It might help to explain why both Eastern and Western critics attacked the book as too simplistic and romantic. 'He got as far as Sri Lanka, fell ill and had to cut short his trip,' Frenz said. Frenz, believe Hesse never made it to India. Siddhartha, the journey of a young Brahman which was loosely based on the story of Buddha, was written after the author returned to Europe in 1919 and eventually published it in 1922.īut others, like Dr. Most references to this time report on Hesse being disappointed and disillusioned by India. Little is known of Hesse’s time spent travelling in Asia and India in 1911 – the fulfillment of a childhood fascination resulting from his grandfather’s colourful stories. 'Germany has still not recognised the worth of Hermann Hesse after all these years', he said. Frenz, who was part of the delegation that kicked off the Hesse festival last year in southern India says that the amount of research devoted to Hermann Hesse and the number of German literature students in India seeking to do a doctoral thesis on Hesse is startling in contrast to the author's homeland. Hesse himself admitted in his autobiographies that he admired, feared and revered his grandfather who spoke more than 30 languages, had studied eastern religions and mythology and lived and mingled with people of other races, beliefs and customs.ĭr. Albrecht Frenz of the Hermann Gundert Society in Germany told DW-WORLD. Siddhartha was even filmed in 1972 in India featuring Indian actors.Ī major reason for Hesse's popularity is the overpowering legacy left him by his grandfather Hermann Gundert (1814-1893), who spent 23 years in southern India as a linguist and missionary Dr. In contrast to Germany, where the Nobel prize winner's work has been criticized as 'poetically sentimental' and 'anachronistic', Hesse's books are a virtual hit in India and the rest of Asia.Īlmost every student of German literature at Indian universities is familiar with Hesse’s books such as 'Siddhartha', 'Demian', 'Glass Bead Case' and 'Steppenwolf'. But the trip was telling for another reason.

The trip was a fitting one, considering the land of 1 billion had long fascinated Hesse and provided the setting for Siddhartha, one of his most famous books. Last November as Germany's Herman Hesse Year kicked off, a group of 40 Germans from the author's hometown of Calw made their way to the tiny village of Talasseri in Kerala on the picturesque Malabar coast of India.

Siddhartha hesse