims that none of the works has been translated into English before, the translator’s preface does indicate the short story and a couple of the poems *have* been translated before. That’s by the by, really, because the collection as a whole is a cohesive gathering and gives a wonderful insight into Hesse’s travels as well as his thoughts about the East.
The book comes with a useful map at the beginning, tracing Hesse’s journey from Genoa, down the Mediterranean and through the Suez Canal to the Red Sea, Ceylon, Sumatra and Singapore. It was an epic journey, one he took with a friend, partly as an opportunity to travel and see this part of the world but also to avoid his family’s expectations that he should follow an ecclesiastic route. Hesse may have been drawn to religion but it was not that of his forebears…
As for myself, I want a sarong and brown sarong pants and to go with that, a green velvet cap and a sporty, jacket-length dressing gown of thin yellow silk…
Part 1 of the book contains the ‘Sketches and Essays‘ where Hesse records his journey, his experiences in the various villages, cities and jungles through which he passes, and his thoughts whilst doing so. His prose captures the lush vegetation, the heat, the different cultures and peoples he encounters, his dreams, his doubts and also, very strongly, his dislike of the colonial whites and the effect they’re having on the landscapes he moves through. Hesse is always happier exploring the indigenous cultures rather than sitting playing cards with white settlers, which gives his narrative even more power.
The eleven poems featured are again beautiful and evocative, capturing Hesse’s emotions more deeply as he moves through his journey. I’ve read some of his poetry before and commented at the time on his sense of yearning and melancholy. Certainly that permeates the verse here, and it’s quite beautiful.
My heart clenches with joy,
It beats with love, drunk on the bliss of travel.
(from ‘Arrival at Ceylon’)
The final piece in the book is a short story, ‘Robert Aghion‘, and it really is a triumph, following the adventures of a young clergyman as he travels to India to ‘convert’ the people there to the Word of the Lord. Aghion is singularly unfit for the job, since he has no real missionary zeal and is more interested in collecting the insects and butterlies he finds (Hesse drawing on his own tendencies here, I suspect!); and needless to say, his encounters with the colonial whites are unpleasant. Instead, he finds himself drawn to the native Indian people, dazzled by their multitude of Gods and beliefs which seem to co-exist quite happily, and repelled by Western culture. An encounter with a beautiful Indian girl will play havoc with his emotions – but will East and West be able to break down the societal boundaries which exist between them?
“Singapore Dream” is a wonderful read from start to finish, full of such riches. Of course, Hesse was drawn to Eastern thought and culture, with many of his works exploring beliefs from those countries; “Siddhartha” of course springs to mind, and “Journey to the East”. However, the sketches and essays have an immediacy which draws you in, so that you’re travelling alongside Hesse, experiencing with him what he sees and discovers. The prose is beautiful and evocative, and the landscape and its people come vividly to life. The poetry is gorgeous and the short story impressive; in fact, the latter kept bringing to mind Sylvia Townsend Warner’s book “Mr. Fortune’s Maggot” which I read and wrote about in the early days of the Ramblings. In both cases, the authors understand that Western culture really shouldn’t and can’t be imposed on peoples living in other lands with their own ancient cultures, and the efforts of white missionaries will always fail.
Of all the European buildings out here, only the bungalows that have been built in the well-to-do residential suburbs are beautiful. They are fresh, livable, and look charming in their luxuriant park landscape. These bungalows are beautiful because they have perforce been adapted to the needs of the climate and therefore have had to retain the general qualities of the archetypal Malay house. Everything else that the whites have built, and are building here, would have been quite nicely suited to a German railroad station avenue of the eighties.
With any book of this age, there’s always the risk of terminology which can be problematic, and it’s mostly avoided here. There’s one instance of the n-word, but as this is used by a disgusting colonial white man in the short story, I assume it’s deliberate to show how loathsome he is. Hesse condemns colonial attitudes throughout the sketches and the short story (very strongly in the latter), and although his descriptions of other races are perhaps not as sensitively done as we would prefer them to be nowadays, he respects other cultures and quite obviously prefers them to the Western white colonials. There is always the risk of exoticising the East too, but it does seem that Hesse’s love of the culture is genuine. It’s a book which is from 1911 so I think that, compared with so many of his time, he had very forward-thinking views.
As I mentioned, translator Sherab Chodzin Kohn provides an interesting preface, putting Hesse’s journey into context. The translation itself reads well, although there were a couple of aspects which made me pause a little. Obviously, this is an American edition and so there is inevitably the occasional ‘gotten’ to annoy the life out of me, or ‘pants’ for trousers. More of concern was the fact that at one point there is talk of Hesse having a large amount of money to spend and the translator renders this as ‘dollars’. Personally, unless that was actually in the original German (and I have no way of checking), I would have preferred that to be e.g. German Marks, with a footnote giving me some kind of equivalent. I like a translation to still sounds as if I’m reading an author who wrote in a different language, with local terms retained where possible. However, these are minor points, and didn’t get in the way of my reading experience.
So “Singapore Dream” turned out to be a huge treat; a recently-translated work by a favourite author in a lovely edition which was a joy to read from start to finish. I imagine there must be a lot more of Hesse which I’ll never be able to read as it’s not translated, but at least I was able to enjoy this. I can’t remember where I saw mention of it (probably on Twitter or someone else’s blog) – but wherever it was, and from whom, thank you! Reading a new Hesse is a highlight of my reading year! 😀
Jul 26, 2021 @ 07:27:57
It’s been a long time since I engaged with Hesse but this sounds like a lovely way to reconnect -his thoughts still fresh from travel.
Jul 26, 2021 @ 19:16:27
Exactly – there’s a looseness and intimacy in these pieces which is perhaps not there in the fiction. I really did enjoy it.
Jul 26, 2021 @ 09:33:19
I read Journey to the East nearly half a century ago, and though I can barely remember anything about it apart from the cover this sounds like the real deal. As I’ve got The Glass Bead Game to reread (another Hesse novel, like Siddhartha, of which I retain very little other than the broad plot) I doubt I’ll be Singapore-bound just yet.
I’m reminded now of whenever, aged six or seven in Hong Kong, I was angry or frustrated I would grab a wickerwork basket and tell the amused amah as I stomped out the front door of the flat that “I’m going to Singapore!” Down at street level I wouldn’t know which direction to head in and so the expedition would always be abandoned…
Jul 26, 2021 @ 19:15:53
It’s a good one, and I enjoyed reading Hesse is non-fiction mode – definitely very engrossing.
And I think it’s definitely a good thing you had no sense of direction age 6…. ;D
Jul 26, 2021 @ 09:51:50
In my reading experience, travel books from a long time ago are much more interesting than current ones. I love the books of HV Morton about the countries of Europe and the UK more than half a century ago; his books on the Middle East are wonderful.
Jul 26, 2021 @ 19:14:55
I’d agree – I’ve enjoyed an old Graham Greene travel book recently, and have loved the Morton books I read in the past!
Jul 26, 2021 @ 11:42:55
That does sound like a huge treat, and I am greatly in favour of this habit of adding a translator’s preface etc these days.
Jul 26, 2021 @ 19:14:09
It was a real treat, and I totally agree about the translator – without them I wouldn’t be able to read this, so I always look forward to hearing what they have to say!
Jul 26, 2021 @ 14:12:45
I’ve not got on with Hesse in the past – I just can’t seem to click with him – but this does sound very tempting. If I decide to try him again this could be the place to start!
Jul 26, 2021 @ 19:13:31
His writing is perhaps a little formal sometimes, but this is a looser Hesse, writing travelogues rather than fiction. Might well be a better place to get to know him!
Jul 26, 2021 @ 14:33:46
Lovely review! I hadn’t heard of this before. I am definitely going to check this out as I like Hesse and I love travel books from the past. Not too long ago I read Mark Twain’s travelogues and enjoyed them thoroughly. They just have that old world charm.
Jul 26, 2021 @ 19:12:59
Thank you! I’m fond of an old travelogue too, and this is a good one – Hesse really seems to get under the skin of the countries he visits.
Jul 26, 2021 @ 14:36:46
I can find no reason to feel guilty for ordering and reading that instead of the books you already own! 🙂 I’ve never read Hesse, maybe I’ll try next year.
Jul 26, 2021 @ 19:12:21
LOL! I have to follow my grasshopper mind wherever it takes me!
Jul 26, 2021 @ 14:55:07
It’s been a time since I read any Hesse and even then only the obvious choices, but from what I can remember I was quite struck with his perspective. Interesting that this book was published by Shambhala though from your description it certainly fits with their list.
Jul 26, 2021 @ 19:11:59
Hesse is really intersting, and although it’s a long time since I read most of his works, I always love a revisit – so something new was a treat. I haven’t come across Shambhala before, but kudos to them for releasing this!
Jul 26, 2021 @ 19:52:22
I read a couple of Hesse many moons ago, but can’t remember a thing about them. This sounds wonderful with a range of different writtings. Hesse’s journey certainly does sound epic, I love the fact he didn’t like the white colonials.
Jul 26, 2021 @ 20:16:51
It’s a lovely collection and a real treat to have a mixture of non-fiction, poetry and the short story. Also very refreshing to find someone of that era rejecting the colonial norms!
Jul 27, 2021 @ 06:34:07
I have only read Sidhartha and maybe it was the time or that being from East I felt prejudiced at the portrayal of what I then thought was a stereotype, but I did not attempt another book by Hesse. But this sounds more interesting and may be it’s time to look him up again!
Jul 27, 2021 @ 14:33:37
It’s definitely looser than his other work and he certainly seems to have an empathy with the cultures he visits.
Jul 27, 2021 @ 12:13:19
This sounds very like Wandering, which I read last year for your 1920 club, a mixture of travel writing and poetry. Always exciting when some new work of an old favourite is translated!
Jul 27, 2021 @ 14:32:41
It is – and I rather think I should pick up wandering for a re-read soon, as it’s decades since I first read it!
Jul 27, 2021 @ 19:40:39
I love your enthusiasm for this author. Isn’t it wonderful when you ‘discover’ a new (to you) book by a favourite writer? No wonder you were so eager to read it. Good to hear that he was pretty progressive in his views for the time – as you say, that can be a problem with literature from this era…
Jul 27, 2021 @ 20:22:46
It’s definitely a treat to find something from Hesse I wasn’t aware of; obvs as he’s translated I’m totally dependant on what translators choose to render in English so this was a treat! And yes, I was a little worried about how I would find his views – he’s by no means perfect, but very advanced compared with so many of that era!
Jul 28, 2021 @ 23:41:01
Well no wonder you had to rush for this, not having even thought it possible! And besides, it’s a good idea, every now and then, to allow a more recent acquisition to have some time and attention, so it can reassure the dozens of other new arrivals that there’s still hope for them, among the untended masses, too!
Jul 29, 2021 @ 15:08:19
I couldn’t have ignored it and it was such a wonderful experience. And yes – I must give the recent arrivals hope that they won’t all disappear under mounds of older books!!
Aug 03, 2021 @ 07:00:43