Hermann Hesse (1877–1962) was born in Calw, Württemberg, into a family of Pietist missionaries with ties to India. After a turbulent adolescence that included a suicide attempt and a stay in an institution, he became a bookseller and then a writer. A crisis during the First World War led him to psychoanalysis with a Jungian analyst. His novels, including Demian, Siddhartha, Steppenwolf and The Glass Bead Game, explore self-discovery and spiritual quest. He settled in Switzerland and received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1946.
Siddhartha is a short, lyrical novel set in India in the time of the Buddha, following the spiritual journey of a young man who seeks enlightenment through experience rather than doctrine. Siddhartha is the handsome, gifted son of a Brahmin, admired by all and loved by his friend Govinda.
