Because of my mom's visit and related to it worries and emotions, I totally stopped reading. I've honestly tried to correct this negligence but last two books that I took from the library (Catch-22, David Copperfield) turned out to be very bad. I made it half way through Catch-22 constantly wondering what drug the author was on while writing it, and why, for Pete's sake, it got so much acclaim. David Copperfield, which I've already tried to read a few years ago, was just plain boring and is, actually, the second book by Dickens that I have a hard time reading. Yesterday, "Siddhartha" was finally back in the library, so, for the lack of better alternatives, I decided to give it a shot.

To be honest, knowing that "Siddhartha" was a story about some sort of soul searching, I wasn't very excited to be reading it. The only reason I've chosen it as the next book on my "must read" list was its more than decent size (126 pages). To my great surprise, however, after reading just a few pages, I was totally hooked. I still don't understand what it is about this book that I liked so much, especially taking into consideration that I'm not a big fan of this type of stories. I tend to think that a very beautiful style of the author and the fact that I could relate to the inner quest of the main hero are to thank for this.

In a few words, the book tells a story of a man, named Siddhartha, who is in search of spiritual perfection. The author explores the topic through the realms Indian culture and religion. The protagonist of the story is Siddhartha, who, from a very young age, is determined to reach Nirvana. Very early, he realizes that teachings of his fathers won't help him to achieve his goals and escape from Samsara (cycle caused by birth, death, and rebirth, according to Hinduism). So he leaves his father's house to join ascetics; then, not having found what he was looking for in their doctrine, decides to leave all the religions behind and experience sensual pleasures of the world until he finally finds Nirvana with the help of an old ferryman and the river.

The message of the book, as I understand it, is that no teaching or religion can help a person to achieve spiritual perfection, enlightenment, or whatever else one might call it. Even if one believes that doctrine is right, it doesn't help to follow it to a tee because the only right way to achieve all these things is through self searching. Even thought I liked it a lot, I don't know if I would recommend it. It seems to me that "Siddhartha" is the kind of book that one absolutely loves or hates, and there's no in-between. As for me, it's the first but definitely not the last Hesse's book that I've read.

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