I guess at the time this book was written it may have been unique and thought provoking. It's a about 3 hours too long and it didn't tell me anything new or even anything old in a new way. In short, I don't understand why this is a classic and so loved by others. What did you like best about Siddhartha? What did you like least? And know that Brahmans are the the priest/upper class of that society. If you fail, you are reincarnated and get another chance. The most important thing is that the goal of the religion is to meditate long and hard until you finally achieve the ultimate truth of the universe at which point you're on your way to Nirvana. PS: You will need some basic info about Buddhism though. The narration is really excellent as well. Don't worry about it if you're exactly not on all fours with Sid's conclusions by the end. So, I highly recommend the book for its twisty-turny story, the lyrical writing, and the interestng ideas it sets out. I would have docked the story one star for it's philosophical conclusions, but that that didn't seem justified. I was not completely convinced by Sid's philosophy ultimately, but I still really enjoyed the story.

I found the story of Siddharta compelling, poetic at times, and well-narrated. It's like 'The Life of Brian', but with philosophy and poetic wording rather than that great Monty Python humour. But it's the story of a contemporary who crosses paths with the Buddha in the story, but who carves his own path to enlightenment. I initially thought this was a version of the life story of the Buddha (one of whose names was 'Siddartha').

Siddhartha by hermann hesse