Steppenwolf, At Last
December 31, 2010
Finishing
Steppenwolf marks the completion of a goal I set myself back in
my 20's: to read all of Nobel Prize-winning author Hermann Hesse's
novels. Within a few years, I'd read them all--with the exception of
this one. I tried, but surprisingly couldn't get into it. I say
surprisingly, because I had no problem slogging through the dense and
lengthy Magister Ludi. Later I learned that Hesse himself had
commented that, as he had written Steppenwolf when he was 50, and
the main character, Harry Haller, is about that age, the book would be
best understood by readers of that age, too. So I made a mental note to
pick it up again at age 50, and did so, but after two more attempts then
I still had no interest. Finally just recently I tried again, and the
fourth time was the charm.
Now I understand Haller perfectly: he has become depressed; retreats
more and more into classical music, literature and other refinements of
the mind; has become more and more a loner; feels alienated from
mainstream culture and contemporary politics; abhors the war fever he
reads about in the newspapers; and mistrusts relationships. For a
sensitive person, a few decades of disillusionment could easily do that
to you. At the very brink of suicide, however, Haller meets a woman who
gradually leads him out of his bitterness and fear into a new
appreciation of the pleasures of life. At that time she extracts a
promise from him that keeps the reader hooked until the end. She begins
by insisting that he learn to dance, then oversees his finding a
girlfriend, and the story unfolds from there with some remarkable
explorations on Haller's part, both external and internal.
Although published over 80 years ago, Steppenwolf describes a
society not much different from ours. Phrases like "this ravaged
earth, sucked dry by the vampires of finance" sound startlingly
contemporary. If you like to be challenged to see ordinary aspects of
life in extraordinary ways, you may enjoy Steppenwolf--but bear
in mind you may not "get it" until/unless you're over 50.
