Know Thyself through LITERATURE
The following is from Steppenwolf by Herman Hesse. This novel is what I consider a slow burn. Really well written, relays a definite feeling, but for this particular short book, I found it better to sip than to chug. Historically, I’m a very slow reader, I often reread, or even start over, if I don’t feel like ‘I got it’, or I wasn’t fully paying attention. I also tend towards ‘classics’ which have proven over time to be worthy of getting, so rather than assume a book that I can’t put down isn’t worth it, I soldier on. My point is, I really like Steppenwolf in doses, therefore I’m offering my selections, perspective, questions, and suggested contemplations to you likewise in doses, at least a triumvirate.
Steppenwolf, can you sadly relate? Part I:
The forgotten years of my youth came back to me. How I used to love the dark, sad evenings of late autumn and winter, how eagerly I imbibed their moods of loneliness and melancholy when wrapped in my cloak I strode for half the night through rain and storm, through the leafless winter landscape, lonely enough then too, but full of deep joy and full of poetry which later I wrote down by candlelight sitting on the edge of my bed. All that was past now. The cup was emptied and would never to be filled again. Was that a matter for regret? No, I did not regret the past. My regret was for the present day, for all the countless hours and days I lost to mere passivity and that brought me nothing, not even the shocks of awakening.
I cannot relate so very much to striding through storms, I like me a good storm, but from a warm, protected, vantage point with wifi, not for striding. But I can relate to a time when being with just myself was enjoyable, something I looked forward to; I liked spending time with me and hearing what it is I thought. There were even times when I did sit on the edge of a bed at night to capture thoughts that came from me. In accordance with Mr. Hesse, these recordable, non-regrettable moments don’t occur as often as they once did as the rest of the world keeps barging in on me…and me. Also in accordance, I too feel zero regret when I look back on my life, I feel this only when I look forward.
Good choices or bad, I made them and I lived then.
I feel like my ability to make my own choices is leaking, and I’m not exactly sure how to describe what I’m doing now.
Last Updated on 04/01/2026 by Death of Hypatia Inc.
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