Siddhartha (World Classics, Unabridged)

Siddhartha (first published in 1922) is a novel based on the early life of Buddha,inspired by the author's visit to India before the First World War. The novel is about the young Brahmin Siddhartha's search for self- realization. His quest takes him from a life of decadence to asceticism, from the illusory joys of sensual love with a beautiful courtesan, and of wealth and fame, to the painful struggles with his son and the ultimate wisdom of renunciation.

Hermann Karl Hesse (1877-1962) was a German-Swiss poet, novelist, and painter. Along with Siddhartha, his best-known works include Demian (1922), Steppenwolf (1927), Narcissus and Goldmund (1933), and The Glass Bead Game (1943), each of which explores an individual's search for authenticity, self-knowledge, and spirituality. He received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1946. He died on August 9, 1962.