The Steppenwolf | Hermann Hesse

This revolutionary translation is the only way to experience the novel as Hesse envisioned it nearly one hundred years ago.

The quest for self-discovery never ends, especially for Harry Haller―better known as the Steppenwolf. After a life spent in self-imposed isolation, Harry meets the mysterious Hermine and becomes captivated by her intoxicating power. Through their nighttime adventures, the Steppenwolf experiences the decadent underbelly of the bourgeois society he always despised. Harry becomes a man divided―lost in a surreal underground world of pleasure and set on a collision course with his innermost desires.

There has never been a translation that fully captures the essence of Hermann Hesse’s own spiritual questioning until now. Kurt Beals restores the original meaning of this hallucinatory German tale in a recognizably modern voice. Beals’s expert introduction traces the impact of The Steppenwolf for readers seeking meaning during the upheaval of world conflicts, the onslaught of new technologies, and life’s uncertainties.

About the Author

Hermann Hesse was born in 1877 in Calw, Germany. He grew to become a celebrated author and the recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1946. As the son of missionaries, he developed a fascination with self-discovery and spiritual explorations, an interest also likely due in part to his lifelong struggle with depression, which led him to study Sigmund Freud and, later, to undergo psychoanalysis with Carl Jung. In 1912 he moved to Switzerland, where he wrote his best-known books, including the classic Siddhartha; composed poetry; and painted landscapes. He passed away in 1962 in Montagnola, Switzerland. Hesse is one of the most widely translated authors of the twentieth century; his work continues to have influence worldwide.

About the Translator

Kurt Beals is visiting associate professor of German and humanities fellow in literary translation at the University of Richmond. He has translated works by Jenny Erpenbeck, Hermann Hesse, Reiner Stach, Regina Ullmann, and Anja Utler, among others. He lives in Virginia.