Book Report 2 - Siddhartha

Hesse, Herman. Siddhartha. New York. New Directions Publishing Corp: 1951.

I chose this book because people in the class read it and said it was good, and I was kind of late on starting a book this time so I needed a short one (I'm not lazy! As a matter of fact, I'm reading The Stand by Stephen King for my next book which is intensely long!). I'm not sure how to classify the book. I would say it's a spiritual fiction novel. It takes place in ancient India.
The story starts out talking about our main character Siddhartha and how everyone likes him and he is good at everything. But, even though he has the love of his family and his best friend, Govinda, he is unhappy with life. He questions the life he is leading with the Brahmin (Hindu religious leaders) and questions their concept of enlightenment. So, to his fathers sadness, Siddhartha leaves, with Govinda, to join the Samanas, a group of wandering priests in hope of finding true enlightenment. But, after 3 years of being with them, he realizes they are no more enlightened than the Brahmin he used to live with. So, when he and Govinda hear Gotama the Buddha has appeared, they leave the Samanas and join a camp of Gotama's followers. Gotama teaches them about enlightenment and the many aspects of Buddhism. Govinda completely dedicates himself to Gotama's teachings, while Siddhartha once again, notices some flaws and contradictions in the teachings. Reluctantly, he realizes this way of life isn't for him either and he leaves his friend behind. Siddhartha goes in search of a life that isn't dependent on someone's religious teachings. He realizes that the true path to enlightenment comes from yourself. It is up to you to find true enlightenment. He thinks of going back to see his father, but realizes it is in the past so he shouldn't. While Siddhartha wanders, he really starts to notice things in the world around him. He spends the night in a ferryman's hut and the next day asks him to take him across the river on his bamboo raft. Siddhartha apologizes for not being able to pay him, but in response the ferryman tells him it is ok because Siddhartha will return and give him a gift at that time instead. He walked and when he came across the city he saw a beautiful girl being carried by four men on a chair. He later finds out her name is Kamala and she is a courtesan. The next day he has the barber shave off his beard and after he bathes in the river. He then goes to meet Kamala. He tells her he wants to learn from her, about love, but doesn't want to learn anything until he has enough money and gifts to provide her. Siddhartha asks if she is willing to kiss him in exchange for a poem. After he recites a poem just for her, she kisses him and comments on how good it is. Kamala gets a visitor so Siddhartha has to leave. But, it is not before Kamala recommends her friend Kamaswami, a business man to him, so Siddhartha can get money. They meet each other but Kamaswami doubts Siddhartha. When he find out Siddhartha can read and write he agrees to take him under his wing. Kamaswami notices he has a very carefree attitude towards business and dismisses any failures he has. He starts to pay him, to motivate him, but Siddhartha still retains his attitude. Kamaswami tries to tell Siddhartha about the joys wealth can bring, but Siddhartha find it silly that people get so attatched to material things and suffer because of them. In the mean time, Siddhartha learns a lot about from Kamala and respects her more because she can dismiss the material world and reminds him of the way Gotama lives. They get intimate, physically and emotionally, but they never fall in love. Siddhartha starts to get really into the game of business and becomes wealthy and starts to really care about the material world and starts gambling, eating expensive food, and wearing really nice clothes. After years go by, Siddhartha has spiritual dreams that prompt him to go meditate. He realizes the life he had recently been living as a rich merchant has done nothing for him, so he leaves without telling anyone. Kamala finds out he is gone, and no longer accepts visitors. She also finds out she is pregnant with Siddhartha's child. Siddhartha wanders by the river and thinks about killing himself because nothing can enlighten him. All of the sudden, his spiritual side wakes up again, causing him to stop him from killing himself, and just falling asleep by the river. He wakes up to find a monk meditating and realizes it's Govinda. Govinda doesn't recognize him at first. Govinda talks about how he is a religious pilgrim looking for enlightenment, still under the teachings of Gotama, and Siddhartha says he also is a religious pilgrim. However, Govinda doesn't believe hi at first because of the way he is dressed. Govinda leaves, and Siddhartha realizes he has been trying to hard to find a path to enlightenment. He then feels attached to the river and never wants to leave it. He meets the ferryman, named Vasudeva, again, and he tells him he wants to live with him. Vasudeva remembers him and sees that the river has spoken to him, so he lets him. Siddhartha learns many things from the river, like the fact that time does not exist. Later, the news that Gotama the Buddha is dying spreads and people flock to him. Kamala and her son are among this group and when they are close to the river, she is bitten by a poisonous snake. The boy cries for help, Vasudeva hears, and takes them across the river the the hut. Siddhartha recognizes Kamala and they talk. She tells him the boy is his son, and they talk about each other's inner peace status, and she dies. The son dislikes life with Siddhartha and Vasudeva by the river and wants to return to a life of material possessions. Siddharths cherishes the father-son bond so he doesn't let him go despite Vasudeva suggesting he should let him go. The boy runs away one night, and Siddhartha looks for him but cannot find him. Siddhartha realizes he must let him go on a spiritual journey on his own, and returns home with Vasudeva. Siddhartha is saddened, but at the same time thinks about how his father felt when he let him go to join the Samanas. Soon he starts to feel peace. He and Vasudeva sit by the river and saw pictures of people in their lives and heard voices of different emotions. During the hour they sat there, Siddhartha stopped fighting his destiny, and harmonized with everything in his life. Vasudeva sees this, and leaves him, making Siddhartha the new ferryman. His old friend Govinda comes to visit the river, seeking enlightenment. Once again, Govinda doesn't recognize him at first. Siddhartha tells him everything he learned, including that is it up to you to find enlightenment, not to get it from someone else's teachings. When Govinda asked if there was anything else he should know, Siddhartha told him to kiss his forehead. He did, despite the strange words and when he did images of people and events harmonizing flashed in front of his eyes, like they did to Siddhartha when he looked into the river. Govinda, now enlightened, and with tears running down his face, bowed to Siddhartha.
Siddhartha goes through many stages throughout the book. From the start, you tell he is not like the others. He is more of a deep thinker. He retains this characteristic throughout, and he learns more about the meaning of enlightenmentand how it is truly attained. He does lose his spiritual center for a while, when he becomes a rich merchant, but in the end it comes back to him and he continues learning more until he finally becomes a fully enlightened man. He's so enlightened, he is able to enlighten his friend just by having him kiss him on the forehead. That's pretty enlightened if I do say so myself.
I know I have said this for pretty much all of my book reports, but I liked this book. At the start I thought it would be boring, just because the way it was written made it seem like it would, but there is some really good messages that come from it. Really deep stuff, I like it. It really makes it clear that if you are seeking happiness or enlightenment, you have to do it yourself. You are not going to get it from following someone else's path to happiness. You aren't trying to find THEIR happiness, you're trying to find yours. I would recommend this book for others. It's a "feel good" book, for the most part anyway.
This book compares to real life directly. It talks about how it's not wise to live by a religous teaching to be happy, and people do that in today's world. The book also tlks about thinking too hard about how to get to happiness, and that' definitely present in today's world. I'm one of those people, as a matter of fact, not the religious part, but the thinking too hard part, I do that a lot.
If I was in Siddhartha's position, I would have returned to visit my father, just for a little bit at least. Siddhartha made a good point about it being the past and everything, but I would want to show my father how far I've come on the road to enlightenment. I like the way the book ended though.
I have never heard of the author before reading this so I have no idea what else he has written. So, I really don't think I'm going to read more from him. Siddhartha was a pretty good read though.