A Brief Review of Hermann Hesse's "Steppenwolf" by Chuck Trunks (Trunks Art)

Nampa, Idaho - March 22, 2026 - A year ago, I discovered the word “Steppenwolf” is more than just the name of a 1960s rock band responsible for the iconic counterculture anthem “Born to Be Wild.” Steppenwolf (1927) is also the title of one of Hermann Hesse’s most famous novels, a psychological and existential thriller about a man torn between his humanity and his natural inclination toward wolfish loneliness. Ten days ago, I brought it home with me from the library; by the time I finished reading the preface that evening, I was thinking, I’m not only the same age as the wretched protagonist, Harry Haller, but I’m also exactly like him! Oh no!

Hermann Hesse (1877-1962), a German-Swiss novelist and Nobel Prize winner for literature in 1946, published Steppenwolf at the age of 50. In it, he describes a society that is as lost and rudderless as the one we live in today—just substitute radios and gramophones for the internet. What made Steppenwolf interesting to me was the main character—no doubt an alter ego of the author—who struggles, like many of us, with the duality of human nature: spirituality versus physical indulgence, intellect versus emotion. Each time I turned the pages, I kept reminding myself that Mr. Hesse was describing a medium-sized German town in the late 1920s—and not Los Angeles, California, in the 2000s, Boise, Idaho, in the 2010s, or Columbia, South Carolina, in the 2020s.

I am like the anti-hero Harry Haller in that I, too, am aware—and deeply troubled—by the evil truths that underpin so-called “civilized society.” It isn’t until Harry meets Hermine, a young lady of dubious distinction, that he is coerced into confronting his self-defeating behaviors. This confrontation climaxes in a conclusion that one would think impossible to imagine—let alone write—more than a hundred years ago. It reads like an Edgar Allen Poe rewrite of a Hans Christian Andersen story, directed by Stanley Kubrick. It’s wild, macabre, and voyeuristic—an unsettling ending to Hesse’s Steppenwolf, a book I won’t soon forget.

-Chuck Trunks

"This work was written independently by the author without the use of generative AI."

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Trunks Art moved from Columbia, South Carolina, to Nampa, Idaho, in 2025 and has made this city his home and writing inspiration.

To see more of my work, please have a look at more posts or email me at chucktrunks@gmail.com. Or, visit my website at www.trunksart.com.  Also, you can find me on Instagram (chucktrunks) and Facebook (Chuck Trunks).