The Thumbnail Book Reviews
by John Q McDonald --- 12 October 2007
by Hermann Hesse
Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Hermann Hesse was a hero to many young men (mostly) and women in the counterculture. His frequent theme of the young artistic personality striving for escape from cultural traditions, particularly to the mystic East, appeal to the young. Perhaps, today, Hesse isn't quite as widely read. Back in high school, this reader read all of Hesse's novels, including this one. Returning to Hesse after a couple decades of growing up might be an interesting exercise in perspective. Rosshalde is one of the lesser-known novels, and was written in 1914, well before some of Hesse's more famous works like Siddhartha, Steppenwolf and A Journey to the East. It portrays Veraguth, a suffering artist much like Cézanne, living in a suffocating marriage and yearning for a trip to India, where he would join his free-wheeling college friend Burkhardt. Veraguth is a very successful artist, but something unspecified has gone wrong with his marriage to Frau Adele. The feelings between them have just gone utterly stale. On top of that, he has also alienated his elder son. Veraguth lives a gloomy existence out in his studio, while his wife reigns over the nice house they once shared. Their beloved younger son, Pierre shuttles between them. This is a short book, so Pierre's grave illness comes about quite suddenly. It draws the family closer together for a moment, and the reader may suspect Veraguth will give up his escape plans. Hesse seems to place these spiritual yearnings above familial loyalty. Veraguth is living quite honestly, as a man freeing himself from a family prison. But little love seems ever to have existed between these people. One wonders if Hesse, who lived a turbulent life of his own, has much respect for familial love. In this lies his appeal to young, freedom-seeking kids feeling their wild oats. More seasoned readers might look for the love, security and loyalty that Hesse appears to be throwing away. Definitely a novel likely to be interpreted depending on where the reader is coming from. Maybe it does do better for younger readers. Is that who Hesse was writing for?
(Hesse was awarded the 1946 Nobel Prize for literature.)