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Steppenwolf

Steppenwolf

ClassicsLiterary Fiction
Pages
416
Published
1927
Language
English

Synopsis

STEPPENWOLF is a poetical self-portrait of a man who felt himself to be half-human and half-wolf. This Faust-like and magical story is evidence of Hesse's searching philosophy and extraordinary sense of humanity as he tells of the humanization of a middle-aged misanthrope.Yet this novel can also be seen as a plea for rigorous self-examination and an indictment of the intellectual hypocrisy of the period. As Hesse himself remarked, 'Of all my books STEPPENWOLF is the one that was more often and more violently misunderstood than any other'.

Prose complexity
10/10

Vibe

MelancholicReflectivePhilosophicalDark
Morally Grey

Genres

Classics Literary Fiction

About the author

H
Hermann Hesse

Hermann Karl Hesse -pseudonym: Emil Sinclair- ( 2. Juli 1877 in Calw; † 9. August 1962 in Montagnola, Schweiz), war ein deutsch-schweizerischer Schriftsteller, Dichter und Maler. Bekanntheit erlangte er mit Prosawerken wie Siddhartha, Demian, Der Steppenwolf sowie auch Narziß und Goldmund und mit seinen Gedichten (z. B. Stufen).* 1946 wurde ihm der Nobelpreis für Literatur und 1954 der Orden Pour le Mérite für Wissenschaften und Künste verliehen. ---------- Hermann Karl Hesse (2...

Characters

Harry HallerProtagonist

A solitary, middle-aged intellectual who feels torn between a civilized, human self and a wild, wolfish one; the novel is presented as his own manuscript.

Pablo SolerSupporting

A saxophonist and drug supplier who leads Harry into the surreal Magic Theater.

Maria (Der Steppenwolf)Supporting

A young woman introduced to Harry by Hermine who becomes his lover and reawakens his sense of physical pleasure.

HermineSupporting

A worldly young woman Harry meets at a tavern who teaches him to dance, introduces him to Maria and Pablo, and draws him back into the sensual pleasures he had renounced.

All characters in Steppenwolf

Frequently asked questions

  • What is the "Magic Theater" in Steppenwolf?

    The Magic Theater is a surreal, hallucinatory space Harry enters late in the novel, reached through Pablo. Its door bears the sign "For Madmen Only," and inside Harry moves through a series of visionary rooms that force him to confront and reimagine different sides of himself.

  • Where is Steppenwolf set?

    The novel is set in an unnamed, medium-sized German city in the 1920s. Hesse himself began writing the book in Basel and finished it in Zürich, but the city in the story is never identified.

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