{"product_id":"klein-and-wagner-hermann-hesse-9781548751371","title":"Klein and Wagner","description":"\u003cp\u003e\"\u003cstrong\u003eThe most ruthless of Hesse's many self-exposures.\u003c\/strong\u003e\" Joseph Mileck\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eKlein and Wagner\u003c\/strong\u003e tells the story of \u003cstrong\u003eFriedrich Klein\u003c\/strong\u003e, a middle-aged clerk who has embezzled from his employer and escaped to Italy. However, \u003cstrong\u003eKlein\u003c\/strong\u003e is not a common criminal, but rather a self-alienated, tormented bourgeois in search of peace and self-fulfillment.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eWhile pondering his fate, \u003cstrong\u003eKlein\u003c\/strong\u003e recognizes that his primary motivation was a compulsion and urge to murder his wife and children, which he could only avoid by entirely abandoning his old life. This dark drive is associated with the name \u003cstrong\u003eWagner\u003c\/strong\u003e, which alludes to the famous composer and also to an actual German schoolteacher who in September 1913 had killed his wife and children.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn spite of his flight, \u003cstrong\u003eKlein\u003c\/strong\u003e fails to transcend his pain: instead of feeling liberated, he regards himself as a victim of his own thoughts, his brain a kaleidoscope in which the shifting images were directed by somebody else's hand.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThroughout the story, \u003cstrong\u003e Klein\u003c\/strong\u003e repeatedly ponders suicide. In this desperate situation he meets \u003cstrong\u003eTeresina\u003c\/strong\u003e, a young blonde courtesan who mingles with the local art crowd. He is increasingly drawn to her, although his stance remains ambivalent. To \u003cstrong\u003eKlein\u003c\/strong\u003e, something about \u003cstrong\u003eTeresina\u003c\/strong\u003e symbolized vitality as well as a connection to the eternal feminine. But when \u003cstrong\u003eTeresina\u003c\/strong\u003e asks him about his background, he refuses to give a straight answer.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAmong the most obvious features of \u003cstrong\u003eKlein and Wagner\u003c\/strong\u003e are the striking autobiographical parallels. By 1919, \u003cstrong\u003eHesse\u003c\/strong\u003e's first wife \u003cstrong\u003eMia\u003c\/strong\u003e had been diagnosed as mentally ill. The author was still uncertain whether to seek a divorce. In addition, he feared the responsibility for raising their three sons, \u003cstrong\u003eBruno\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cstrong\u003eHeiner\u003c\/strong\u003e, and \u003cstrong\u003eMartin\u003c\/strong\u003e. In the Spring of 1919, \u003cstrong\u003e Hesse\u003c\/strong\u003e finally succumbed to his urge to escape, left Bern for Ticino and settled down in the mountain village of Montagnola, where he wrote this story.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eWhereas the character \u003cstrong\u003eKlein\u003c\/strong\u003e remains trapped in his identification with \u003cstrong\u003eWagner\u003c\/strong\u003e, writing down his story proved instrumental for \u003cstrong\u003eHesse\u003c\/strong\u003e in overcoming his deep personal crisis. To \u003cstrong\u003eHesse\u003c\/strong\u003e, writing \u003cstrong\u003eKlein and Wagner\u003c\/strong\u003e fulfilled a clear therapeutic purpose: \"\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eKlein\u003c\/strong\u003e is a part of \u003cstrong\u003eHesse\u003c\/strong\u003e and will always be; without him, without the transference of my suffering into this mirror, I would not have been able to bear this suffering. It was my salvation that I escaped into solitude and lived completely, day and night, in my writing.\u003c\/em\u003e\"\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eStrongly influenced by Expressionism, \u003cstrong\u003eKlein and Wagner\u003c\/strong\u003e is a modern \"psychodrama\" that introduces key themes and motifs that dominates \u003cstrong\u003eHesse\u003c\/strong\u003e's writing during the following decade, including some striking connections to \u003cstrong\u003eSteppenwolf\u003c\/strong\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Hermann Hesse\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1548751375\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781548751371\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Createspace Independent Publishing Platform\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 07\/10\/2017\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 106\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.34lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.02h x 5.98w x 0.22d","brand":"Hermann Hesse","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":43991589945599,"sku":"9781548751371","price":9.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_86cb3e17-a3cd-43c3-ba99-62da785df900.jpg?v=1683311133","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/klein-and-wagner-hermann-hesse-9781548751371","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}