The Glass Bead Game: (Magister Ludi) A Novel [Paperback]

The final novel of Hermann Hesse, for which he won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1946,The Glass Bead Gameis a fascinating tale of the complexity of modern life as well as a classic of modern literature.

Set in the 23rd century,The Glass Bead Gameis the story of Joseph Knecht, who has been raised in Castalia, the remote place his society has provided for the intellectual elite to grow and flourish. Since childhood, Knecht has been consumed with mastering the Glass Bead Game, which requires a synthesis of aesthetics and scientific arts, such as mathematics, music, logic, and philosophy, which he achieves in adulthood, becoming a Magister Ludi (Master of the Game). But can, indeed should, man live isolated from hunger, family, children, women, in a perfect world where passions are tamed by meditation, where academic discipline and order are paramount?

USHermann Hessewas born in Germany in 1877 and later became a citizen of Switzerland. As a Western man profoundly affected by the mysticism of Eastern thought, he wrote novels, stories, and essays bearing a vital spiritual force that has captured the imagination and loyalty of many generations of readers. His works includeSiddhartha,Steppenwolf,Narcissus and Goldmund, andThe Glass Bead Game. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1946. Hermann Hesse died in 1962.

A genre blend of science fiction, fantasy, and fictional biography, leavened with musicology, poetry, and Hesses unique swirl of Eastern and Western philosophy.
The American Scholar

His work is of the highest quality.
The New York Times

Hermann Hesse is the greatest writer of the century.
San Francisco Chronicle