Hesse's novel Siddhartha (first published in 1922) is the story of a young Indian man who seeks the path of spiritual knowledge and salvation. Modeled on the early life of the Buddha, the novel combines timeless Eastern wisdom about the ultimate reality of life with Hesse's distinctly original metaphysical and spiritual vision.

Hesse's novella Klingsor's Last Summer (1920; first English translation, 1970) is about the last months in the life of an intense and passionate middle-aged painter called Klingsor. Like Steppenwolf, the novella has autobiographical elements and makes extensive use of the mirror motif. Also, just as Harry Haller gazes into the mirror before he enters the magic theater and sees all aspects of himself, so Klingsor expresses through his final self-portrait the entirety of his multi-faceted self.

Man and His Symbols (1964) is a clear introduction, with many illustrations, to the theories of...