Hermann Hesse · 1922 · river

Hermann Hesse's 1922 novel. In ancient India, the Brahmin's son Siddhartha leaves home in search of enlightenment - first as a wandering ascetic, then meeting the Buddha, then plunging into the sensual world of the city with the courtesan Kamala and the merchant's trade. Disillusioned, he returns at last to a river and a humble ferryman, and there finds the wisdom he sought all along.

1. 1
   The village

   The Brahmin community on the Gangetic plain where Siddhartha is born to privilege, but leaves with his friend Govinda to join the wandering ascetics in search of the self and release from suffering.

2. 2
   The city

   The town where the seeker abandons asceticism for the world - learning love from the beautiful courtesan Kamala and wealth from a merchant, until the emptiness of pleasure drives him away again.

3. 3
   The river

   The great river where Siddhartha, in despair, is taken in by the ferryman Vasudeva, and by listening to its endless voice finally attains the peace and unity he had chased across a lifetime.