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Title: A mystical journey
Review: "The Journey to the East," by Hermann Hesse, has been translated from German into English by Hilda Rosner. The book is narrated in the first person by a musician who, as a member of a secret society known as "the League," undertook a mystical journey. This book chronicles the narrator's quest to write the story of this pilgrimage."Journey" is a very "writerly" text; it's largely about the challenge of representing life experience as a written document. The book also deals with writing as both catharsis and as a burden, and with the larger issue of finding meaning in one's life. The book has touches of fantasy and offers intriguing glimpses at the inner workings of a secret society.Hesse's prose, as translated by Rosner, has an elegant simplicity and subtle power. Recommended as companion texts: "The Guys," by Anne Nelson (also about the catharsis and burden of writing); and "The Sun at Night," by Roger Williamson (also deals with a secret mystical society).
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