There was something spare and simple about the protagonist's living arrangements in this book, that immediately qualify it for the ERE audience.
I think there's something in the book for both the artisans and rationals among us. I've read the book 3 times and found that it illuminated for me much about the hazards of self and the obstacles of other. For those of you who have read it, do you suspect that the protagonist was INTJ? (Analysis says that this book was semi-autobiographical, so I suppose the question is whether Hesse was semi-INTJ?)
One other teaser: the protagonist receives (and reads) a manuscript that recalls his present life! Aside from the narrative relief of the book within a book structure, isn't this sense similar to what happens when an ERE INTJ meets an ERE INTJ?
I read Siddhartha after seeing it on one of your reading lists, Jacob. That 'I can think, I can wait, I can fast' attitude really helped me cut out some of the useless excess that used to characterize my spending choices. Great book.
I read all of Hesse in my twenties. My favorite was Narcissus und Goldman, which is another take on the duality between the frivolous consumer and the ascetic monk of ERE.
Maus, how did you like Glasperlenspiel? I haven't read it yet, but it's definitely on my list, given my deep interest in both games and the cross-cutting synthesis of knowledge.
Glasperlenspiel was definitely a tougher read for me. It delves deeply into issues that reflect Hesse's interest in psychology and in pedegogy. He had a real issue with the overbearing nature of classical German education on the development of sensative youths. I finished it, but it began to wear on me.
