Siddhartha, a handsome Brahmin's son, is clever and well loved, yet increasingly dissatisfied with the life that is expected of him. Setting out on a spiritual journey to discover a higher state of being, his quest leads him through the temptations of luxury and wealth, the pleasures of sensual love, and the sinister threat of death-dealing snakes, until, eventually, he comes to a river. There a ferryman guides him towards his destiny, and to the ultimate meaning of existence. Inspired by Hermann Hesse's profound regard for Indian transcendental philosophy and written in prose of graceful simplicity, Siddhartha is one of the most influential spiritual works of the twentieth century. 'A writer of genius' The Times 'A subtle distillation of wisdom, stylistic grace and symmetry of form' Sunday Times. Winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature