The Journey to the East

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A classic meditation on artistic creation and the quest for spiritual transcendence from the Nobel Prize-winning author of

Siddhartha

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'A great writer... complex, subtle, allusive.'

The New York Times

'The classic literal-metaphorical journey.'

The Guardian

'[Hesse's] simplicity belies galaxies of knowledge in motion--history, theology, psychology, philosophy. Rilke, T. S. Eliot, Gide, Thomas Mann rightly called Hesse a master.'

Life

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In the aftermath of the Great War, a League of seekers sets off on a journey to the East. This merry band of artists, poets, musicians and storytellers travel across landscapes and millennia, every member in pursuit of a different goal. Yet all are united in their purpose - and in their vow to keep the League's essential mystery a secret. Initially a devoted follower of the League, the writer H.H. finds himself riven with doubt years later, when he comes to narrate their doings. As he tries to describe their journey without betraying his vow, words, memories, and his very sense of self all seem to slip from his grasp.

A kaleidoscopic narrative which reels between despair and elation, Hesse's work was a major inspiration for travellers on the hippie trail of the 1960s and '70s. It remains a profound meditation on spiritual seeking and the act of creation, from one of the twentieth century's great mystics.