Hermann Hesse

Bildnis Hermann Hesse. Brustbild (1905), by Ernst Würtenberger

Hermann Hesse (1877-1962) was a German Nobel Prize winning author. His works were extremely popular in the 1960s, to the extent of being called the "Hesse Torrent." He received the Nobel Prize in 1946 for his Magnum Opus, The Glass Bead Game. His books are often metaphysical in nature and deal with a search for self-knowledge and understanding, especially where faith is concerned.

Works written by Hermann Hesse include:

• Peter Camenzind
• Beneath the Wheel
• Gertrude
• Rosshalde
• Knulp
• Demian
• Siddhartha
• Steppenwolf
• Narcissus and Goldmund
• Journey to the East
• The Glass Bead Game, originally published as Magister Ludi.
• Fairy Tales of Hermann Hesse

Hermann Hesse provides examples of the following tropes:

• Attractive Bent Gender: Hermine in Steppenwolf.
• Betty and Veronica: In Gertrude, Gertrude is Archie, to Kuhn's Betty and Muoth's Veronica.
• Calvin Ball: How exactly the Glass Bead Game goes is never fully explained....
• Casanova Wannabe: Emil
• The Charmer: Goldmund, of Narcissus and Goldmund.
• Child Prodigy: Often a deconstruction, as in Beneath the Wheel.
• The Drifter: Knulp
• Hooker with a Heart of Gold: Kamala in Siddhartha.
• Ineffectual Loner: Harry in Steppenwolf.
• The Muse: Gertrude to Kuhn, and Demian has one too.
• The Plague: Very relevant to Narcissus and Goldmund.
• Troubled Child