Books

Siddhartha 

Siddhartha is an allegorical novel written by Hermann Hesse in 1922 after the First World War.

The novel traces the life of Siddhartha, the son of Brahma, a Hindu girl, very busy looking for the most varied forms of his own lifetime. At his side is his faithful friend Govinda, special and spiritually. They must start their shared journey, not just geographical, but personal.

Govinda has always devoutly worshiped as Siddhartha wise. In the joint resolution decide to go to live with the Samana, coldly abandon their families. The Samana are men of religious soul, meditators, who live at random, with little or nothing to survive on his pilgrimage smooth with what they find along the way. At this stage of his life to fast, meditate and wait, the skills that will serve in the future.

It is after having lived with both determined to see the Buddha, Govinda, in this difficult decision is not shared by his friend, to join the sect they visit. Therefore, Siddhartha, from that moment was of vital alone. And the journey has come to a city that has met the beautiful Kamala, to be released to live as ever lived.

Hesse's extraordinary mastery of turns in the chapters related to Kamala, who was never called with a negative connotation name, creating the light of the office and "fair" for women delivered live.

Siddhartha, resolved spontaneously and sometimes deliberately sets out to learn the secrets of the love of her contact with her, share, while the needs of work, gain money, wasteful spending and ostentatious entertainments. And so we are introduced to a man who, being first original model, which now appears to be subject to all normal human frailties. Siddhartha is the same negative and despicable that he considered such behavior from a lineage of soul, and as his higher nature.

Hermann Hesse. Hermann Karl Hesse nació en Calw, localidad ubicada en Baden-Wurtemberg, donde transcurrieron los tres primeros años de su vida y tres años de colegio. Descendiente de misioneros cristianos, la familia tuvo desde 1873 una editorial de textos misioneros dirigida por el abuelo materno de Hesse, Hermann Gundert. Fue hijo de Marie Gundert nacida en Basilea, en 1842 y de Johannes Hesse, nacido en 1847, hijo de un médico originario de Estonia. Tuvo cinco hermanos de los que dos murieron prematuramente.

Personal comment:  Personally this novel is one of my favorites because it is very interesting and philosophical, which helps you think things you often do not appreciate, this novel tells the search performed Siddhartha to make one wise, constantly in the novel.

El niño que enloqueció de amor

The novel is about a boy (whose name does not appear in the story) who falls for Angelica, a friend of his mother. Everything that happens, I choose to write in his diary by a man he wants as his father, Don Carlos Romeral, says that everything has been kept in a journal. The child suffers from several mental disorders: his grandmother does not want it and hates, his brothers also, lives trying to find who his father and live in love with Angelica. The child realizes he is in love with Angelica when she comes home for the first time he sees his mother and says "Look Angelica fell in love with you," there he realizes what was happening. One day, Angelica asks his mother to give the child to go shopping, then the child knows George. Later, the child begins to suffer from Angelica. One day he goes to Angelica's house and sees her with George. He insults and Angelica Jorge angry with him. Angelica was several days and does not appear in the house. The child becomes ill and begins to see a beast down from the hills and saw that everything turned red. Her mother begins to worry about it and then one day decides to take him to LA because there was a party, he comes and greets Angelica. Then he sees her kissing Angelica Jorge and pulled to mourn under the table. Everyone thinks that this drunk from a cup on the floor. After that, the author goes to the house where everyone is crying about the severity of the child, then he sees that the child begins to convulse and throw the paper onto the floor. The narrator picks it up and while the child goes mad and dies.

Eduardo Barrios. Son of Eduardo Barrios Achurra, Chilean army officer and Isabel Hudtwalcker journy, a Peruvian national. Childhood and adolescence were spent in Eduardo Barrios city that was his residence since the death of his father in 1889. His student life was not without its problems and it made him wander more shops: San Pedro College, Institute for German-English, French School and Parents Recoletano.

In 1900 he returned to Chile. He entered the Military School in the footsteps of his father, not being able to adapt, was its low before graduation as an officer. Then he turned to go in search of new experiences and play a variety of activities: it was dealer, circus performer, prospector, among others. On returning to Santiago, in 1909, began working as an officer of the University of Chile and stenographer in the House of Representatives.

He was editor of the journals Pen and Pencil, Pacific Magazine and Zig-Zag in 1915. At the time, also joined the literary group of the ten.

In 1925, he joined the National Library of Chile coming soon to be appointed Conservative Intellectual Property. After taking office as Minister of Education. In the fall of President Carlos Ibáñez del Campo, resigned his office to begin another stage, the farmer-landowner, but did not neglect literary activity and continued writing in the newspaper El Mercurio and La Nacion, as he had done before . In 1953 he joined the Chilean Academy of Language and was appointed Director of the National Library, a position he held until his retirement in 1960.

In his last decade Eduardo Barrios retired from his life as a writer, died in Santiago on September 13, 1963.

Personal Comment: Is a very romantic novel, sad but very good, despite being a relatively short book has a very interesting plot.

short video of one of the chapters of the text " el niño que enloqueció de amor"