Narcissus and Goldmund

One of literature's most moving portraits of friendship by an icon of literature.

'This extremely beautiful novel has a ripeness and wisdom all too rare in modern literature' Telegraph

'There's a certain time in life when one needs to read Hesse' Jenny Erpenbeck

With an introduction by Graham Coxon

In a monastery in medieval Germany, brilliant, analytical monk Narcissus is drawn to his new student, the impulsive, charismatic Goldmund. Despite their differences in age and temperament, the two form a deep friendship, but when Goldmund rejects the monastic life and runs away to seek experience of the wider world, their bond is tested, in this plangent, limpid masterpiece, rich with the rhythms of medieval life.

Goldmund pursues a sensual, picaresque existence, and Narcissus remains cloistered and controlled, but events and inclination bring them together again and again. One of literature's most moving portraits of friendship, Narcissus and Goldmund is also a powerful invitation to the reader: to explore the agony and ecstasy of life in the world, to seek the solace of contemplation, and to find the deep unity that exists within all of life's apparent contradictions.

Part of the Pushkin Press Classics series: timeless storytelling by icons of literature, hand-picked from around the globe.

Translated by Leila Vennewitz.

Hermann Hesse (1877-1962) was born in was born in Württemberg, Germany. He resented his pious and repressive upbringing, and was determined to be 'a writer or nothing else'. His writing was greatly influenced by his travels to Asia and his friendship with psychoanalyst Carl Jung. In 1946 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. Several of his novels are published by Pushkin Press Classics, including The Journey from the East, Demian and Siddhartha.

Leila Vennewitz (1912-2007) was a British-Canadian translator of German literature, known for her translations of works by Heinrich Böll and Alfred Andersch, among other authors.