Nampa, Idaho - May 27, 2026 - I didn’t begin reading books about the path to enlightenment until after I had already found my own. How could I, when I didn’t even know what was happening to me? Despite exiting this world before I was born, Hermann Hesse (1877–1962) is one of those authors who, from his grave in Switzerland, makes me feel less alone in a society that shuns those unwilling to follow the herd mentality. I recently finished reading Demian (1919), a coming-of-age story that follows ten-year-old Emil Sinclair from his elementary school days to his first year of university studies. As he transitions from childhood to adolescence, Sinclair meets and befriends another boy, Max Demian, who turns out to be his fated spiritual guide, turning up time and again in moments when Sinclair needs him most.
Like Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea (1952), Hesse’s Demian is told from the perspective of the main character, where most of the story’s dialogue is comprised of internal conversations Sinclair has with himself as his childhood innocence dissolves in the shadow of a much darker world outside the protective structure of his parent’s love. What I like most about Hesse’s book is that it cleverly equates the higher consciousness of enlightenment with the disillusionment that naturally accompanies budding pubescence. In other words, for those readers who struggle to understand what it means to achieve enlightenment—to become equally aware of both the most beautiful and most dastardly truths about the world—they need only to reflect on their childhoods, where the polar opposites of abomination and splendor first opened their eyes.
After reading and reviewing my third Hermann Hesse novel, I’m again impressed by how relevant his insights remain. Despite having written much of his work almost a century ago, on another continent, and in a different language, his understanding of enlightenment feels entirely attuned to today’s modern society.
-Chuck Trunks
“This work was written independently by the author without the use of generative AI.”
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).
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