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Read Gertrude (2005)

Gertrude (2005)

Online Book

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Genre
Rating
3.79 of 5 Votes: 3
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ISBN
0312424639 (ISBN13: 9780312424633)
Language
English
Publisher
picador

Gertrude (2005) - Plot & Excerpts

This one is on harmony. On concordance and discordance. This one passage, very early into the book, summarizes the theme best:"Of all the conceptions of pure bliss that people and poets have dreamed of, listening to the harmony of the spheres always seemed to me the highest and most intense. That is where my dearest and brightest dreams have ranged - to hear for the duration of a heartbeat the universe and the totality of life in its mysterious, innate harmony. Alas, how is it that life can be so confusing and out of tune and false, how can there be lies, evil, envy and hate among people ... And how can I upbraid people and grow angry when I, myself, with all the good will in the world have been unable to make song and sweet music out of my life?"The tragic story that begins following this passage revolves around this one conflict. Life promises purity and bliss - through music and through love for another. But human frailties, along with that one all powerful force called fate, debars them from experiencing it. Over and over again.What is life but a constant reminder of this promise and its failure? Tragedy is inevitable.But if that is so, why go on? What value is there in continuing to live? Through a love triangle between three artists Hesse stresses on this and more. Music or no music, the discordance between inner and outer life, between self and society, between material and spiritual, and (with emphasis) between youth's potential and burden, that discordance is once again highlighted. "Youth is a real swindle -- a swindle of the press and textbooks. 'The most wonderful time of one's life!' Old people always seem much more contented to me. Youth is the most difficult time of life. For example, suicide rarely occurs among old people.""Young people have many pleasures and many sorrows, because they have only themselves to think of, so every wish and every notion assumes importance; every pleasure is tasted to the full but also every sorrow, and many who find that their wishes cannot be fulfilled, put an end immediately to their lives. That is being young. To most people, however, there comes a time when the situation changes, when they live more for others, not for any virtuous reasons, but quite naturally."Overtly, this is a story of young people in love, unrequited love, and there is nothing extraordinary in that - art or craft wise, in what what is said or shown. What is worth praising though is the maturity with which Hesse handles progress of Kuhn's (Hesse's alter-ego's?) music career, for beside standing as a love story, it is a memoir of a promising artist. I loved this novel for one specific reason: its two male personality archetypes. I want to believe that the male friendships in this novel and in Narcissus and Goldmund were inspired by his personal experiences - there is no way he could have written about them with such psychologically accuracy. I have closely known a person who confirms to one of the two archetypes, and well, to some extent, I confirm to the second. For years I have struggled to understand our friendship (for the lack of a better word) and our influence on each other, but through this novel and N&G, I get strong hints. Despite giving it 5 stars, I would recommend this novel strictly to Hesse fans or those who do not mind love stories. Hesse called this novel a "miscarriage". He wasn't wrong. Except that he is. P.S. As a love story, a GR reviewer said the book reminded him of Knut Hamsun's Victoria. Happy to learn that!! P.P.S. Unaware of the Nietzsche-ian elements but apparently the book derives a lot from 'The Birth of Tragedy'. So, if that interests you, do read.

Dacă există ceva creat de om care să poată ajuta trăirea și purtarea existenței, acest ceva cu siguranță are în plămădeală muzică și scriere. Pentru mine, acest ceva este Hesse, cărțile lui și spiritul lui, impregnat în scriere și îndreptat, direcționat, dedicat cititorului. Tot ce-a creat (și din ce-am citit) e despre natura umană și o încercare de a o înțelege fără a o judeca prea aspru. Fără a-i impune îmbunătățire. Doar că acel uman prezent în lucrările sale are o puritate aproape inumană azi. O puritate a naturii, dar și o noblețe a firii, a spiritului. Mă bucură imens lucrările sale. Mă bucură că a existat, mă bucură că există scrierile lui. Mă bucură că mă face mai bună, mai plină de lumină. Scrierea (traducerea) e atît de frumoasă, atît de caldă și înțeleaptă, atît de plină de bunătate. Atît de melodică, atît de sinceră. Și cîtă noblețe și demnitate în personaje totuși atît de diferite! Un minunat pasaj din Gertrude:„Soarta nu era bună, viaţa era plină de toane şi crudă, în natură nu exista bunătate şi raţiune. Dar există bunătate şi raţiune în noi, oamenii, cu care întâmplarea se joacă şi noi putem fi mai puternici decât natura şi decât soarta, fie chiar şi pentru câteva ceasuri. Şi noi putem fi apropiaţi unii altora, dacă este nevoie, şi ne putem privi în ochi plini de înţelegere şi putem iubi şi trăi consolându-ne unii pe alţii. Şi uneori, când străfundurile întunecate tac, putem chiar şi mai mult. Atunci putem fi zei, timp de câteva clipe, şi putem întinde mâini poruncitoare şi crea lucruri care n-au existat înainte şi care, dacă sunt zăvorâte, trăiesc mai departe fără noi. Putem construi din sunete şi din cuvinte şi din alte lucruri fragile şi fără însemnătate jocuri şi melodii şi cântece pline de sens şi de mângâiere şi de bunătate, mai frumoase şi mai nepieritoare decât jocurile stridente ale întâmplării şi ale destinului. Nu ne putem sustrage inima vieţii, însă o putem forma şi învăţa că este superioară întâmplării şi că poate privi chiar şi durerea fără să se frângă.”

What do You think about Gertrude (2005)?

"A Fronteira entre a Juventude e a VelhiceCreio que se pode traçar uma fronteira muito precisa entre a juventude e a velhice. A juventude acaba quando termina o egoísmo, a velhice começa com a vida para os outros. Ou seja: os jovens têm muito prazer e muita dor com as suas vidas, porque eles a vivem só para eles. Por isso todos os desejos e quedas são importantes, todas as alegrias e dores são vividas plenamente, e alguns, quando não vêem os seus desejos cumpridos, desperdiçam toda uma vida. Isso é a juventude. Mas para a maior parte das pessoas vem o tempo em que tudo se modifica, em que vivem mais para os outros, não por virtude, mas porque é assim. A maior parte constitui família. Pensa-se menos em nós próprios e nos nossos desejos quando se tem filhos. Outros perdem o egoísmo num escritório, na política, na arte ou na ciência. A juventude quer brincar, os adultos trabalhar. Não há quem se case para ter filhos, mas quando chegam, modificamo-nos, e acabamos por perceber que tudo aconteceu por eles. Da mesma forma, a juventude gosta de falar na morte, mas nunca pensa nela; com os velhos acontece o contrário. Os jovens acreditam ser eternos e centram todos os desejos e pensamentos sobre si próprios. Os velhos já perceberam que o fim vai chegar e que tudo o que se tem e se faz para si próprio acaba por cair num buraco e de nada valeu. Para isso necessita de uma outra eternidade e de acreditar que não trabalhou apenas para os vermes. Por isso existe a mulher e os filhos, o negócio ou o escritório e a pátria, para que se tenha a noção de que o esforço diário e as calamidades têm um sentido. Assim, uma pessoa é mais feliz quando vive para mais alguém, e não para si só. Mas os velhos não devem fazer disso um heroísmo, que não é. Do mais irrequieto jovem resulta o melhor dos velhos, o que não é verdade para aqueles que já na escola agiam como velhos"...
—Rosa Ramôa

Hesse tells the story of the composer Kuhn which is both (unintentionally) humorous and (intentionally) beautiful. We are taken through Kuhn's childhood during which he suffered an injury which left him physically handicapped for life and into his music school years and his life as a composer. The book has its quirky parts good for a few laughs, such as Kuhn's run-in with a Rudolf Steiner-esque theosophist...or his **mild spoiler** pitiful friend-zoning which the reader sees coming a mile away but totally catches Kuhn by surprise. These are, however, bumps along a much more pleasant road. The flow and language are graceful as Hesse makes the courageous attempt to capture the inner life of a musical talent. He takes the reader along the creative process where works of art become "beings with a life of their own" and are therefore "familiar and yet strange at the same time." I found myself getting lost in this one quite deeply...so lost that I finished it by reading the last 110 pages in a single evening. My favorite Hesse book out of the five that I've read.
—David

Hesse is one of my favorite writers and my take on his works would carry a bit of bias. Gertrude might not be one of the famous books of Hesse in the league of a Siddartha, yet it is one of the most heart rendering narratives. Its a semi autobigraphical work, liberally feeding on the tumultous life of Hesse during his younger days. Its a soliloquy of the protaganist's solitude, lovelornness and his inability to deal with the upheavels of his life.Kuhn falls in love twice and both the times it goes unrequitted. His passionate ardour for Liddy when he was a teenager results in a series of events and trekking adventures which leaves him both emotionally and physically crippled. The exhubarance, dreams, goals and the youthful vogour take blow in a snap of a second and leave him a cripple for a life time sulking in selfpity. In his own words, his youth was exiled into a quiet land. Kuhn then gets focussed onto music to move away from the pathos of the broken heart and the broken limb. Music opens up Kuhn to a new world of friends, musicians and music lovers. Thus he meets Mr Imthor, father of Gertrude and a patron of Music. Kuhn rediscovers himself in the company of Gertrude and his desolate world is suddenly lit up with a thousand candles. The mutual feeling of gentle love and the unspoken undercurrents during their courtship is sheer poetry. Kuhn, the self pitying introvert is perenially at cross roads in dealing with his own emotions. In a minute he swings from a blithely cheer, with his heartful of love after assumingly positive vibes from Gertrude and the next moment he slips into a despair of fears emanating from his own presumptions. Presume, when one's existence hangs on to the slender thread of love, one is scared of his own thoughts snapping the thread. Kuhn has two good friends in Muoth and Teifer. Muoth a genius, rebel and an egoist; all in one both tests and inspires Kuhn. While Teifer and his sister anchor Kuhn during his troubles and travails. The lives of Kuhn, Gertrude and Muoth gets entangled and how they compromise, confront, win and fail is the rest of the story.The psychological and philosophical overtones of the narrative reflect the genius of Hesse. Love and its cousin pathos in the life of a creative person have been painted with masterly strokes. Love creates ripples in other wise a placid lake like life of an artist; from which he draws his inspiration. And the unrequitted love is like a tempest in an ocean which takes the artist to a higher level, riding on its tumultous waves. Kuhn thus enthralled world of music wading through his miseries, emerging to be a virtuso from an akward novice. Kuhn's painful journey bearing the cross of physical challenges and the mental agony which take him into the realms of cherished dreams proves once again that creative brilliance springs from the ramshackles of bruised egos, batterred souls and broken hearts.The last paragraph is recaptured here for sharing a glimpse of the beauty of this poetry.." Muoth was right. As a man grows older, he is more at peace than in his youth. But I will not on that account slander youth, for it sings to me in all my dreams like a master song, and rings clearer and purer than ever it did in truth."
—S Prakash

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