[.ca] The Glass Bead Game (ISBN 0312278497)

The ideal teacher in a decayed system:
This is a really important book that unfortunately has too often been misunderstood by both its supporters & detractors. I've been looking through all of the reviews to Hesse's "Glass Bead Game"(Magister Ludi), and one important theme that most have missed is the theme of education--an issue which Hesse has consistently introduced into his work from the very beginning, "Beneath the Wheel", to the end of his writing career. This book is, I believe, Hesse's exploration of what the ideal teacher (the magister) and ideal educational society (Castalia) should be like. However, it seems that through the course of writing about this ideal society, and writing from within it by using the masks of genre (i.e. Knecht's poems & writings), Hesse comes to the conclusion that even an ideal society is doomed to fail if the educational system ROTS from within. Seen in this light, the Glass Bead game, which many readers are disappointed to find only lightly sketched-out, is really not that important to the story; it's only a curiousity demonstrating the end-process of the Castalia system. The real issue is the methodology of teaching & the problems facing an ideal society that has lost touch with the real world. Indeed, Knecht admits that as he gets older he prefers to teach younger & younger students in order to reach them earlier. A hint that maybe all is not right with the process of educating those who become members of the "order". The book is, as many readers know, quite a feat of the imagination and a feat of literary mastery, but at it's heart are basic questions: how do we educate ourselves and others, how do we use what we've learned, and how do we balance the real world with the imagined world? These are difficult questions, but they are the ones that Hesse tries to solve with this book; the game itself is but a convenient vessel with which to explore these issues.

The Glass Bead Game:
The Glass Bead Game is the pinnacle of intelligence, wisdom and learning that the 23rd century Castalia has to offer. Students are plucked from their families and lives at a young age to become 'elite' pupils, gradually inducted into the Order and the Game to carry on the traditions and ceremonies of Castalia. The Order's purpose is two-fold: One, to protect the sanctity and accuracy of knowledge from the current time down to antiquity, and two, to showcase the talents and minds of the elite with dazzling, lengthy Glass Bead Games. But there is a problem, and only Joseph Knecht, the Magister Ludi - Master of the Game and hero of the story - can see it. The Glass Bead Game, while being the pinnacle of intellectual achievement, has no creativity side, no ability to move beyond what it currently is. Philosophy, music, art, mathematics, sciences: All these are condensed into symbols representing, say, a piece by Bach or a mathematical equation. However, no new symbols are allowed, or if they are, the process is so mired in bureaucracy that it may as well be impossible. We follow Joseph from childhood to Magister Ludi, and we learn through him what Castalia is and is capable of. A supreme intellect, his life culminates not in the appointment of Magister Ludi - as so many other great player's would consider it to be - but rather with his famous 'circular letter', addressed to the other members of the Board, highlighting his concerns with the Glass Bead Game. The plot of the book is minimal, and we are all but told it at the very beginning. Rather, we are invited to take a look at this could be-world of Hesse's. Castalia, however, is not the entirety of the world, as much as the inhabitants would like to think. No, they are 'merely' an enclosed, fully-supported (but not self-supported) university like establishment, churning out works that may or may not have any real use outside of their walls. At first, the book mercilessly attacks our time, with its commercialism, its way of turning men intelligent in one field into minor celebrities in another, its way of asking movie stars or musicians to comment on the state of the world even though there talents lie elsewhere, its way of putting wealth above all. It seems at times as though Hesse was caricaturing his own time, but the frightening thing is, in 2004, we have become this caricature. After this attack, the beauty of Castalia is revealed, as explained above. But then, as Joseph Knecht learns and discovers and becomes Magister Ludi, we learn that Castalia is not so important, not so wonderful, not so essential as first presented. It is difficult for him to accept this, but easier for us. In the end, no solution is given. Hesse emphatically states that our present time is too shallow to be the answer, but so is the staid environment of Castalia. It is worth noticing that no character beyond Knecht has a personality; even his is poor. Females do not play a part, and there is no conflict. Is Hesse saying that a world without creativity becomes a lifeless, boring world capable of beauty but incapable of appreciation of this beauty?

Serenely Beautiful:
This book is unlike any other; the slow, songlike development and lucid style, which lend the book its awesome beauty, are quite unparalleled. It is not a 'good read', nor is it a book to read when you are still at school, as 'Siddartha' might be. Neither do you need to agree with, appreciate or even necessarily understand Hesse's philosophy. While his earlier novels are full of force, angst, and dramatic desire, this is as simply serene, peaceful, and beautiful as its main character. It must not be missed.

His best work:
Although Hesse is not in fashion among academics these days, this book (unlike some of his earlier more romantic stuff) deserves to be noticed as a great work of the 20th century. It's very complex, and can be frustrating (especially if you have little or no knowledge of German history, literature and music); it's nevertheless an important, and often very moving reflection on the nature of modern society (and isn't yet outdated), and equally on some of the dangers of trying to escape that society.

Hesse Capitivates:
The Glass Bead Game is another excellent novel by Hesse. I have read and very much enjoyed both Siddhartha and Demian years ago, and found The Glass Bead Game to be a equally enjoyable, though clearly more sophisticated book. Told from the perspective of an anonymous biography, the story revolves around a rather likable character named Joseph Knecht and his ascent throughout the rather esoteric hierarchy of the Order. The tale is presented in a rather fragmented style, highlighting various part's of Joseph's life and the relationships he develops with various figures throughout. Although the book begins slowly, I found it does gradually pick up, and becomes completely engrossing in the later chapters. Like Hesse's other works, The Glass Bead Game offers plenty of insight into society, culture and the human spirit. If you enjoyed Demian or Siddhartha, with a bit of effort, you should enjoy the Glass Bead Game.