The Glass Bead Game, Hermann Hesse
The Glass Bead Game, Hermann Hesse
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The Glass Bead Game

Author: Hermann Hesse

Narrator: David Colacci

Unabridged: 21 hr 18 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 10/08/2008

Synopsis

The final novel of Hermann Hesse, for which he won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1946, The Glass Bead Game is a fascinating tale of the complexity of modern life as well as a classic of modern literatureSet in the twenty-third century, The Glass Bead Game is the story of Joseph Knecht, who has been raised in Castalia, the remote place his society has provided for the intellectual elite to grow and flourish. Since childhood, Knecht has been consumed with mastering the Glass Bead Game, which requires a synthesis of aesthetics and scientific arts, such as mathematics, music, logic, and philosophy, which he achieves in adulthood, becoming a Magister Ludi (Master of the Game).

About Hermann Hesse

Hermann Hesse (1877–1962) was born in Germany and later became a citizen of Switzerland. As a Western man profoundly affected by the mysticism of Eastern thought, he wrote many novels, stories, and essays that bear a vital spiritual force that has captured many generations of readers. In 1946 he won the Nobel Prize for Literature.

About David Colacci

David Colacci is an actor and director who has directed and performed in prominent theaters nationwide. His credits include roles from Shakespeare to Albee, as well as extensive work on new plays. As a narrator, he has won numerous Earphones Awards, earned Audie Award nominations, and been included in Best Audio of the Year lists by such publications as Publishers Weekly, AudioFile magazine, and Library Journal. He was a resident actor and director with the Cleveland Play House for eight years and has been artistic director of the Hope Summer Rep Theater since 1992.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Vit on April 28, 2024

The Glass Bead Game is a profound and complex contemplation on the relation between reality and art. The game of the title is a symbol and quintessence of pure art – art for art’s sake. “As you well know, there are some who do not think well of the Glass Bead Game. They say it is a substitute for the......more

Goodreads review by Ben on November 26, 2021

There’s a scene in Antonio Tabucchi’s Indian Nocturne in which the narrator meets an Indian intellectual who asks him, among other things, what he thinks of Hermann Hesse. The narrator, resenting the interruption and perhaps with a sense he is being mocked, heaps scorn on the German “spiritualist”,......more

Goodreads review by David on May 07, 2019

Allow three stars to stand for my ambivalence. Not for the quality of this book, which is indeed quite excellent. We live in a time of urgent political and environmental catastrophe. Those of us who aren’t evangelical Christians who put anti-abortion judges before other social values; those of us who......more

Quotes

“An intricate bildungsroman about humanity’s eternal quest for enlightenment and for synthesis of the intellectual and the participatory life.” Merriam-Webster Encyclopedia of Literature

“While the length may seem daunting, Colacci's voice remains fresh through the 17th CD of this captivating novel.”
School Library Journal

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