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The Glass Bead Game: (Magister Ludi) A Novel
Product Type: Book
Product Price: $16.00
Manufacturer: Picador
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Description
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).
Reviews
Rating: 5 / 5
Date: 2010-03-20
Summary: "A leap out of faith"
Set in an undefined but obviously distant future (the papacy of Pius XV is mentioned), Hermann Hesse's novel "The Glass Bead Game" (1949) is not so much science fiction as philosophy fiction, taking place in a monastic yet secular realm where life is balanced by the cerebral excercises of the mysterious titular Game. (I don't know why the alternate title "Magister Ludi" was given to the English translation. The original German title "Das Glasperlenspiel" translates directly as "The Glass Bead Game".) The fact that the Game is never described in detail only adds to its mystery. Evidently it is not a regulated game of strategy like chess, not an execution but rather an inspiration based on a single concept, be it a detail in Chinese architecture or a passage from a Mozart andante. Castalia,the realm where this game is idealized, is outside the everyday world of business and society and has been inaugurated for the very purpose of maintaining spirtual and educational ideals after a long period of destructive wars and facile culture referred to as the Digest Age. By having his futuristic characters look back on this epoch with distaste, one can only assume that Hesse was referring not only to the 20th Century but to the 21st as well. If there is satire intended here, it has eluded me. Within Castalia is the Vicus Lusorum (Game Town) where the Game is played and polished and where the Master of the Game (the Magister Ludi) is in serene control. The novel's central character is Joseph Knecht, who during the course of the story becomes Game Master. Oddly enough, the word Knecht in German means servant, and at one point he reveals that as Master he associates himself with Christopher, the saint who gladly accepted burdens. Thus it is partly out of intellectual curiosity and partly out of political spying he visits a Confucian hermit and a Benedictine monk in order to understand their viewpoints, visits which are not completely approved of by the pedagogy in Castalia. He also holds long discussions with Plinio Designori, a civilized but somewhat decadent man from the outside world (shades of "Steppenwolf"!), and eventually becomes tutor to the man's son. In order to take this worldly position, he must renounce Castalia and the Glass Bead Game, leaving his colleagues and superiors shocked and saddened. (At this point I can't resist stating that in many ways "The Glass Bead Game" resembles Mann's "The Magic Mountain".) Hesse's book closes with13 poems and "three reincarnations", supposedly student works of Knecht's published posthumously. The three stories (the third one, a study of Yoga, is especially interesting) are reminiscent of the novelle of Conrad Ferdinand Meyer, a writer probably admired by Hesse in his youth. Speaking of youth: I attempted to read this book when I was in my 20s. Personally I was not prepared, but that doesn't mean other young readers can't appreciate it. Though it requires serious concentration and some patience, particularly in the opening pages, "The Glass Bead Game" is a fascinating example of Hesse's ideals, what one reference book calls his "spirtual search for new goals and values to replace the no longer valid, traditional ones."
Rating: 1 / 5
Date: 2010-02-16
Summary: "A painful and unpleasant reading experience"
A respected friend of mine recommended I read this book and I tried so hard to like it, but in the end (and the beginning and middle) I just didn't. I agree with several other reviews who admit the first 50-100 pages are difficult to get past. My problem with the rest is NOTHING HAPPENS! At least nothing important or relevant. After turning each page I kept asking myself, "What's the point? What's the plot?" For me-and probably a lot of others out there-there isn't enough dialogue or action to keep me interested. And in the beginning it was much too confusing and complicated (vague?) to consume my interest.
Rating: 3 / 5
Date: 2010-01-21
Summary: "New Book, minor secondary publisher"
I wanted a hardback copy of "The Glass Bead Game" I hoped it would be from the main publisher. It was like a bookclub edition which was kind of cheezy. New, in good shape, yes. A library shelf addition, not much better than a paperback.
Rating: 5 / 5
Date: 2009-11-14
Summary: "Literature with Constructive Meaning"
It's a synthesis. Imagine the sum of human perspectives and knowledge reduced into symbols and played like a symphony to permute meanings and explore conclusions. That's the glass bead game, which approaches a spiritual experience if played correctly. Frankly, it's a wonderful dream.
Despite the flaws of old literature and translations, I found this book riveting. The first fifty pages of background is not absorbing, and the style makes it hard it get into. The wonderfulness is because rather than the soul-crushing themes hedonism and nihilism present in so much modern 'literature,' this book is a celebration of living life and the best of man. The conceptualization of the Glass Bead Game itself overshadowed the flaws in plot structure and the overwhelming use of telling over showing into unimportant considerations.
A classic work that's stood the test of time, much more than the sum of it's parts. Recommended read for intellectuals.
Rating: 1 / 5
Date: 2009-11-06
Summary: "ZZZZZZZ....."
Can I rate it zero stars? Definitely not a "page turner!"
Having read Siddhartha some years ago and as I recall enjoying it, I thought I would like this book.
However, I am plodding through and keep hoping it will get better, pick up, become interesting. It has so many shortcomings I don't know where to begin but to summarize I will use a sentence from a 5-star review "Absent from Castalia are action, creativity, originality, and experiment" substituting "the book" for "Castalia." Where is the action? the creativity? originality? (one person says the main theme is the giving up of self to reach enlightenment - what's original about that? it's Buddhism in a nutshell!)
Hesse uses (overuses) "big" words in a way that makes it seem we are to be impressed. I reminds me of someone I went to high school with who would write a paper and then go to the Thesaurus to find as many big word substitutes as possible, even though it made the paper awkward and pretentious.
Another person who gave a low rating of this book hit upon one thing that I find to be not only a shortcoming but downright offensive - that is the fact that women are totally out of Hesse's thinking.
I find it ludicrous that the book is supposed to be set in the 23rd century - so far nothing gives any feeling of its being futuristic! One of the ways that it completely lacks any creativity. In fact, much of the book feels ancient.
The plot (?) is weak, the characters uninteresting, the writing cumbersome, arcane and esoteric (in the most negative sense of the word). There is no poetic or descriptive language. Hesse alludes to what "the game" is but never fleshes out the idea or gives any real description. It's all very vague, ambiguous, and unconvincing! Again a lack of creativity.
In spite of the fact that I am an intelligent person who enjoys philosophical thinking and writing as well as poetry, so far this book is nothing but a dull struggle. I'm determined to finish it - and maybe, just maybe I'll change my mind. Perhaps I should try (as one reviewer suggests) reading it backwards!