The Glass Bead Game: (Magister Ludi) A Novel

Hermann Hesse

Dec 2002 · Sold by Holt Paperbacks

About this ebook

The Glass Bead Game, for which Hesse won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1946, is the author's last and crowning achievement, the most imaginative and prophetic of all his novels. Setting the story in the distant postapocalyptic future, Hesse tells of an elite cult of intellectuals who play an elaborate game that uses all the cultural and scientific knowledge of the Ages. The Glass Bead Game is a fascinating tale of the complexity of modern life as well as a classic of modern literature.

This edition features a Foreword by Theodore Ziolkowski that places the book in the full context of Hesse's thought.

Ratings and reviews

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.

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.

Slow in the begining, but ends perfectly I'm not going to spoil it... ...A must read

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.