“The Bead Game” is the last and main book of the German writer Hermann Hesse. It was published in 1943 by the Zurich publishing house. And in 1946, Hesse received the Nobel Prize in literature, possibly thanks to the book “The Game of Beads”. The summary of the work is as follows: the action takes place in the future, the narration is conducted on behalf of a fictional scientist-historian who works on a biography of the main character of the novel - Game Master Joseph Knecht.
The master of the game is the title given to the protagonist teaching specially selected, talented, elite descendants of European society in an educational institution specially designated for these purposes, located in the province of the fictional country of Castalia. The name of the country clearly resonates with the word "caste", which is the teachers and students of the school. The main subject of this educational institution is the game of beads, which includes a mixture of science and art.
By and large, the invented by Hesse Castalia echoes with many other works, the authors of which were keen on thoughts of utopia. But Hesse brings to his myth the idea of the spiritual and intellectual end of European thought, in a sense about the "twilight of the gods." And we accept the creation of Castalia as a necessity.
Hesse describes a spiritual catastrophe that befell industrial Europe, in which all spiritual and creative life ceased. And about vital issues such as economics, politics, philosophy and religion, people began to judge incompetent in these matters.
Many different people remember the “Bead Game”. Reader reviews tell us that the Hessian novel is not a very subtle hint to the modern elite that it is engaged in all sorts of nonsense that will lead society to collapse.
So, the "Bead Game." The summary of the novel is as follows: the main character Joseph Knecht, having started his studies at the Castali school, acquires a friend named Plinio Designori, with whom they conduct long polemical conversations. In these disputes, Designori tries to convince Knecht that he considers unsustainable attempts to preserve science, culture and art, as well as the elite training system in the closed educational institutions of Castalia.
The names of the main characters speak for themselves "Knecht" - a servant, "Designori" - seigneur. Probably, it was no coincidence that they were chosen by Hesse, since he considers the position defended by Designori to be correct. Designori leaves Castalia to live a "real life" in a "real world."
Knecht, having successfully completed his studies, was called to lead the school of Castalia. Once he decides to start teaching with his friend’s son, comes to him and, after a short stay, dies, leaving us a collection of poems and short stories of his composition.
The question asked by Hesse throughout the whole story can be formulated as follows: "Is not all science and art, all the spiritual daring of mankind a simple game in glass?"
In the novel, Hesse asks the question of what will happen to art in a bourgeois society deeply hostile to any work? The death of the protagonist shows us that people like Knecht have no place among ordinary individuals.