Siddhartha. Journey to the East (collection)

“Siddhartha” is a jewel of Hermann Hesse’s prose, reflecting both the author’s travels through India and his interest in Eastern religions.

The story is set in India in the time of Siddhartha Gautama—the founder of one of humanity’s deepest and wisest religions, Buddhism. In this small audio book, Hesse managed to explain its essence to Europeans, to create an ideal system—some set of interconnected rules—how one should live, how to correct one’s mistakes, and how to find one’s true “self.”

This parable is worth listening to—and listening to again—not because of the plot or in search of new knowledge, but because of the deep understanding of the world and the sense of unity with those around it that it provides.

The edition also includes the allegorical novella “Journey to the Country of the East.”