Narcissus and Goldmund

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Narcissus and Goldmund

By: Hermann Hesse

Narrated by: Simon Vance

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About this listen

Narcissus and Goldmund is the story of a passionate yet uneasy friendship between two men of opposite character. Narcissus, an ascetic instructor at a cloister school, has devoted himself solely to scholarly and spiritual pursuits. One of his students is the sensual, restless Goldmund, who is immediately drawn to his teacher's fierce intellect and sense of discipline. When Narcissus persuades the young student that he is not meant for a life of self-denial, Goldmund sets off in pursuit of aesthetic and physical pleasures, a path that leads him to a final, unexpected reunion with Narcissus.

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Fiction

Genre Fiction

Literary Fiction

World Literature

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Spoiler Alert: Narcissus and Goldmund is the wonderful story of two young men who join a monastery. Narzissus is the classic aesthete. Goldmund initially longs for the life of an aesthete but Narcissus awakens the sensuous in him which was always his dominant feature. Goldmund leaves the monastery and explores the world and lives a life rich in sensuality with little purpose or meaning. At one point he sees a statue and is overcome by its beauty. He tracks down the master who carved it and becomes his apprentice or workmate. Starting gifted he eventually surpasses the master. Then he becomes restless and leaves to experience more of the world. The Black Death sweeps across the land he is in, and death is all around him but it doesn't claim him. Eventually, he is captured by a lord whose mistress he has seduced not far from the monastery he left in the beginning.
Condemned to death he is saved by Narcissus who has become abbot of the monastery. He stays there except for one small adventure and dies soon after his return.
This is a masterpiece by one of the world's truly great authors. It gives an amazing contrast between the sensuous and the aesthetic life although it tells little of the latter. The names of the main characters say much. The ideas are often magical in their depth and the writing has great beauty.
I have read quite a few of the brilliant books by Herman Hesse and some were very heavy going but this has always been the one I loved best.