Humiliating though it would be to us, I am nevertheless seriously wondering if we should not put him into an institution or farm him out to strangers.  We are too nervous and too weak for him... he seems to have a gift for everything: he observes the moon and the clouds, improvises drawings, sings very ably when he has a mind to, and he is never at a loss for rhymes.

Adult Life
    In 1895 Hesse began his apprenticeship at the Hechenhauer Bookshop in Tubingen.  During his apprenticeship he found comfort in the world of poetry.  Hesse began to read a lot, and he became fascinated in the history of literature.  His first collection of poems was published in 1899.  It was called Romantic Songs.  Hesse got another job at the Reich'schen Bookshop.  But in order to have more time for his writing in 1901 he quit his job at the bookshop.
    In 1903 Hesse met a lady named Maria Bernoulli.  She was from a prominent family in Basle.  They married in the summer of 1904.  Now Hesse became a full time writer.  He lived a very simple life out in the beautiful countryside.    He spent a lot of time with fellow writers.  Most of his closest friends were either writers,. visual artists, or musicians.  Hesse began to travel more often in order to, "Discover what was happening".  After a trip to India, his mother's home land, Hesse realized that his marriage was in trouble.  He continued to live with Maria Bernoulli for a few more years but was severely depressed the whole time.  Eventually during the summer of 1923 their marriage ended, but Hesse remarried to Ruth Wenger in 1924.  This marriage lasted for only four years.
    Over the next 340 years Hesse published a variety of works.  He was very successful with The Glass Bead Game, a novel about his life of experience and work.  Hesse also finished writing The Journey to the East, a novel very closely related to The Glass Bead Game.  Because of much persistent demand, contrary to his wishes, Hesse finished a collection of his poetry.  The common edition was called Die Gedichtge.  This edition contained about 600 poems, all which were written in about 50 years.
    Herman Hesse was known for his beliefs which were contrary to those of most people of the time.  Living through both world wars, Hesse shaped his opinions about many things on direct experience.  Many of his works were popular because of their criticism of bourgeois values and reflection of his interest in eastern religions.  During his lifetime, he was analyzed by Carl Jung, a psychoanalyst.

Last Years of Hesse's Life
    In 1946 Herman Hesse won the Nobel Prize for literature.  But unfortunately he had leukemia, making it  impossible  for him to accept the prize in person.  On his eighty-fifth birthday, Montagnola elected him an honorary citizen.  Hesse was delighted to receive this honor.  On August 8, 1961 Hesse went to bed for the last time.  He died the next morning, August 9, in his sleep due to Cerebral Hemorrhage.
 

Works By Herman Hesse
  Hesse's First Novel is called Peter Camenzind.  It reflected Hesse's disgust with the educational system.  In 1911 he began to study Eastern religions, and wrote his novel Siddhartha.  It was based on the early life of Guatama Buddha.  Hesse's most important novel Demian, was written in 1919.  It featured a story of a man who was torn between his orderly bourgeois existence and a chaotic world of sensuality.  Young veterans of W.W.I were especially attracted to this novel because it found an odd justification for the killing that some of them had to do. In 1943 Hesse's novel Das Glasperlenspiel was published.  This novel is about an imaginary province of Castilia, and intellectual, elitist community, that is dedicated to mathematics and music.  The following are some other works by Herman Hesse: The Prodigy, Steppenwolf, Gertrude, The Journey to the East, Strange News From another Star and Other Stories.
 
 

Bibliography
Herman Hesse (1877-1962). 1 April 2001
        <http://www.levity.com/corduroy/hesse.htm>
Herman Hesse Backround, Childhood, and Youth (1877-1895). 1 April 2001
        <http://www.gss.ucsb,edu/projects/hesse/life/jennifer.html>
Herman Hesse. 1 April 2001
        <http://www.hermann-hesse.com>
Herman Hesse (1877-1962)
        <http://userwww.sfsu.edu/~rsausler/Hesse.html>