Siddharta Vs Zarathustra

Hi folks. Decision time. Which should i read next? Which will be more life changing? Thoughts please.

 

Hesse writes circles around Nietzsche.


Though more difficult to read, Nietzsche is more original.

Hesse, you can digest easily, yet has a profound life-changing impact.

Nietzsche never makes anything easy, you have to hack your way through rough unexplored and often dangerous terrain.

One must be clear-headed, and examine everything minutely with Nietzsche.

Hesse is so crystal clear, that even the most jaded, materialistic, status-seeker is pierced by the vision.

Siddhartha, you can read anytime anywhere, as the story draws one magnetically into it.

Zarathustra, demands alot of energy, and alot of prep-work about his unique philosophy to understand his allegories.

 

I just fininshed Siddhartha. More life changing? Maybe...Depends on who you are what's already changed your life. It talks a lot about the unity of things.

 

I think that everyone should read Nietzsche. Whether you believe what he says or not, he will def. change the way you think about things.

 

I agree with free bird, I really think it depends on where you are personally. Which one do you feel more drwn too...go towards that.

I literally moments ago finished Siddhartha, I know that at any other point in my path so far I could not have gotten as much as I did at this point.

Maybe Zarathustra will be my next journey.

 

Siddhartha is a good short read that is quite touching. Life changing? ehhhh not for me but it was a good book non the less.

 

I found them both life changing but in different ways. And both are two of my favorite books. I'd probably read Siddharta first though, i couldn't really tell you why except thats just what i'd do. But i love both authors, and obviously i enjoyed Zarathustra...

 

i have been trying to read siddharta for a few weeks. my boyfriend read it and loved it but i just do not seem to get into it. i was able to read and enjoy herman hesse 'steppenwolf' but this is a different story.

 

I am exactly the same way.

 

I guess I would go with Zarathustra.

 

I don't understand why so many people can't seem to get through Siddhartha. I just finished it and found it to be very straight forward, and relatively short. It's message is life changing. Everything we could ever need or desire is within ourselves. Great read, I've never heard of the other book but apparently it is also. Ill look it up sometime.

 

You'll learn a lot more from Buddhist teachings than Nietzsche. Gautama has influenced more people too. Not that there is really a single source of Buddhist writings I have found the Dalai Lama to be influential. Nietzsche is fairly boring and hard to understand, I studied philosophy in college and had to take a seminar on his him.

 

who needs dualism, anyway? not me.

 

Read both. And then pick up Colin Wilson's The Outsider. Just my two cents. :book:

Why, you ask? Wilson ties Herman Hesse with Nietzsche as "Outsiders" in society. In many ways Wilson continues and updates Nietzsche's vision on the superman and the potential of our consciousness to become something more.

Sri Aurobindo wrote, "man is a transitional being." Another tradition that aligns with this vague Western tradition is Gary Lachman and his book, The Secret History of Consciousness. He covers Nietzsche's ideas in there too.

 

I love Zarathustra and have continued reading Nietzsche since I was 19. There's something about his writing that casts a chilling comfort around struggle and chaos in my life. It is true like someone mentioned above, he can steer you into dangerous paths that might not be suitable for all readers. I started with human all to human: a book for all and a book for none. Once Nietzsche shattered the stained glass floor I used to walk on I fell into a deep and dark place in which one can only create his own way out.

It is then that I learned to appreciate every challenge and struggle that presents itself. There's little to gain in taking the easy road. It can rid you of any fears that you currently have but it can also make one very sick.

Zarathustra is very powerful in my mind and can be especially profound to young and deep thinking minds.

 

You've got me beat by two years. I read Zarathustra when I was 21 (35 now) and went on to read virtually all of Nietzsche. It is my favorite book, and the most life changing.

I tried reading Herman Hesse, but like another poster, I could not get into it. After reading Zarathustra, Siddartha seemed silly to me.

 

I read both books years ago (in my eraly 20's) and re-read them last year (I'm 35 now) and still Hesse is more impacting to me.

 

Read both but may as well read Siddharta first since it's a quick read.

 

Reading Siddhartha presently, does look like a quick read.

 

Zarathustra would kick Sidarthur's arse