About this title: A story of a spiritual quest is set in the Middle Ages. Brother Narcissus, a monk at Mariabronn Abbey, serves as an adviser to Goldmund, a student at the Abbey School. Goldmund is attracted to the monastic life, but Narcissus suggests that he is unsuited for it and urges him to pursue a life in the world. Goldmund leaves the Abbey and becomes a woodcarver. Many years after he has achieved fame as an artist, he returns to the Abbey to die. The duality of body and mind, and the inevitable conflict between them, is at the center of the novel.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Mass-market paperback
Publisher: Bantam Books, New York
Date Published: 1971
Description: Good. No dust jacket as issued. 1971 Bantam paperback. NOT EX LIB! Bright pages with notes, underlining & bent page corners, creased spine & covers, moderate edgewear & scuffing. Text in English, German. 312 p. Translated from the German, Narziss und Goldmund read more
Description: Good. 0312421672 Earlier paperback same content exactly-Aside from newer introduction/Afterward, original text has never changed, Standard Used Condition, some cover wear, different cover, No writing or Highlighting, some minor spine creases, minor age tan-well bound and solid, sold for content. read more
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
"I really enjoyed the narrator who read this on the audio book - his transformation of Goldmund's voice throughout the book was pure brilliance.
As for the book itself, hmmm . . .
Aside from the fact that I read this in a lousy state of depression, which might not have been too wise, I don't have much of a mind for philosophy. What Hesse has done is taken two philosophical extremes and personified them in his characters. I understood his meaning and purpose, but the characters just didn't speak to me. They were too extreme . . . almost laughable caricatures of the duality they represented. Completely predictable and, well, boring. They weren't people at all, but ideas. I'd almost say this book was written by Narcissus. I prefer characters to have the duality within themselves, rather than stand as symbols. I want to be surprised, enraged, and delighted at the funny quirks and inconsistencies that give savor to humanity. But hey, any author that gets me even a little interested in philosophy (see Sophie's World by Jostein Gaardner) can't be all that bad. I'll take another stab at Hesse some day."
"When I was a child my parents used to punish me for my bad actions in their own way: I often had the prohibition of reading for a week. Of course I wasn't so nerd at that time and together with reading there could be no tv, no bmx rides with friends, no late night awake and all sorts of "normal" don'ts. But the worse one was definitely the "no reading week".
Later in my teenage years, I remember how my mum was very glad about my reading activity, but not particularly interested in influencing that favourite pastime of mine with her tips. As far as I remember the only exception was "Narcissus and Goldmund".
"Mum, I read "Candide". How nice it was!" "Good for you. But you should rather read Narcissus and Goldmund".
"Mum, "The Buddenbrooks" is very interesting. What a surprise!" "Very well. Yet, you would appreciate more "Narcissus and Goldmund".
"Mum, I have to admit it: "Rosshalde" is kind of interesting". "Yes. But that's nothing compared to "Narcissus and Goldmund": you might read it!".
"Mum, this "Elective affinities" is a masterpiece of romanticism". "I know, but why don't you read "Narcissus and Goldmund?" You must do it!"
Ok, I resisted for many years. When I was younger I never liked when people were forcing me to read anything. At school, in family. Then came my late twenties and I finally capitulated: I took "Narcissus and Goldmund" in my hands. Albeit the awful, terrifying front cover graphic chosen by the Italian editor (think about the name "Hesse" wrote in the same style, way and colours of the notorious "Esso" logo on a grey background...) I decided to leaf through the book pages.
I was really surprised. After managing to win over the first "philosophical" part of the novel, that I found a bit too slow, I discovered a surprisingly libertine book. Not that bad, of course, but exactly the opposite I would have expected as a tip from my mum.
Eventually "Narcissus and Goldmund" was an involving reading. Although I think that sometimes Hesse stumbles on the thin line between allegory and parody, this book worth a reading. I like the historical-yet-undetermined contest of the book even if the Goldmund character doesn't look that realistic to me. The way Goldmund walks around the world is very "Candidesque" and picaresque and I do like this sort of mood.
At the same time, Herman Hesse is more accurate and, in my opinion, does a better job in picturing Narcissus, who at least behaves as a man in his adulthood rather than a whimsical, naive boy as Goldmund stays for the whole book without having a real evolution despite all the life (and sexual) experiences he had. I know this won't be appreciated by those who consider this book formative, but the same comeback of Goldmund to the monastery where he spent his earlier pious years looks more like a defeat than as an inner development of him.
Now I just wonder if my mum wished to make a Narcissus or a Goldmund out of me. Frankly I'm a bit scared to ask her."
"The ending didn't align with my original conception of the story. Although the plot took some unexpected twists I'm not unhappy with its progression. It was a pleasure to read a book that really gets one thinking about life. Specifically, contemplating the difference between a life of religious piety versus that of self indulgent pleasure seeking. Although I found myself judging and devaluing Narcissus' lifestyle, I respect that he was was true to himself. Once he once truly in touch with his soul he didn't turn away from it, even when it lead him astray. I also appreciated the way Hesse plays the two characters off each other. They both find themselves and their driving force and follow that, albeit to rather different ends. But all the while they appreciate and accept their life, they still have room to envy the other. They each lead their life to the fullest extent, giving all of themselves to their life's work, and yet they still find beauty in the others diametrically opposite life."
"Narcissus and Goldmund are two men who represent two perspectives of life: the intellectual and the physical. Both characters are set in a medieval monastery, and both conceive of the spiritual; but even the spiritual is largely intellectual for Narcissus, and physical for Goldmund. The two – Narcissus the young teacher, and Goldmund the exceptional student – are friends, though they have contradictions. Narcissus, by mental discipline, chooses the ascetic lifestyle of the monastery. Goldmund, upon reaching the age of consent, chooses to leave on a sensual journey to find where his divine vision of his deceased mother leads him.
The story is interesting for Hesse’s study of those ideals to which men devote themselves – religion, beauty, art. But I am as dissatisfied with the character of Goldmund as much as he is dissatisfied with everything else. To read of a character’s angst for three hundred pages is far too long; far too indulgent of the author. If the character has matured, if he is a convert, he is that kind of convert who speaks so highly and so much of the former decadent life that the reader questions if there has been any change."
We guarantee every item's condition, as described on Alibris. If you are not satisfied that an item is as described, return your purchase for a refund.
rating
