hahah i like the way you describe it " another piece of dead wood with ink printed on it " funny anyways hesse and everyone find themselves out there in the nature , if you were in a realy difficult situation what would you tend to do if you know that out there in nature life seems perfect and yes indee is perfect just like you except that you are buried into your own dramas but perhaps because you arent looking the right direction , hesse has found a new direction so now that you have read his works can look into that direction and find peace just as hesse characters and himself did.

To anyone interested in responding intelligently:

Plinio Designori and Knecht have an intense discussion in the chapter called 'A Conversation'. Plinio expresses, with much unrest but w/o sparing the significance of his state mind, his general perspective on Castalia and the outside world. He contends that both worlds have forgotten about eachother, and, what is worse, both worlds have seemed to drift away and forget about themselves - they are then twice removed from respect for one another and respect of their own institutions. In this sense, throught he narrator, I beleive we see one of Hesse's preoccupations with modernity. Aside from Tegularis as a representation of the dangers of Nietszhean thought, Hesse presents both the Castalian and teh man of the world affected my the disease of soft nihilism - a stale, indifferent attitude towards life, without conviction - full of talent yet overly complacent with an unwillingness to serve. I find that the threat of nihilism is definitely one issue Hesse meant to address in The Glass Bead Game. Does anyone else have an opinion on this subject?

Yes, he was a vegetarian for some time and in times of illness. He learned to be vegetarian during his stay at the spiritual commune of Monte Verita near Ascona/switzerland where he fopund his "guru" Gusto Gríser. You will recognize the figure of Graeser in Demian and so many other master figures in Hesse's work. Read 'Mountain of Truth' by Martin Green, see www.gusto-graeser.de.vu or mail to me:
Gustomueller@web.de

So long!