"Ulysses of Germany" – Steppenwolf

Steppenwolf is a masterpiece of the mid-twentieth century by the famous German-Swiss writer Hermann Hesse, and a milestone in his creative career, depicting the spiritual crisis of middle-aged artists.

The title comes from the novel's protagonist, Harry Harrell, who calls himself Steppenwolf, a "steppenwolf who got lost in our town and came to the herd."

He was an upright writer who despised the way of life in modern society, often closed doors, and the suffocating air trapped him in a schizophrenic situation. One day he occasionally read a small book called "Commenting on Steppenwolf", and suddenly woke up from a big dream, thinking that he was a Steppenwolf who coexisted with "human nature" and "wolf nature".

He was then invited to a gathering, where he found that the attendees had narrow nationalist views, and that his anti-war rhetoric was rebuked and he felt lonely, so he asked, "In a world like this, how can I not be a steppenwolf, a scrawled hermit." ”

When he returned home, he met the wine girl Hermina, and was delighted by carnal desires; through Hermina's introduction, he met the musician Pablo and a girl, Maria, and he forgot all his troubles and worries in music and sensory enjoyment. But when he saw that Hemina and Pablo were close, he became "wolf-like" and killed Himina out of jealousy.

In Harrell's contradictions and conflicts with reality, his mental pain and crisis can be seen in his self-analysis.

The novel is full of fantasy and symbolism, and as the author puts it through the mouth of the publisher, "This is a record of the times... Harrell's mental illness is not a strange disease of individuals, but a disease of the times itself, the mental illness of Harrell's entire generation. ”