Rarely does one have the pleasure of reading a book that leaves them with the profound impact of a changed perspective. by Hermann Hesse is one of those books. Hesse has taken an interesting premise that few writers could have tackled with such finesse and brought an unforgettably personal tale of the human soul. Hesse has a persuasive message that also manages to be thoroughly entertaining. He expresses his message through the three lives of : the life of meditation and poverty, the life of excess and desire, and the life of peace and un ....