This story showcases Hesse’s brilliant prose mixed with his thoughts on life, aging, and love. In a story centered around a bright, gifted, yet timid boy Hesse shows both sides of the spectrum, celebrating the pain and sorrow along with the joys and surprises of life. The boy’s tale is equally beautiful and tragic. He has extraordinary gifts that simply do not fit into the demanded “one narrow path” of life for small town German students at the time. Unfortunately, he is crushed beneath the wheel like a cog in the machine, and the world does not benefit from his talents and vision. This boy was called to join in the higher realm of thinkers and people, yet due to the conditions of society he is unable to live this out. Perhaps a line where Hesse describes learning sums up the view of society and life just as well, “Every day true scholarship seemed more beautiful, more difficult, more worthwhile.” In this novel Hesse shows life as beautiful, difficult, and worthwhile if one can overcome the obstacles presented by a society intent on suffocating dreams. The clear menace in this tale is the system of school, organized religion, and people who place their demands on students instead of letting them explore the world. Our protagonist is the victim, but the intended effect is that the reader take away this lesson and not join their ranks. Hesse still celebrates life and the poetry of every moment, and he viciously attacks those who suppress it in this tragic tale.One question I had while reading this novel is whether or not adulthood itself is another enemy. The transition from childhood to adulthood is performed though love, which Hans experiences first through friendship, then through a hint of homosexuality, and then finally through heterosexual longing. The transition into adulthood opens the door to pain and suffering. Though love is beautiful, it is not clear in this novel whether or not Hesse thinks its beauty is worth the price of innocence lost. The passages describing Hans falling in love are absolutely stunning, however the cost of love remains unsettled. Is adulthood and love worth the pain of growing up? Hesse leaves this unanswered, which is a surprise in this novel. Another surprise is the passage about a homosexual experience and an unlikely person at the end of the book to accept any of the blame. There are questions open to consideration through a tale that describes the beauty of life through poetic prose. A damn good book, classic Hesse.QuotesIt was possible to live in this town and give the appearance of being educated without knowing the speeches in Zarathustra. 5Thus his future was mapped out, for in all of Swabia there existed but one narrow path for talented boys – that is, unless their parents were wealthy. 5In a single hour he introduced Hans to an entirely new approach to learning and reading. Hands received an intimation of what tasks and puzzles lay hidden in each line and word, how thousands of scholars and investigators had expended their efforts since the earliest times to unravel these questions, and it seemed to him that he was being accepted into the ranks of these truth-seekers this very hour. 47Every day true scholarship seemed more beautiful, more difficult, more worthwhile. 47It has occurred to many people while they stood on this square that it would be just the right place for the good life and happiness, for something lively and gratifying to grow, for mature and good people to think glad thoughts and produce beautiful, cheerful works. 57Proud and praiseworthy feelings and high hopes swelled in their breasts and it did not occur to a single one of them that this day he was selling his child for a financial advantage…it did not occur to any of the boys, nor to their fathers, that all this would perhaps not really be free. 65“He realized that there are certain sins and omissions beyond forgiveness and repentance and it seemed to him that the stretcher bore not the tailor’s little son but Heilner, who now took all the pain and anger caused by Han’s faithlessness with him far into another world where people were judged not by their grades and examination marks and scholastic success but soley in accord with the purity or impurity of their consciences…they realized for a fleeting moment how irrecoverable and unique is each life and youth. 94Anyone with a touch of genius seems to his teachers a freak from the very first…[a teacher’s:] task is not to produce extravagant intellects but good Latinists, arithmeticians and sober decent folk…among true geniuses the wounds almost always heal. As their personalities develop, they create their art in spite of school…thus the struggle between rule and spirit repeats itself year after year from school to school. 100He was like someone in love for the first time: he felt capable of performing great heroic deed but not the daily chore of boring, petty work. 103Their faces displayed the whole spectrum of shadings between vanishing childishness and budding manhood. 106Hans’ thoughts and dreams now moved in this world to which he had been so long a stranger. He sought refuge from his great disappointment and hopelessness in a past that had been good to him. In those days he had been full of hope, had seen the world lying before him like a vast enchanted forest holding gruesome dangers, accursed treasures and emerald castles in its impenetrable depths. He had entered a little way into this wilderness but he had become weary before he had found miracles. 138He stared at her with a mixture of unfamiliar desire and bad conscience. In this hour something broke inside him and a new, alien but enticing land with distant blue shores opened up before his soul. He did not know or could only guess what the apprehension and sweet agony signified, and did not know which was stronger, pain or desire.But the desire signified…the first intimation of the mighty forces of life, and the pain signified that the morning peace had been broken, that his soul had left that childhood land which can never be found again…He must find his own way and be his own savior. 150Fearful but shaken to the roots of his being, he felt the nearness of a great mystery, not knowing whether it would be delicious or dreadful but having a foretaste of both. 153The pain and anger over this loss and the restlessness of his inflamed but unsatisfied passion came together in a single, agonizing confusion…In this way he discovered – perhaps too soon – his share of the secret of love, and it contained little sweetness and much bitterness. 165
An English translation of my review can be found below.Dieser Roman erinnerte mich daran, was ich schon in meiner Jugend an Hermann Hesse so verlockend fand. Er war ein wunderbarer Schriftsteller! Seine präzisen Beschreibungen sowohl des Innenlebens des unglücklichen Klosterschülers Hans Giebenrath wie der widersprüchlichen Schönheit der physischen Umwelt, in der er zu Grunde ging, sind außerordentlich. Die wunderschöne Sprache des Romans übt eine fast magische Wirkung auf den Leser aus. „Unterm Rad“ ist autobiografisch in dem Sinne, daß Hesse sich selbst in Hermann Heilner, dem besten Freund von Hans, darstellt. Hermann, ein sehr begabter aber aufrührerischer junger Mensch, kommt in der repressiven Schule nicht zurecht. Da er es prinzipiell ablehnt, sich der Gesellschaftsordnung anzupassen, wird er entlassen.Hans wiederum verkörpert Hesses gleichnamigen Bruder, der wegen seiner eigenen Qualen Selbstmord begangen hat, nachdem die Schule ihn psychisch gebrochen hat. Im Roman wird Hans ebenfalls entlassen, aber hauptsächlich wegen seiner schlechten Gesundheit (schwindelerregende Kopfschmerzen), obwohl der Rektor es ihm auch übelnimmt, daß er unter den Einfluss von Hermann geraten ist. Aus beiden Gründen kann er dem Leistungsdruck nicht standhalten. Das Kloster Maulbronn, wo Hesse nach dem bestandenen Landexamen Latein gelernt hat und wo der Roman sich abspielt, wurde von der UNESCO als Weltkulturerbe anerkannt.Vor diesem Hintergrund ist es leicht nachzuvollziehen, wie Hesse in dem Roman das Bedürfnis hatte, sich mit der autoritären Erziehung in Deutschland des frühen zwanzigsten Jahrhunderts so schonungslos auseinanderzusetzen. Seine Bildungskritik ist überzeugend.Lieblingszitat: „Nur nicht matt werden, sonst kommt man unters Rad.“----------------------This novel reminded me what I found so compelling about Hermann Hesse in my youth. He was a wonderful writer! His precise descriptions of both the inner life of the unhappy cloister student Hans Giebenrath and the contradictory beauty of the physical environment, in which he perished, are extraordinary. The wonderfully beautiful language of the novel has an almost magical effect on the reader.“Under the Wheel” is autobiographical in the sense that Hesse represents himself in Hermann Heilner, Hans’s best friend. Hermann, a very gifted but rebellious young man, cannot cope with the repressive school. Since he refuses as a matter of principle to conform to the social order, he is expelled. Hans, in turn, personifies Hesse’s eponymous brother, who committed suicide because of his own torments after school destroyed him psychologically. In the novel, Hans is likewise expelled, but primarily due to his poor health (dizziness-inducing headaches), although the headmaster also resents the fact that he has fallen under Hermann’s influence. For both reasons, he cannot handle the pressure to perform. UNESCO has recognized the Maulbronn Cloister, where Hesse studied Latin after passing the state examination and where the novel is set, as a World Heritage Site.Against this backdrop, it is easy to understand why Hesse had the need in the novel to deal with the authoritarian style of schooling in Germany in the early 20th century so unsparingly. His critique of the educational system is convincing.Favorite quote: “Just don’t wear yourself out, otherwise you’ll end up under the wheel.”
What do You think about Beneath The Wheel (2003)?
Looks good. Thanks. By the way, have you seen the movie 'Mindwalk'? The book description reminded of it and I couldn't help mentioning it. The movie is based on Capra's The Turning Point and is a conversation between a poet, a physicist and a politician on the need to move on from Cartesian Philosophy and adopt a non-reductionist systems thinking approach, in all academic fields.
—Erik Graff
Took me off guard since I anticipated a standard bildungsroman, but it adds more of a tragic flair to the genre. The book is really compact and paced just right, and it seems a bit more linguistically ornate than some of Hesse's other novels (no diss to Steppenwolf or anything, of course). I guess I was more impressed than I thought (especially with all the early descriptions of Heilner's poetic melancholy and rebelliousness, and damn that ending, damn) since this is one Hesse novel that no one seems to rave about all that much. 4 bloody stars.
—cashman_cool
December 27, 2013Beneath The WheelBy Hermann Hesse‘Hans Giebernath lives among the dull and respectable townsfolk of a sleepy Black Forest village. When he is discovered to be an exceptionally gifted student, the entire community presses him onto a path of serious scholarship. Hans dutifully follows the regimen of study and endless examinations, his success rewarded only with more crushing assignments. When Hans befriends a rebellious young poet, he begins to imagine other possibilities outside the narrowly circumscribed world of the academy. Finally sent home after a nervous breakdown, Hans is revived by nature and romance, and vows never to return to the gray conformity of the academic system.’ A profound journey of a young man in search of himself and purpose; along the way he gets caught in the subtle trap of pleasing his family, neighbors, friends, at the expense of neglecting his own desires. A tremendous story, though at times a bit dry simply because of the academic scenes of classroom, study, and monotone teachers. The title was allusive to me at first but deep into the novel I realized why. The ending was profound and well worth the walk through boring halls of rigid schools. According to Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. Hesse’s work, especial Beneath The Wheel, is infused with a sense of homesickness as well as amazing, palpable descriptions of nature and emotions. An exceptional read and I highly recommend it to literary fiction fans as well as readers looking for a profound, entertaining novel.
—Jerome Peterson
