(no subject)
I've (re)started reading Hermann Hesse's novel, Steppenwolf after an abortive attempt at getting through it years ago (when I was in high school). Apparently, it's the same English translation as before, too.
If Steppenwolf isn't a book to emphasize reflection over action the whole way through, that's still a good description of the beginning, if not the first half. But I haven't been turned off by the slow start as I was when I was sixteen or so. Actually, I'm finding it much easier to understand the narrator's point of view this time around. Hesse (or is it the narrator?) does have an unfortunate habit of totalizing non Europeans as childlike, primitive, and so forth. And the word "Jazz" seems to be used to describe all popular music circa 1927 (which reminds me of Theodor Adorno's (mis)understanding of Jazz in his writings). "Not unusual for the time," I guess.
Anyway, it looks like I'm getting through the whole book this time.
If Steppenwolf isn't a book to emphasize reflection over action the whole way through, that's still a good description of the beginning, if not the first half. But I haven't been turned off by the slow start as I was when I was sixteen or so. Actually, I'm finding it much easier to understand the narrator's point of view this time around. Hesse (or is it the narrator?) does have an unfortunate habit of totalizing non Europeans as childlike, primitive, and so forth. And the word "Jazz" seems to be used to describe all popular music circa 1927 (which reminds me of Theodor Adorno's (mis)understanding of Jazz in his writings). "Not unusual for the time," I guess.
Anyway, it looks like I'm getting through the whole book this time.