The first time I read The Glass Bead Game, the ending (of the first bit) made me laugh for about three minutes straight.
My impression after reading most of the book was that Knecht's life was pretty good. I couldn't shake the feeling that, whether or not the Game was worth dedicating so many lives to, the act of dedication was giving the players a great many benefits. I knew there were a bunch of pages remaining, and I expected the book to make some kind of statement of similarity between dedication to pointless academia vs tangible life.
And then Hesse killed him off by drowning him in a pond, and followed it up with a bunch of doubly fictional essays.
My impression after reading most of the book was that Knecht's life was pretty good. I couldn't shake the feeling that, whether or not the Game was worth dedicating so many lives to, the act of dedication was giving the players a great many benefits. I knew there were a bunch of pages remaining, and I expected the book to make some kind of statement of similarity between dedication to pointless academia vs tangible life.
And then Hesse killed him off by drowning him in a pond, and followed it up with a bunch of doubly fictional essays.