And I did rise…

Posted on by Live & Learn

(He) handed me a copy of Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha. “In the shade of the house, in the sunshine of the riverbank near the boats, in the shade of the Sal-wood forest, in the shade of the fig tree is where Siddhartha grew up.” Reading that sentence for the first time in the small bedroom I shared with Charlie, it was as if I were reading about myself: In the shade of the house, in the sunshine of the highway near the droning automobiles, in the shade of the pine trees, in the shade of the dead-end street is where Tom Lowe Jr. grew up. Siddhartha and his search for who he was meant to be, it was me on that river, it was me on those banks, and it was me who began to see books as doorways to worlds that could only help me rise in this one. And I did rise. I sure as hell did.

— Andre Dubus III, Such Kindness: A Novel (W.W. Norton, June 6, 2023)

Notes:

Los Angeles Times Book Review by Lorraine Berry, June 8, 2023: ‘Sand and Fog’ author Andre Dubus III crafts a white-working-class Buddha story.

In a culture in which men are taught from an early age to overpower any obstacle, to ignore their feelings, to control a problem rather than surrender to it, to talk but not to listen, it would be easy to mock a novel about a man who chooses empathy. Dubus probes at masculinity’s wounds, its core beliefs about earning money as a means of caring for others, and exposes the selfishness and emptiness at its core.

Tom becomes, then, an alternative model of masculinity. To figure out his place in this community, he will have to make himself vulnerable and soft rather than brittle and mean. Dubus, meanwhile, models this vulnerability by risking earnestness inside of a literary culture that rewards the armor of irony. He reminds me of Rilke, who wrote to a young poet about how he needed to be patient, to learn the lessons of pain. To recognize that the paralysis of suffering deafens us to our own emotions. “Such Kindness” is an astonishing novel about all these feelings, and the actions they call forth when we pay attention.

22 thoughts on “And I did rise…”

  2. Reblogged this on Bright, shiny objects! and commented:
    How can I not reblog this? Hesse’s Siddhartha literally changed the trajectory of my life. My master’s thesis was on the connection between Hesse’s Siddhartha and Hegel’s Dialectic. Had I continued on with my doctoral degree my goal would have been to become a world famous Hermann Hesse scholar. Search this brightshinyobjects.net for the words Hesse and/or Siddhartha and/or dialectic and you’ll see that my passion for this topic still smolders beneath the surface. If you haven’t read Siddhartha you owe it to yourself. It’s a book I have read every year for the past 45 years…

  4. There’s something right about reading this during the middle of the night, when our vulnerability is most exposed. Siddhartha asks the question that are best answered when looking at the stars – and considering how to recognize our inner light. Book is in the queue – thanks, David

    1. Wish I had discovered this type of work/wisdom at a much younger age, though with my laser focus on the sciences in those days I’m not sure I would’ve gotten the message. I am grateful I have come to appreciate this type of work over the past decade or so. Better late than never.

  9. Thank you for these thoughts…. I read Siddhartha so many years ago I was a different person…does anyone else find how our minds change so much from “youth” (15 to 25) to a later maturity (25 up and onward)?

  11. I loved House of Sand and Fog and shall probably add this one to my ever-expanding list. I also added Siddartha because I feel like an illiterate that I’ve never done so…

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