The Fairy Tales of Hermann Hesse Author:Hermann Hesse Six timeless, imaginative tales of individuals who struggle to fit within the boundaries of normal society are brought to life: "The Poet," "The Flute Dream," The Dwarf," "Faldum," "Ziegler," and "Dream of the Gods." The characters are unconsciously compelled to search for meaning in their l... more »ives. Often Hesse involves elements of magic and fantasy to the delight of listeners. Merging Eastern mysticism with the motifs of the European fairy tale, the stories translated for this volume, many for the first time, offer insight into Hesse's development as an artist during the first two decades of this century. Sometimes lush and lyrical, sometimes in the simple language of the parable, these tales elaborate Hesse's concerns with mortality.
Several of the stories reflect Hesse's pacifist stance during WWI, covering great spans of time to drive home the devastation of war and transience of civilization. Whether evoking the rise and fall of a nation or an individual, Hesse is preoccupied with the need for both to rediscover their "undestroyed essence" and begin anew. A refreshing lack of narrative closure distinguishes Hesse's tales, which mitigates an irritating tendency to equate self-knowledge with the return home to an eternal, spiritual mother. Quirky and evocative, Hesse's fairy tales stand alone, but also amplify the ideas and utopian longings of such counterculture avatars as Siddhartha and Steppenwolf.« less