Hermann Hesse 
Steppenwolf 

Hermann Hesse (1877-1962), a German writer, won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1946. Steppenwolf is the representative works of Hesse”s mid-term creation and also a milestone in his creative career. The hero of the novel Harrell is an upright writer who despised the modern way of life and often stayed at home. The stifling air made him be caught in a schizophrenic situation. One day he occasionally read a book Comment on the Steppenwolf and felt enlightened to believe that he was a Steppenwolf which coexisting the "human" and "wolf". He was invited to attend the party and found that all the participants having a narrow nationalist idea, and his anti-war remarks were reprimanded which made him feel lonelier; when he went back home, he met the bar girl Hermione and got the sensual joy; Hermione introduced him to the musician Pablo and a girl Maria and let him forget all the worries and nerves in music and sensual enjoyment. But when he saw Hermione and Pablo getting close with each other, his "wolf nature" enlarged and prompted him to kill Hermione out of jealousy. Filled with fantasy color and profound meaning, this novel is considered to be with "surreal" style; and Thomas Mann even called it "Germany Ulysses".