[Originally published on my Medium page: link here]
Surprisingly, the narrator is not present when introducing the novel, rather the landladies nephew is the one who manages to share.publish the manuscript left behind by Harry Haller. Unsurprisingly, like many Hesse novels, it reads like day-to-day journal entries, which critically focuses on human psychology.
There’s a clear conflict from the beginning, Harry Haller is too intelligent to be stuck in a world constructed by and for the bourgeois society. Haller does come off as extremely arrogant, however, his whole “spiritually and intellectually awakened” persona isn’t ideal, rather it becomes the main reason for his disconnection with society and others.
On our late night walk with Haller, we come across The Treaties of the Steppenwolf, a short pamphlet that is claimed to be “not for everyone” and is a margin-writers dream. The pamphlet examines and introduced us to the perceived duality of the soul one being a man and the other a wolf; grouping savage, instinctual qualities to the wolf and civilized, posed qualities to the man. Both sides of the soul seem to be in constant disagreement, but one cannot rule without the other. This part was pretty comical to me, first because I think anyone could relate towards this simple explanation of the human soul — the constant struggle between instinctual gut feelings and society norms. As I was getting comfortable in the rant of dualistic entities inside of the soul, the pamphlet does a complete 180 and calls this idea idiotic and rudimentary; people that accept this do not understand the complexity that the human soul actually is — not two but many that cannot be defined nor understood in this lifetime. I highly enjoyed the pamphlet.
It does also touch lightly on the subject of depression and suicide — being as they are a result of the disconnect from others. The sole focus on the self, thinks only as far as the self, hence the timed lifespan (theres a bunch of other rabbit holes one can venture down).
After the pamphlet, Hesse provides a small encounter between Harry and a past friend to further prove that his intelligence serves as more of a burden; the arrogance is not intentional rather unavoidable (almost like a sickness). That being said, Steppenwolf does leaves on a hopeful note. It emphasizes the human need to connect and the constant struggles in belonging.
The novel is a hit or miss for readers, either the tone of Harry Haller becomes intolerable, the monologues becomes gruesomely long, or simply this work dims in comparison towards Hesse’s other works.
If you think this book is about a man turning into a werewolf — totally not for you.
Read this book if you try your best to understand others and even at time try to understand yourself.
Rate: 4/5
Time: Took me 3 days, tried to pace myself — could’ve done it in 2 days
Book-Shelve Worthy: It’s in the Hesse collection
Quoteworthy
Solitude is independence. It had been my wish and with the years I had attained it. It was cold. Oh, cold enough! But it was also still, wonderfully still and vast like the cold stillness of space in which the stars revolve.
You are willing to die, you coward, but not to live.
In eternity there is no time, only an instant long enough for a joke.
For what I always hated and detested and cursed above all things was this contentment, this healthiness and comfort, this carefully preserved optimism of the middle classes, this fat and prosperous brood of mediocrity
The man of power is ruined by power, the man of money by money, the submissive man by subservience, the pleasure seeker by pleasure.
I cannot understand nor share these joys, though they are within my reach, for which thousands of others strive.
I cannot understand nor share these joys, though they are within my reach, for which thousands of others strive.
1. Hollow Victory - The Webb Brothers 2. Napoleon - Ani DiFranco 3. Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap - AC/DC 4. Positively 4th Street - Bob Dylan 5. Shady - Alexander Stewart 6. Deceit - Molly Young 7. Lookin’ Out For No.1 - Bachman Turner Overdrive 8. Mr. Bad Example - Warren Zevon 9. Winners And Losers - Social Distortion 10. Criminal - Manafest 11. Backstabber - Dresden Dolls 12. Traitor - Daughtry 13. Death Before Dishonor - Five Finger Death Punch 14. Power Play - Steppenwolf 15. Liar - LÉon 16. Lady Double Dealer - Deep Purple 17. The Winner Takes It All - ABBA 18. Criminal - Jerad Finck 19. Acceptable Losses - Lisa Miskovsky 20. How Do You Sleep? - John Lennon
1. A World Without Fences - Lady and the Tramp II: Scamp’s Adventure Soundtrack 2. Rebel Child - Gretchen Wilson 3. Born To Be Wild - Steppenwolf 4. Wild Child - Kenny Chesney 5. Playful 4 Life - Wiz Khalifa 6. Rebel Child - Tenille Arts 7. Free Spirit - Khalid 8. Childlike Wonder - Carl Culley 9. Wild Child - Elen Levon 10. Jump Right In - Zac Brown Band 11. Rebel Child - K Otic 12. Impulsive - Wilson Phillips 13. Jump - Van Halen 14. Real Wild Child - Everlife 15. Naughty - Matilda The Musical 16. Carefree Highway - Gordon Lightfoot 17. Wild Child - Juliet Simms 18. Passion - AWOLnation 19. Curiouser And Curiouser - Meagan Moore 20. Head First - The Royal
Steppenwolf leaves the gallery exhausted. He is surprised by the door labeled “HOW ONE KILLS FOR LOVE.” Immediately, he recalls his first dinner with Hermine and her statement that she would command him to kill her. Steppenwolf becomes desperate and attempts to rearrange his pieces on the chess board. The pieces in his pocket are gone, and a knife has replaced them. He glances in the mirror and sees the wolf grinning back at him. Hermine and Pablo have disappeared. He looks in the mirror again and the wolf is gone; Harry is there instead. Harry tells him that he is waiting for death; it is coming.
Steppenwolf hears Don Giovanni playing in the background. Mozart walks by and laughs. Steppenwolf follows him into one of the galleries where the last act of Don Giovanni is playing. Steppenwolf argues that Don Giovanni has never been surpassed, but Mozart laughs and claims otherwise. They observe a series of musicians, among them Brahms and Wagner, floating along in space. Mozart informs Steppenwolf that they are paying for their failings as musicians and for their sins. Steppenwolf argues that they are not responsible for “the fault of their time.” Mozart responds that the same is true for all men, whether it is their fault or not. Mozart laughs and tells Steppenwolf that he, too, will do penance for all his “superfluous books” and “rotten plagiarisings ill-gotten.” Steppenwolf becomes angry and grabs Mozart’s pigtail. They fly into space into the realm of the Immortals. Steppenwolf passes out.
These are three photos from my copy of Steppenwolfby Herman Hesse. It’s about a guy called Harry Haller, who, like the guy in Notes From Underground, feels himself violently at odds with a “general society” he’s conjured in his mind, and like Raskolnikov in Crime and Punishment, incorrectly feels like he has insulated himself from the consequences of his attitude through his intellectual pursuits.
At the end of the book, he manages to free himself from these self-harming opinions through the judicious application of sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll. This book was written in 1927, so rock ‘n’ roll hadn’t been invented yet, but what they had instead of rock ‘n’ roll was jazz, and he gets lots of jazz.
Most of the book is written as lengthy explorations of how disconnected he feels from the mainstream culture (while feeling very bitter about being forced to engage with it in order to survive, as you can tell from the first image) and his own life. There is also a constant thread of implied menace, without ever stating it directly, from the coming Nazi shitstorm.
When he eventually makes it to the “magic theatre” above and pays the price of admittance, it really kicks off into an almost Hunter-Thompson-esque series of frightening visions and nonsensical scenarios involving brutal murders and sexual encounters and so on. I was convinced I had to make a blog post when I came across the words on one of the doors in the magic theatre:
COMPLETE SUBSTITUTE FOR ALL FORMS OF SOCIABILITY
Man, I am totally in. No further information required.
Ich erkannte meinen Zustand mit voller, rücksichtsloser Deutlichkeit und erkannte ihn, als die unerträgliche Spannung zwischen Nichtlebenkönnen und Nichtsterbenkönnen.
We Remade Zack Snyder’s Justice League For Only $20
Not everybody has 4 hours to devote to Zack Snyder’s Justice League, so we went ahead and made a Snyder Cut of our own. We’ve got Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Cyborg, Flash, Steppenwolf, Alfred, Lois Lane, Iris West, Darkseid, Martian Manhunter, Martha, Joker, the other Joker, that dumb kid in the bank, and it only cost us $20. Even better, it costs you nothing. Sorry, HBOMax.
…you’ve taken a liking to me and feel that I matter because I’m like a kind of mirror for you, because something in me responds to you and understands you…
Hermann Hesse, from ‘Steppenwolf’, tr. David Horrocks
A novelization based on Justice League (2017)andZack Snyder’s Justice League (2021) with elements of both.
Determined to ensure Superman’s ultimate sacrifice was not in vain, Bruce Wayne/Batman aligns forces with Diana Prince/Wonder Woman with plans to recruit a team of metahumans to protect the world from an approaching threat of Steppenwolf and his army of parademons, as they search the Earth for the three Mother Boxes of Apokolips in the name of their ruler, Darkseid.
A novelization based on Justice League (2017)andZack Snyder’s Justice League (2021) with elements of both.
Determined to ensure Superman’s ultimate sacrifice was not in vain, Bruce Wayne/Batman aligns forces with Diana Prince/Wonder Woman with plans to recruit a team of metahumans to protect the world from an approaching threat of Steppenwolf and his army of parademons, as they search the Earth for the three Mother Boxes of Apokolips in the name of their ruler, Darkseid.
Zack Snyder’s Justice League. As much as I enjoy the MCU, the kid inside me has always been a Batman and Superman fan. Movie was more like the Lord of the Rings than MCU, a mixture of “Woah thats cool”, “What is going on?”, “This is taking way too long”, and back to “Woah thats cool”. In other words, really enjoyed it.
