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The printing quality is terrible. Don't buy this version of the book. The preview is misleading because it links to the Perennial edition.
This product came withing 2 weeks. It was affordable compared to school cost and it is brand new.
Quite the contrary, it contains a rich soulful taste. It's short read and gets right to it. My 3 or 4 books of fiction are to feed my soul and to reconnect with my humanistic past (I have degrees in Philosophy and Religion as I wanted to be a professor years ago). I love books about journeys of the spirit and this is a classic. A coming of age story in existential prose and sensibilities.
It contains a strong moral character without being obnoxiously ideological. In 2009 this was the first literary work I read and it was such a joy. I have made it a point to read at least 3 great novels every year. Indeed a great read. I'm a nutrition and exercise practitioner functioning within an evolutionary context, so I tend to read literature related to my work---nutrition, rehab, exercise, biology and anthropology.
It definitely has a strong autobiographical current (a kind of existential catharsis), which in some ways makes it more compelling in the virtues it extols.
Demian perceives the mark on Cain's forehead not as a curse, but as a badge of courage, character and power. I first read "Demian" forty two years ago, during my high scgool years. For some reason I saved "Demian," I forgot, long ago, why I saved "Demian," why I did not shuck it off along with my other old skins. Hesse then projects Sinclair's turmoil into a characterization of, or perhaps a reflection of, the mass psyche of prewar Europe.
Demian shows sinclair a new world, where people of a higher intelligence, and by that I am referring to more than simply an academic intelligence, will find each other." The first time he meets Demian, both know there is something different about him. In fact he is leaving it. This story considers the evolving, somewhat troubled psyche of a German youth, Sinclair, as he matures during the decade prior to WWI. As a prepubescent boy, Sinclair recognizes the realm of good and light, symbolized by his God fearing parents and innocent younger sisters, as separate from the realm of evil and dark, symbolized by Franz Kromer, an older, opportunist who extorts Sinclair into fibbing and petty thievery.Another older boy, Demian, rescues Sinclair from Kromer's clutches, and then sows a new perception of the light and dark realms with an inverted interpretation of the parable of Cain and Abel. Demian then plants the alternative perception that the individual must delve into the self to discover his peculiar fate and destiny, a unique purpose apart from the mundane consensus, the mores of the hoard. At the time I was struggling with my sexuality and was attracted to the homosexual undertones between Demian and Sinclair.
As their friendship/relationship grows, it become smore and more clear that they should not be part of the normal world, where people to choose to be part of a group, to share a religion, to accept the truth as it is told to them. Hermann Hesse is without a doubt one of the most intriguing writers I have ever read. Tainted by his experience with Kromer, Sinclair cannot entirely reject Demian's heroic characterization of Cain, and Demian nurtures this upset of clarity, muddling Sinclair's once clear distinction between the realms of good and evil. Now that I am an outed homosexual, I believe that Sinclair, the main character, is not entering the normal world on any level.
I received the book in a short amount of time and it was in perfect condition.
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