(no subject)
I just finished reading Demian by Herman Hesse, and it was very good. The concluding paragraphs in particular were quite effective so I'm gonna type them out here if you wish to read.
"Young 'un," he said with a smile.
His lips were now quite close to mine. Quietly he continued to speak.
"Can you still remember Franz Kromer?" he asked. I blinked my assent and even managed to smile.
"Listen, young Sinclair, I've got to go. Perhaps you'll need my help against Kromer or something else... If you send a message I shan't come riding crudely on horseback or by railway next time. You'll have to listen to your inner voice and then you will hear me speak within you. Do you understand? And there is something else. Frau Eva said that if things ever went badly with you, I was to pass on a kiss from her which she gave me... Close your eyes, Sinclair."
I closed my eyes in obedience. I felt the brush of a kiss on my lips on which there was a bead of blood that never seemed to diminish. Then I fell asleep.
Next morning they woke me up; I had to have my wounds dressed. When I was finally properly awake I turned quickly towards the mattress next to mine. A stranger lay on it whom I had never seen before.
The dressing was a painful business. So was everything else that happened to me afterwards. But when on the many occasions I find the key and look deep down into myself where the images of destiny lie slumbering in the dark mirror, I only need to bend my head over the black mirror to see my own image which now wholly resembles him, my friend and leader.
"Young 'un," he said with a smile.
His lips were now quite close to mine. Quietly he continued to speak.
"Can you still remember Franz Kromer?" he asked. I blinked my assent and even managed to smile.
"Listen, young Sinclair, I've got to go. Perhaps you'll need my help against Kromer or something else... If you send a message I shan't come riding crudely on horseback or by railway next time. You'll have to listen to your inner voice and then you will hear me speak within you. Do you understand? And there is something else. Frau Eva said that if things ever went badly with you, I was to pass on a kiss from her which she gave me... Close your eyes, Sinclair."
I closed my eyes in obedience. I felt the brush of a kiss on my lips on which there was a bead of blood that never seemed to diminish. Then I fell asleep.
Next morning they woke me up; I had to have my wounds dressed. When I was finally properly awake I turned quickly towards the mattress next to mine. A stranger lay on it whom I had never seen before.
The dressing was a painful business. So was everything else that happened to me afterwards. But when on the many occasions I find the key and look deep down into myself where the images of destiny lie slumbering in the dark mirror, I only need to bend my head over the black mirror to see my own image which now wholly resembles him, my friend and leader.