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The Glass Bead Game: (Magister Ludi) A Novel Kindle Edition

by Hermann Hesse (Author), Theodore Ziolkowski (Foreword), Richard Winston (Translator), Format: Kindle Edition
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 1,210 ratings
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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.

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  1. Print length
    580 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    Holt Paperbacks
  5. Publication date
    December 6, 2002
  6. File size
    1775 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
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  9. Enhanced typesetting
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"...a genre blend of science fiction, fantasy, and fictional biography, leavened with musicology, poetry, and Hesse’s unique swirl of Eastern and Western philosophy." - The American Scholar

About the Author

Hermann Hesse (1877-1962) was a German poet and novelist. He received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1962. He was the author of numerous works including Siddhartha, Steppenwolf, and Demian.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00ANI9G0O
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Holt Paperbacks; First edition (December 6, 2002)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ December 6, 2002
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1775 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 580 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 1,210 ratings

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  1. Richard Winston

    Richard Winston

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  2. Hermann Hesse

    Hermann Hesse

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    Hermann Hesse (1877-1962) was born in Germany 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. In 1946, he won the Nobel Prize for Literature for The Glass Bead Game.

    Photo by unknown [Dutch National Archives, The Hague, Fotocollectie Algemeen Nederlands Persbureau (ANEFO), 1945-1989 / Public Domain] [CC BY-SA 3.0 nl (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/nl/deed.en)], via Wikimedia Commons.

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Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
1,210 global ratings
It's Buddhism, Folks, Plain and Simple
4 Stars
It's Buddhism, Folks, Plain and Simple
This book can be a companion piece to Hesse's most famous work, Siddhartha, or even a sequel, only set far in the future where Zen Buddhist-types call Life a Glass Bead Game and learn to appreciate it more than figure it out... It's about learning, becoming, being.The main character learns to meditate in a cave and has no women in his life. He's basically Buddhist. Doesn't take a Ludi to figure that one out. And it's a great book, very hypnotic, and like The Game itself never completely makes sense, which is what's so mesmerizing, enigmatic and addictive...The first part starts almost like an intentionally vague philosophy course, and then turns into a biography of a great man. Sometimes particular avenues are mentioned, teased... like spending a weekend in the real world with the non-believer our man debates... only to be quickly rejected, making one wish it wasn't brought up at all since the book does get a bit claustrophobic, and often seems like several possible adventures are abandoned.But Monks (and Priests, for that matter, although this book is very anti-Catholic) are "cloistered", aren't they? PS The photo I included is the cover I prefer. The new colorful cover looks like a How to Play Pool book.
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Top reviews from the United States

Sidney DeKoven
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book
Reviewed in the United States on May 4, 2024
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Hesse is a great novelist and this perhaps his greatest work. and the 3 short stories at the end are a joy to read. He deserved the Nobel prize.
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JohnnyT
5.0 out of 5 stars If you love Hesse ...
Reviewed in the United States on June 13, 2023
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Obviously, this review is about the author, not the particular publication ... though the publication is superb too. If you love Herman Hesse, you will love this novel. Hesse won the Nobel prize in literature for it in 1946. While not his most famous book (because it is quite "dense"), it is a masterpiece! At over 500 pages, it is rich, insightful, and masterfully written with a moving conclusion. Not for the casual reader, this serious novel offers remarkable insights into the joys and dangers of a narrowly focused intellectual life that excludes emotional sensitivity.
11 people found this helpful
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Russell Fanelli
4.0 out of 5 stars Recommended with reservations
Reviewed in the United States on September 23, 2011
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The Glass Bead Game is divided into four distinct parts. Part 1, the general introduction to the game, is likely to be the least interesting to the general reader and may be skipped without concern that important information to understand the story will be lost. Part 2 is the fictional biography of Jospeph Knecht, the Magister Ludi of the title of the novel. As other reviewers have noted, the entertainment value of this biography is slight. The story starts slowly with Knecht's childhood and education and then moves to the point in the middle of the novel where he is appointed Magister Ludi (teacher of the game). I was interested in the various problems Knecht faced as Magister in the future world called Castalia. Knecht slowly moves toward enlightenment and we watch his steady progress. His journey becomes more interesting as he faces obstacles, not only with the ruling elite of Castalia, but also in himself. Everyone recognizes that Knecht is an extraordinary human being, but he challenges the status quo and has genuine concerns about the future of Castalia that not everyone wants to hear. The end of Knecht's story comes as an abrupt surprise to the reader.

Joseph Knecht's poetry comprises Part 3 of the novel. The poems help us to understand the inner life and world of Knecht and are useful in that regard. The poems are worth reading even if they did not relate directly to the story.

In Part 4, the final section of the book, Hesse gives us three long stories related to the novel. Many readers will find these stories the most entertaining part of the novel. In fact, another review suggests readers begin their reading of the novel with these stories - not a bad idea. The stories are well told and genuinely interesting. I read the poems along with the stories; some poems - Stages - I read several times.

Summary: Many people will not get beyond the general introduction to The Glass Bead Game (Part 1); watching paint dry is how some readers have described it. Joseph Knecht's story (Part 2) will interest those readers who love the work of Hermann Hesse and want to read his final novel, his crowning achievement, as some have called it. I am in this category of readers and read with interest this final novel. The poetry and short stories which complete the novel are genuinely entertaining and similar in style to much of Hesse's other work. If the general reader starts at the end and enjoys the short stories and poetry, skips the general introduction, and then moves quickly through the early life of Joseph Knecht, reading The Glass Bead Game may be an enjoyable experience.
62 people found this helpful
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Greenstone
5.0 out of 5 stars Within the Cosmos of Ideas
Reviewed in the United States on November 29, 2020
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"The Glass Bead Game" reveals a distant galaxy within the Cosmos, a realm of thought adrift in the universe.

Author Herman Hesse stirred this ancient mind when searching life's meaning as a newly arrived member, just entering onto the world stage, literally.

Freedom of thought is a constant star sought for by the populations of the world, great and small, noted and insignificant. "The Glass Bead Game" challenges the reader to mount this distant plane page by page, paragraph by paragraph, sentence by sentence, thought by thought.

A plateau of refuge for all who think, a respite for newcomers seeking the Everest of truth, found only in Jesus.

Far down and away on the slippery slopes of reality, as a young man I stumbled upon Hesse on the Emerald Isle, where reality clashes head-on with the mortal mind, directing the temporal person to eternal vestiges unseen.

Cleaving open the distant reaches of inter-communications, the author leads the way to the inner depths of connectivity intertwining the pursuits of all in journey of reason and the quest for peace.

Hesse's greatest accomplishment is the discovery of mutuality from the heights of intellectual endeavor. One finds a score in music, translated into mathematics, which in turn converts onto a canvas, then pummeled into a figure of clay, finding momentary rest in marble, only to be reflected through a poem, 'und so weiter'.

Perhaps the most powerful moment reveals when one perceives arriving only at the edges of one galaxy within the ever-expanding universe of undiscovered space.

Even half a century on, the look back is a dot on the map. Man's frustrations announcing the ultimate truth in their unwitting anguished cries which can only be answered through Jesus Christ.

And then the shock of hearing one's youngest, embedded in Bible School, requesting a copy of a book he's heard of called "The Glass Bead Game," thrusting one back through the decades to the night's in Grosvenor Square, Rathmines, hot tea and milk before a coal fire, soaking in "Siddhartha", with "The Glass Bead Game" awaiting at the side.

Now these seeming eons gone by, new generations continue, also entering upon the world stage, moved to seek the capturing of thought within the cosmos of ideas.

TL Farley,
author,

"Blast Off Rapiemur - IVth Edition" - I Thess. 4:17 - Jesus Speaks to the Rapture, the 1st Century proclamation and practice to this very hour.
13 people found this helpful
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John Thomas
5.0 out of 5 stars It's a classic and its good
Reviewed in the United States on February 5, 2024
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Hermann Hesse's last book is a master piece. Read it and reflect that the book was written almost 100 years ago.
2 people found this helpful
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Vollie Stone
5.0 out of 5 stars Hesse, the Master
Reviewed in the United States on July 30, 2023
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The Master writes about the Meister in a masterful way.

The smell of barbershops makes me sob out loud
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Ellen Loughran
5.0 out of 5 stars Book Order
Reviewed in the United States on August 10, 2023
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Delivery was timely and book in very good condition.
2 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Riya Chaturvedi
5.0 out of 5 stars Love It!
Reviewed in India on April 26, 2024
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Beautiful cover. Amazing quality. Hermann Hesse is my absolute favourite.
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mhachi
3.0 out of 5 stars a lire
Reviewed in France on May 22, 2023
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a lire
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Mr. Simon J. Austin
5.0 out of 5 stars An exercise. In erudition
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 2, 2021
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This is the longest book that Herman Hesse wrote and possibly his most creative. The book is one of the finest examples of creativity and the writing art. Whilst lengthy one is left with the feeling that not one word is wasted, every word in the book almost had to fight for its right to be there. No pointless packing paragraphs here. The Glass Bead Game is a truly an excellent book from a brilliant writer.
3 people found this helpful
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Nuria
5.0 out of 5 stars Un buen complemento a "El lobo estepario"
Reviewed in Spain on October 15, 2020
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Por fin he entendido una parte que me tenía intrigada de "El lobo estepario". En este libro no me quedó claro en que consistía "el teatro mágico", aquí se explica perfectamente y me ha encantado.
Como siempre, Hesse nos traslada un poco más allá y a través de sus personajes nos muestra un poco de nosotros mismos y del mundo.
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I received an old book today, the cover very dirty, so sad
1.0 out of 5 stars It's an old book
Reviewed in Singapore on December 1, 2023
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I received an old book today, the cover very dirty, so sad
1.0 out of 5 stars It's an old book
Reviewed in Singapore on December 1, 2023
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