When I read, I have a habit of reading music while listening, and I think that this will give me a different reading experience, and it will also deepen my understanding and memory of music and books.
Reading Hesse's Steppenwolf, I listened to the works of German classical musicians Beethoven and Bach. If their music shows the flow of the life blood of "Steppenwolf", then Hesse depicts the body and soul of "Steppenwolf".
It is difficult to understand the book "Steppenwolf", because Hesse was suffering multiple physical and mental blows when he created the image of "Steppenwolf", when he was physically ill, his marriage was not smooth, and his heart was full of despair. In his pain, he fell into the reflection of culture and the search for spiritual roots, hoping to be redeemed in the search for human culture and humanity.
Thus, a "steppenwolf" image of a "half-man, half-wolf" who is detached from daily life and social morality and struggles between desire and reason was born.
Hesse uses symbolism and stream of consciousness in Steppenwolf to great length, with a few characters in the novel alluding to symbolism, and most of the words break through the order of time and space, contrary to our conventional understanding.
In the world of "Steppenwolf" created by Hesse, many things and ideas are contradictory, "Steppenwolf" symbolizes the division of personality in modern society and the complexity and pain of the human heart, and Mozart represents the righteous, beautiful and noble spirit with classical eternal values.
After a painful search, Hesse recognized that the socio-cultural picture under industrial civilization was a desert, and the ordinary citizen class lived a life of insensitivity and conformism, and had long lost the spirit of examining oneself and pursuing higher life freedom.
As a special case in society, "Steppenwolf" has long recognized that the cultural environment in which he lives is full of selfishness and insensitivity, and he yearns for eternal justice and freedom.
Steppenwolf was invited to the party and found that the participants had narrow nationalist views, and his anti-war rhetoric was rebuked, making him feel lonely; When he returns home, he meets the wine girl Hermina and gains carnal pleasure; Through Hermina's introduction, he became acquainted with the musicians Pablo and Maria, who forgot all his troubles and worries in music and sensory enjoyment. But when he saw that Hemina and Pablo were close, he was furious and killed Hermina out of jealousy...
It can be seen from this that only when people continue to endure pain and seek noble and beautiful spiritual beliefs can the chaotic soul world see the light again, and the free, noble, and just cultural environment can give birth to people with a real meaning. Modern society, on the other hand, can only cultivate selfish people who follow the rules, or a very small number of "Steppenwolves".
Hesse wants to destroy decay, establish order, and explain everything from the perspective of humanistic care. Perhaps do not blindly criticize, disgust, with the pursuit of justice, good mind to examine the society, in order to reconcile with their own hearts, in order to become a real person.