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If the War Continues

by Hermann Hesse

Read the book Online: If the War Conitunes

Read the Book as a PDF: If the War Continues

This week in the book club we will be reading 'If the War Continues' by Hermann Hesse. This short story is from the book 'The Complete Fairy Tales of Hermann Hesse', a collection of 22 fairy tales written by Hermann Hesse between the years of 1904 and 1918 and translated by Jack Zipes. 

In this story our main character has the gift and ability (literal or metaphorically) to disappear and transport through time. When he drops back into existence throughout time, he notices that very little about the way that people behave tends to change, cruelty continues, war continues, people mistrust, people hurt each other, greed and selfish interests go unchanged. This story is an extension of Hesse's own essays and writings on war and greed and society at large. In the book of a similar name 'If the War Goes On' Hesse writes a series of essays criticising the wars in Germany and western Europe at the time. 

Herman Hesse remained clear-sighted and consistent in his political views and his passionate espousal of pacifism and the bloody absurdity of war from the start of World War I to the end of his life. He wrote the earliest essay in this book in September 1914, before he cemented his fame with the novels Steppenwolf and Siddhartha, and continued writing a stream of letters, essays and pamphlets throughout the war. 

This fictional fairy tale written about the same time as these essays in 1917 reflects similar beliefs and begs the question: Will we ever learn?

About the Author

Born in Calw a small town in Swabia, on July 2, 1877, Hesse was raised in a religious household. His Father, Johannes who had been a pietistic missionary in India, continued to work in the ministry when he returned to Germany. His mother, Marie, was an assistant to her own father, Herman Gundert, director of the Calw publishing house, one of the leading pietistic book companies in Europe.

As reflected in Demian, and other works, he believed that "for different people, there are different ways to God"; but despite the influence he drew from Indian and Buddhist philosophies, he stated about his parents: “their Christianity, one not preached but lived, was the strongest of the powers that shaped and moulded me".

Hesse himself was also a poet and an accomplished painter. He said about his own work; "My little watercolours are kinds of poems or dreams, which provide but a distant memory of "reality," and change it according to personal feelings or needs; the fact that I am a mere amateur is something I never forget."

What is the book club?

Join us every week for a book club, each week we will read a new short story of part of a larger book, the books will be made available as an audio book and we will meet as a group via zoom to chat about the story. All are welcome, hope to see you there. 

How to join the club to chat

The zoom link to join will apear above on this page at 3PM on Thursday. To join you will need a phone/tablet or laptop with a built in camera and microphone (most modern devices come with this) you may need to download the zoom app onto your phone if you are using a phone to join.

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