The Glass Bead Game: (Magister Ludi) A Novel
Dec 2002 · Holt Paperbacks
3.9star
25 reviewsreport
Ebook
576
Pages
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About this ebook
Winner of the 1946 Nobel Prize in Literature, Hermann Hesse's final novel is a thought-provoking tale of the pursuit of knowledge in a post-apocalyptic world.
In The Glass Bead Game, Hesse imagines a distant future where an elite group of intellectuals engage in an elaborate game that synthesizes all the cultural and scientific knowledge of the Ages. This game serves as the foundation for a society that has risen from the ashes of a great catastrophe.
Hesse's prophetic vision of a world shaped by the pursuit of wisdom is a captivating exploration of the complexity of modern life. The Glass Bead Game stands as a classic of 20th-century literature, a crowning achievement from one of Germany's most renowned authors.
This edition features a foreword by Theodore Ziolkowski that places the novel in the context of Hesse's broader philosophical and literary oeuvre.
In The Glass Bead Game, Hesse imagines a distant future where an elite group of intellectuals engage in an elaborate game that synthesizes all the cultural and scientific knowledge of the Ages. This game serves as the foundation for a society that has risen from the ashes of a great catastrophe.
Hesse's prophetic vision of a world shaped by the pursuit of wisdom is a captivating exploration of the complexity of modern life. The Glass Bead Game stands as a classic of 20th-century literature, a crowning achievement from one of Germany's most renowned authors.
This edition features a foreword by Theodore Ziolkowski that places the novel in the context of Hesse's broader philosophical and literary oeuvre.
Ratings and reviews
3.9
25 reviews
Rita Hazlett
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December 17, 2023
The writing is painfully dull, which may be an issue with the translation. However the translation cannot be blamed for the pretention. The author is enamored with various philosophies like an undergrad reading The Republic for the first time and follows those philosophies to multiple incompatible conclusions.
Floyd Hampton Livingston
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August 18, 2018
Really? I sat through 600 pages of nothing and then it ends like that?!
NOTHING happens in this book. I understand this book won the Noble Prize
for literature, but damn. I don't even think Hesse even knew what the damn
"GLASS BEAD GAME" was. That ending was a slap in the face. Seems like he
just wanted to end it. The whole time you're like "something is going to
happen." Nope. You rely on the merits of winning a Noble Prize to carry you
through to the end.
2 people found this review helpful
Luke
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September 4, 2016
Slow in the begining, but ends perfectly I'm not going to spoil it... ...A must read
2 people found this review helpful
About the author
Hermann Hesse was born in Germany in 1877 and later became a citizen of Switzerland. As a Western man profoundly affected by the mysticism of Eastern thought, he wrote many novels, stories, and essays that bear a vital spiritual force that has captured the imagination and loyalty of many generations of readers. His works include Steppenwolf, Narcissus and Goldmund, and The Glass Bead Game. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1946. Hermann Hesse died in 1962.
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