Reviews

Gertrud by Hermann Hesse

eliasarmand's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

ferya's review against another edition

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reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? N/A
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

pyladesreads's review against another edition

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reflective sad medium-paced
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

greataukeve's review against another edition

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emotional reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

isa_levogira's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective medium-paced

4.0

carmenb's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad

4.0

benbru's review against another edition

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reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

cjingreading's review against another edition

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3.0

2.5
i liked the writing and everything up to, ironically, gertrude's first appearance


Quotes:
This period which I had yearned so much and which had promised everything to me, was the only one in my life when I travelled along joyless paths abandoned by the spirit of music and lived through days which had no meaning and rhythm.

I was sorry for him and perhaps I ought to put him before myself, but I wanted peace and did not want to let him in.

I don't want to thrust aside and be rid of anything but weakness and construction. I want to feel that pleasure and pain arise from the same source, that they are aspects of the same force and proportions of the same piece of music, each beautiful and each essential.

linsente's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

dieses buch bedeuted mehr als alle möglichen welten zusammen  für mich. >> art and music, nature, isolation, lonliness and being alone, admiration, fury, jealouy, pain,happiness.

 “That is where my dearest and brightest dreams have ranged — to hear for the duration of a heartbeat the universe and the totality of life in its mysterious, innate harmony.” 

kirkreads's review against another edition

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5.0

This book came as a surprise to me. It is the fourth novel that I have read by Hesse, but I connected with it on a more visceral level than the others. I felt the pain and unease of the narrator, as well as his happiness. It is difficult to review a book when it profoundly affects you. All that I can really state is, if you like Hesse, don't overlook this often forgotten novel.