First published in 1956, 'The Journey to the East' is one of Hesse's best works and is closest in conception to 'The Glass Bead Game', which brought him the Nobel Prize. It is an allegorical novel in which the narrator travels through Time and Space in search of the ultimate Truth. This pilgrimage to the East is emblematic of a state of mind, and, although the journey is across an imaginary land, it also embraces Europe - and takes place not only in our own century but in the Middle Ages and Renaissance as well. The members of the League by whom the narrator is accompanied include both real and fictitious people - Plato, Pythagoras, Don Quixote, Tristram Shandy and Baudelaire. This novel is distinguished by its lyricism and symmetry of style and shows the depth and originality of thought with which Hesse won international renown for his major contribution to modern literature.
Hermann Hesse, Winner of The Nobel Prize for Literature.
