Five hundred fifty eight pages. Translated by Richard and Clara Winston from the German Dasperlenspiel.
The Glass Bead Game is also known as Magister Ludi. I think Hesse won the Nobel prize mainly for this book. It presents an interesting idea.
There's a state called Castilia (presumably in Germany) in which a group of scholars dedicates themselves to intellectual integrity in the study of the sciences and culture - particularly music. This socio-religious community produces the schoolmasters for the nation, but also stands apart from the nation as an almost autonymous state within a state - much like the Vatican See after which it seems to be modeled. They have certain rituals and methodolies which include the frequent use of meditation and a competition called "The Glass Bead Game" which epitomizes Castilian ideals.
The main character is Joseph Knecht. We are introduced to him as he enters the schools of Castalia as an orphan - and follow him through his career as a student, a member of the order, liaison to The Catholic Church, and finally as Master of the Game. Other major characters are the Music Master who becomes the young Knecht's mentor; Thomas Van Der Trave, the Master of the Game prior to Knect; Plinio Designori, his childhood rival and later close friend; and his closest friend, Fritz Tegularius.
The book never describes the game except in extremely general terms. It is apparently based somehow on the musical scale and involves frequent meditation.
To an outsider and certainly to the reader it seems a lot like navel-gazing. Hesse is a great writer in the same way that Doyle was a great writer. In the Sherlock Holmes stories, Doyle masterfully seduces the reader into believing that Holmes is capable of a logic so pure and observation so keen that his deductions appear miraculous to his colleagues and the reader alike. But that is only appearance. Holmes does displays neither exceptional observational skills, nor exceptional reasoning ability. This is the genius of Doyle as a writer. He can make the reader believe that Holmes has the abilities without Holmes' ever demonstrating the point. Holmes simply always has the answer. The gossamer thread of reasoning connecting Holmes' observations to his conclusions is as vapor. The closer it is inspected, the more ghostlike and ephemeral it appears.
In the same way, Hesse makes it appear that Castalia is a place where intense intellectual work takes place, where the commerce is pure thought and the standards of the highest intellectual integrity are taken for granted. But the actual evidence of this - are only in the narrators statement of the fact. The Glass Bead Game itself is likewise presented as the supreme pasttime of pure intellectualism, but we see no details to support this view. Hesse was a brilliant writer. I'm not sure how brilliant he was as a thinker.
But the book was worth reading. There are several nuggets worthy of consideration. For example, the age of Castalia is said to come after the age of feuillitonism. This is a word to describe an age lacking in intellectual rigor or even integrity in which entertainment is a primary value. I'm not sure I agree with derogatory implications, but it does seem to aptly summarize the current era. The word implies dilettantism and shallowness of thinking. Surely I agree that shallow thinking is not a virtue. But it's not clear that entertainment is a bad thing - even as a primary goal - so long as it doesn't detract from integrity.
Another idea is expressed in a conversation between Knecht and Designori. PD insists that true communication is impossible, but Knecht follows up with "This matter of not being able to understand may not be as drastic as you make it out. Of course two peoples and two languages will never be able to communicate with each other so intimately as two individuals who belong to the same nation and speak the same language. But that is no reason to forgo the effort and communication. Within nations there are also barriers which stand in the way of complete communication and complete mutual understanding, barriers of culture, education, talent, individuality. It might be asserted that every human being on earth can fundamentally hold a dialogue with every other human being, and it might also be asserted that there are no two persons in the world between whom genuine, whole, intimate understanding is possible - the one statement is as true as the other."
This is a valuable observation. Absolute communication may be impossible, but "some" communication is possible and it's worth the effort to try. This, I think, is as good an answer as any to those who assert (probably from some misunderstanding of the results of information theory) that texts don't actually carry meaning.
Another great quote is on page 362 of my version: Teachers are more essential than anything else, men who can give the young the ability to judge and distinguish, who serve them as examples of the honoring of truth, obedience to the things of the spirit, respect for language.
It's not clear what is meant by "obedience to the things of the spirit." This is a perfect example of Hesse's attempting to make something sound lofty when it's really simplistic - the appearance of intellectualism, but not the fact. But the rest of it is important. Contrary to what many modern pseudointellectuals promulgate, honoring the truth is important, respect for language is important, and the ability to discern is crucial.
A common thread with the previous Hesse books I've read (Siddhartha and Steppenwolf) is the sense of movement, evolution, direction (in life), healing, self-awareness, completion.
Regarding evolution, Siddhartha is a child who breaks out on his own, becomes an ascetic, becomes a businessman which corrupts him, runs away and lives on the river where he is healed, and eventually becomes enlightened.
Steppenwolf, the wolf of the steppes, is a lone wolf character. He is a cacophanous mess of different voices all vying for attendion and which he is barely capable of keeping under control. His evolution is his attending to the hidden bar - perhaps only his mind - and his healing process wherein he "comes to term" with all the different aspects of his personality. This is the natural extension of the Freudian paradigm of ego, superego, and id - there are not a mere three voices in our heads - there are dozens or hundreds of them. The denouement finds Steppenwolf at ease - in harmony with - all the aspects of his personality.
Interesting note: Sidd leaves his parents and never sees them again, Steppenwolf is a loner (presumably detached from family), and Knecht is an orphan. They are all characters who start on a quest with no family.
Knecht is an orphan entering Castalia; a student defending the ideals of the province against the jibes of a worldly Plinio; an member of the order charged with reconciling the order with the church and gaining their trust and support; and then Master of the Game. His quandry comes in when he realizes (as described in the chapter "The Circular Letter") and explains that pure intellectualism is insufficient - that Castalians have a responsibility to the outside world. And they will experience the consequences of dealing or failing to deal with that responsibility regardless of whether they accept it. His healing takes place when he leaves the order and dies his first day of teaching his new student, Tito (the son of Plinio). The new student, witnessing the death, is deeply affected and we the readers are left with the unmistakable impression that Tito has unknowling, in some vague, and yet profound way accepted the baton from Joseph Knecht.
