[maggotbrain]

Seems like being raised in, and rejecting, a pietist environment can result in some fantastic literature and philosophy. Hesse was raised in a pietist household and smoked cigarettes to protest. Kant was brought up the same and wrote "Critique of Pure Reason".

I don't necessarily regard Hesse's work as necessarily being directed towards a 'coming of age' readership; but, I discovered him at a time when I was struggling with my own "private battles of adolescence" and am grateful in finding his work.

[50]

I, too, am lucky to have found him a few years ago in my late teens. It feels like I’ve just been in an internal existential crisis these past few years and his words always keep me grounded. Along with Rilke’s and Camus’s.

[wirrbel]

"Beneath the wheel" (Unterm Rad) is a good read if you are interested in that aspect.