Magister Ludi (the Glass Bead Game)     by Hermann Hesse, Translated by M Savill Original title: Das Glasperlenspiel Original language: German Published by Picador Pub. Date: December 2002 Pub. Place: USA Format: Paperback, 576 pages Dimensions: 1.11 x 8.22 x 5.56 inches ISBN: 0312278497 List Price: $14.00 Not available for ordering Published by Aldus Publications Pub. Date: 1950 Format: Hardcover Not available for ordering

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First published in 1946, The Glass Bead Game was Hermann Hesse’s last novel, the final step in the author’s search for the self, the same theme present in Demian, Steppenwolf, Siddhartha and Narziss and Goldmund. In the same year, Hesse was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.

The Glass Bead Game is the chronicle of the ascent of the shy and modest Joseph Knecht to the highest hierarchy of the Castalian Order, keepers of the Glass Bead Game, and reflects Hesse’s constant interest in Oriental philosophy and religion. Here, much stress is set on classical Chinese culture and on the practice of meditation as a mean of refreshing and energising the body and the mind. The Glass Bead Game itself is ‘the quintessence of intellectuality and art’ a game that combines all known disciplines in elaborate patterns to achieve a kind of universality.

A gifted music pupil, Joseph Knecht at first rejects the Game and the ordained purpose of his life. In a painful adolescent crisis, partly relieved by the affectionate guidance of the old Music Master, his mentor and benefactor, Knecht finally experiences his vocation as a player by discovering the true nature of the Game, which is not in fact recreational but a practice of self awareness.

As a boy, Knecht was chosen to renounce the world and devote his life to Castalia. The militant friendship with Plinio Designori, an outsider allowed to attend the Order’s school by a special privilege, exposes Knecht to the outside world, a place that fascinates and frightens him. While Plinio is bound to choose a career, marry and get on in life, Knecht must abide by the rules of the Castalian Order, among which are poverty and chastity.

Knecht’s rise to power runs parallel to his emotional and intellectual awakening. At barely forty years of age, he is the youngest Master of the Game, the high priest of the Order. In spite of his young age, Knecht proves to be an excellent Master, concerned about the well-being and reputation of a Castalia surrounded by hostile forces.

To the external world, Castalia is an expensive appendage and Knecht is so troubled by these threats that he decides to leave the Order to convert the outside world to the importance and the aesthetic beauty of the Glass Bead Game.

‘The Master had never heard him speak so fervently. He walked on in silence for a little, then said: «There is truth, my boy. But the doctrine you desire, absolute, perfect dogma that alone provides wisdom, does not exist. Nor should you long for a perfect doctrine, my friend. Rather, you should long for the perfection of yourself. The deity is within you, not in ideas and books.»’ p83