Bibliofemme Bookclub An Irish Bookclub

Gertrude by Hermann Hesse  
(Published by Penguin Modern Classics)

Hermann Hesse was a German novelist, poet, and winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1946. He is most famous for his novels Steppenwolf and Das Glasperlenspiel (The Glass Bead Game). Gertrude is I believe a lesser lauded and read novel, it is none the less an agreeable read. It is labeled a “tragic love story of a crippled musician and his unrequited passion for Gertrude”.

Though dealing with passionate topics just as the nature of the artist, of love; unrequited and torturous passion, it is a quiet and almost meditative read.

The protagonist is a young man who sets out into a career in music – not especially talented or impassioned he none the less acquires a drive towards composing after being crippled in a youthful mishap. Hesse’s works have often been pointed out for there “finding yourself qualities” and indeed this novel does hold elements of that spiritual search – with ruminations on the nature of happiness and melancholy. But rather than cod psychology from 1910 what we get are some genuinely interesting points that hold relevance today.

“You are suffering from a sickness that is unfortunately common and that one comes across every day amongst sensitive people. It is related to moral insanity and can also be called individualism or imaginary loneliness…You are isolated no one troubles about you and no one understands you. Am I right?” Could this not be a treatise to you or anyone of us at sometime?

Alongside the young composer Kuhn we are also introduced to the object of his unrequited affections – Gertrude and to Muoth his friend, a fiery opera singer. Kuhn through his own self pity and lack of courage fails to take the leap to win Gertrude’s heart before she is swept into a destructive relationship with the worldlier singer Muoth. He then to stands by somewhat passively as their relationship disintegrates. He quietly spends his life in the company of few friends, composes to certain acclaim and does not open to the option of loving another.

Deemed a story about desires, what look like burning passions I believe have more to do with each individuals weaknesses– Kuhn’s love for Gertrude is long and steady yet it does not provoke him to great action. Muoth is destroyed not by this love but by his own nature. Gertrude is drawn into a relationship with a difficult man and then cannot cope with the consequences, she escapes her marriage emotionally scared and does not enter another relationship. Kuhn accepts what he sees as his fate although decrying “we can be stronger than nature and fate“ yet none of these characters are. They inhabit their fate and travel quietly to its unhappy end.

Perhaps the strength of his novel is its provocation of empathy; with the narrator, his self doubt, self-pity and restraint. He is but a man as are we.

Also by Herman Hesses
Demian