The Glass Bead Game (Magister Ludi)
Title
The Glass Bead Game (Magister Ludi)
Description
The Glass Bead Game is an ultra-aesthetic game which is played by the scholars, creamed off in childhood and nurtured in elite schools, in the province of Castalia. The Master of the Glass Bead Game, Joseph Knecht, holds the most exalted office in Castalia. He personifies the detachment, serenity and aesthetic vision which reward a life dedicated to perfection of the intellect. But can, indeed should, man live isolated from hunger, family, children, women, in a perfect world where passions are tamed by meditation, where academic discipline and order are paramount? This is Herman Hesse’s great novel. It is a major contribution to contemporary philosophic literature and has a powerful vision of universality, the inner unity of man’s cultural ideals and his search for personal perfection and social responsibility.
Subject Matter
Literature
Publication Year
1969
Publisher
Holt, Rinehart and Winston
Language
English
Files
Collection
Citation
“The Glass Bead Game (Magister Ludi),” The Bruce Lee Library Research Project, accessed May 15, 2025, https://www.bruceleelibrary.jamescbishop.com/lib/items/show/1684.