Book Review: Herman Hesse's Siddharta

Herman Hesse and Nieztche have something in common: Both are authors with whom you come into contact during youth. Whether it's a colleague or a college professor who mention them, or because its during that age that we already have the intellectual equipment to initiate more sophisticated intellectual pursuits wikipedia-thanks for the lols- Hesse is an author who regularly is discovered before the 20s. There is a kind of triforce written by this gentleman, composed by Demian (Book which I have spoken before) Steppenwolf and Siddhartha, which is that I shall speak below. The novel was written after Demian but before Steppenwolf, so has a lot of the deep and inspiring atmosphere of the first book but without the overwhelming complexity of the second(Do you rebember the tractac of the steppenwolf? Oh my god...). Siddhartha, as many of you can imagine, chronicles the life of the Buddha, but this is not a ordinary Buddha , if not rather a personal version of Hesse, which is full of flaws, passions and virtues course also to be more pronounced over the years in our protagonist. The son of a respected monk in his village, a journey of self-discovery that leads him to be a member of a sect of ascetics to be a merchant gambling addict and alcohol, to meet after the kamala sexy, voluptuous and sensual woman who it starts in the arts of kama sutra. With the passage of time and experience is joining, Siddhartha ends up becoming a hermit dedicated solely to their reflections and cultivate land.

The book ends with our hero dying while still absorbed in his thoughts and his best friend from lifelong Govindawho now is a great monk, accompanies him on his deathbed. At the end of the book we witness as someone who looked young and gifted virtuoso ends as an ordinary man, as someone else's lot. While I can first seem like an attempt by the author to teach humility to his audience, is quite the contrary, we see that despite humble life-or mediocre, depending on how you see-our protagonist, throughout the play we see that has within it a enome, complex and rich inner life, which is not destroyed or obscured by moral delusions that beset Siddhartha, but it rather thrives on them. At the end of the book, what we see is that Siddhartha was what I wanted to understand human nature in its entirety, that is, he wanted to be all men, but there comes a point where it realizes that this is impossible for a single person, given the vast nuances that can encompass the human soul.

I hope my review did not make to this book look like something depressing and gloomy, and rather is an ode to equanimity and spirituality that humans face certain life circumstances, such as the senselessness of it, or death, or the loss of love, innocence, etc etc. Widely recommended for a weekend, as it is a short story and you can read without problems on a Sunday you have nothing to do. Give it a try, you will not regret.

Little Thinkers - Or I'm the hipster king

Do you like to read? Are you a Nerd? You admire gret figures from the literature, music or artsin general? So you can’t lose this chance of have a little version of your idols on a fluffy andsmall presentation! The Unemployed Philosophers Guild are the responsables for this awesome creation, the little thinkers collection.  

They are plush toys of  celebrities like Tolstoy, Freud, Gandhi, Poe and many more characters! There's even a version of Barack Obama! These soft toys are great and definitely cannot be missed on the desktop of anyone who claims to have culture or literary hobbies (and / or aspirations). Personally for me I bought a mini version of Nietzsche to accompany me while I do my homework and I bought for my girlfriend a little Dali and a plush version of Edvard Munch's painting "The Scream" (the which one scream when you press is belly. lol). They are just great!

Also worth mentioning is that its price makes it extremely accessible, as each one costs about $ 15. It's a bargain! They are more or less than 40 cm high by 20 long, and there are some like that are music Bethoveen. You can be a good mom or dad and buy one of these to inclinate the tastes of your childs since since they are babies and prevent them to admire Justin bieber’s music or the next generical shit that could emerge from MTV. Im really waiting for a mini version of Octavio Paz or Herman Hesse, hope they will craft them soon.  

Cat Bookmark

Finally this semester is over! Thanks to that now I have much more free time and I've been able to dedicate to do more things I like. And there are two things I like in particular: Read and cats. Interestingly, some time ago I found this video on youtube by accident:

I have the purpose of making a cat like this to each and every one of the books that I read. The model is very simple, easy to do and is very very cute (not to mention that its folding becomes addictive). Here are some pics of what I have done so far. 

Book Review: Ender's Game

Ender is a 10 years old boy who wakes up one day in a doctor's office half naked and feeling anxious. He knows that something is missing. Because it has not met the expectations, he has removed the mental scientists monitor the militia had placed on his neck to always know what was going through your mind and senses. That same day at the college, the boys in her class noticed that your monitor has been removed planned attack in groups, what ender responds with a brutal attack on the leader of the gang, breaking ribs and almost desbaratandole an eye kicking. Inside Ender feels terrible about what he did, but he knows that the only way to prevent further fighting is making it clear that he is no coward. That afternoon, the military go to his house to pick him up to take him to a military school, and tell you that everything has been tested. Thus, Ender becomes a member of a program to train the best soldiers in preventing an alien invasion. 

Thus begins the saga of Ender, the science fiction equivalent to Harry Potter, but that does not mean it is only a copy, because this saga is more obscure and complex, intended for an audience a little more mature. The author of the saga is Orson Scott Card, and is currently made ​​up of 11 short stories, 10 novels. Personally I recommend reading the first book because it is the best of them, but anyone can get is worth it.

Book Review: Herman Hesse's Demian.

Everyone at some point in our lives we had to cross the threshold between our conception forged in house as the world and reality itself, and depending on how it has been the home environment this transition can be more or less drastic, as the case. Apparently, the drama of this circumstance is proportional to how happy was your childhood. I mean, obviously if you were raised by irresponsible parents from an early age have tasted what is bitter reality. For fortune (or misfortune of our protagonist, I'm not sure) of Emil Sinclair, the environment in which he grew up and the real world are two completely opposite places contrasting with the force with which they do in the morning and evening. Emil is the son of a bourgeois marriage Germany in the early twentieth century who usually sing every night with his family religious songs, going to a school of rich kids and also takes quite well with their class. His awakening to the real world takes place abruptly thanks to one of the boys city bums, who takes advantage of a lie that Emil had told his friends to impress and does fall into blackmail. This situation is growing little by little, from the first to ask a few coins or a knife, then ask him to arrange an appointment with her sister already this "age of entitlement". At this point is when the character makes an appearance that gives title to this book, Demian, who is the son of a mysterious widow who shun all neighbors as a woman is not religious or social. Demian, who radiates charisma and an improbable maturity for his age, is responsible for putting in place the boy Emil blackmailed, and that's how their friendship started. This will evolve over time so that Emil always try to Demian as his role model. 

Demian is a great read for young and that addresses issues such as the discovery of the loneliness and suffering, as well as virtues like ensalsa camaraderie and loyalty. To all this is added the mysterious little touch that gives the author mixing the sect of the "sons of Cain" and "God Abraxas" in the lives of our protagonists -both concepts are introduced to Emil in his college years by Demian-, which is certainly something that arouses much curiosity and want to continue reading. Definitely a must-see title, because as usual, herman hesse amenity offered in this work and depth as only he can.

Brave New World - Aldous Huxley

There is a book that along with the classic George Orwell's 1984 is the epitome of dystopian futures literature. In a world where all ethics and morals have given to the interests of the state, monogamy is prohibited and purposefully consume psychotropic called soma (which swallowed relieves any anxiety or mental agitation) is a civic duty, our protagonist Bernard Marx is born, an outsider in the world where he lived.

Marx, because of a problem with the incubator machine where he was born, have a mind too sharp to be adaptable to domestication that the state exercises over its people. Highlights the fact that apparently the intelligence has led Marx to develop an ethical system of beliefs which prevent you from living fully with their neighbor. Looking around, he realizes that all his fellows are being brutalized by sex, wild sports and vice, which thus do not develop a critical awareness and to fulfill their role of engagement in the great machinery is this society that Huxley raised. This clarity of mind contrasts sharply with the dull minds of Lenina Crowne, a girl whose promiscuity and poor judgment show that is one of the best and strongest links in the chain dystopian Huxley conceived.

In this society, all individuals are designed before his birth and natural reproduction is prohibited determinedly are germinated in a kind of giant incubator where they were given nutrients and chemicals needed to develop the skills that correspond to their caste. For example, a delta should be more robust and disciplined but also must have a temperament that allows you to obey the orders of a beta less race that takes care of administrative tasks and management of the state.

If you are in the college, you must be political active and this will be one of your favorites. This book could be considered the legitimate predecessor of the comic by Alan Moore "V for Vendetta" and the Matrix saga. It is said that Huxley wrote after recovering from the Great Depression that engulfed after being disillusioned with Soviet totalitarianism, whose excesses had come to condemn socialism to a slow, pathetic death throes. Highly recommended to have a good weekend at home and get to think about what happens when people become ignorant, whether out of conviction or convenience.

Any resemblance to reality is pure coincidence.

Link to free books download http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/

Plato, Not Prozac - Lou Marinoff

"You can be your worst enemy, but the next in the line is the person with whom we shares an intimate relationship. Living with someone provides much information on how to make that person unhappy. Socrates was aware of the capacity inherent in whom we are closest to us more harm than anyone, and to love more than anyone, when he formulated his ethics symmetrical: "We are able to do a certain amount of good, and always accompanied by the ability to do the same amount of evil”

-Lou Marinoff-

Plato, Not Prozac is a book by French author Lou Marinoff, where with a bit of humor, while seriously and in depth, we show philosophical views on the issues of everyday life.

This book starts from the proposition that today many of the internal problems of the people can not be treated right through the psychology and psychiatry, because although these have a range of action within the healing of the human psyche, are very limited in some aspects, such as anxiety that may cause an ethical dilemma at work (for example, trying to decide between laying off workers to increase profits of the company or reduce these profits to keep staff) or the death of a loved. Given this situation, Marinoff suggests psychological counseling as an alternative means of therapy, where the "patient" trying to put their priorities and values ​​in order, then put your life in harmony with this hierarchy that help you discover the philosopher.

Issues such as family life, the depression, the ethical conflicts at work, death of a loved one, raising children are treated in this book from a perspective very different from what common sense tells us (aka the "doxa" Aristotle), and although this book may not be the panacea to relieve our anxieties undoubtedly give us some interesting insights about our everyday

Link to free books online http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/