Hesse's novel of two medieval men, one quietlycontent with his religion and monastic life, theother in fervent search of more worldly salvation.This conflict between flesh and spirit, betweenemotional and contemplative man, was a life study forHesse. It is a theme that transcends all time.The Hesse Phenomenon "has turned into a vogue,the vogue into a torrent. . .He has appealed bothto. . . an underground and to an establishment. ..and to the disenchanted young sharing his contemptfor our industrialcivilization."-- The New York Times Book Review

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).

With its blend of Eastern mysticism and Western culture, Hesse's best-known and most autobiographical work is one of literature's most poetic evocations of the soul's journey to liberationHarry Haller is a sad and lonely figure, a reclusive intellectual for whom life holds no joy. He struggles to reconcile the wild primeval wolf and the rational man within himself without surrendering to the bourgeois values he despises. His life changes dramatically when he meets a woman who is his opposite, the carefree and elusive Hermine. The tale of the Steppenwolf culminates in the surreal Magic Theater--For Madmen Only Originally published in English in 1929, "Steppenwolf "'s wisdom continues to speak to our souls and marks it as a classic of modern literature.

A young Indian mystic, a contemporary of Buddha, sacrifices everything to search for the true meaning of life.