The river is everywhere

(source)

Normally I don't do book reviews, mainly because I end up just saying words like AWESOME, COOL, TUBULAR (haha no), & GREAT a bunch without conveying why I liked a book so much. For Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse though, I felt like I needed to say something about it.

I started reading the book because one of my musical idols, Andrew McMahon, has a tattoo related to the book and mentions it a lot in interviews. Siddhartha is also heralded as a classic, with many people stating that they've walked away from the book with a richer understanding of life. I felt like I was missing out on something by not reading the book.

The whole story is about the life of Siddhartha and how he goes along a personal journey to truly understand the Self and life. Honestly, the starting of the book was slow for me. I had to get about 30 pages in to really get into the main character and what he was doing. The very end of the book is my favorite though, because to me it was the most thought-provoking. It made me sit back and think about how I can be a more peaceful person in my life.

"Wisdom cannot be imparted. Wisdom that a wise man attempts to impart always sounds like foolishness to someone else. Knowledge can be communicated, but not wisdom. One can find it, live it, do wonders through it, but one cannot communicate and teach it." ~ Siddhartha

The book was definitely worth the read and I can see why there is so much hype around it. I recommend this book to anyone but beware -- this is not exactly a light read. Personally, I had to put the book down several times and just think. Maybe I'm dramatic, but to me this book just makes you think a ton!

Have you read Siddhartha? What are some of your favorite classical reads?