#92 in Classics
Demian
- 184
- Pages
- about 3.5 h
- Reading time
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Our view
“Demian” is a short, earnest coming-of-age novel that puts the search for one’s own path above all else. The story is simple: young Emil Sinclair falls under the sway of an aloof friend who teaches him to doubt what he was raised to believe. Some readers find its celebration of the solitary individual overbearing, as though it flattered whoever holds the book. It speaks most directly to those asking the same questions as its narrator.
Worth knowing Hesse published it in 1919 under the name of its narrator, Emil Sinclair; it won the Fontane Prize for a first novel, which he returned once his authorship came out. He wrote it in 1917 after months of psychoanalysis with a pupil of Carl Jung, and the book’s dreams and symbols show it. Its image of the bird fighting its way out of the egg is one of the most quoted in German literature.
The view of the BookRank editors, written from readers’ ratings and comments. It does not affect the score or the book’s place in a ranking.
About the book
Demian: The Story of a Boyhood is a bildungsroman by Hermann Hesse, published in 1919. Demian was first published under the pseudonym "Emil Sinclair," the name of the narrator of the story, but Hesse was later revealed to be the author. The tenth edition was the first to bear Hesse's name, and the title was changed to Demian: The Story of Emil Sinclair’s Youth.
Where the score comes from
The sources average 8.1 across 379 ratings — not yet many, so the reader vote carries 72% of the weight and the rest pulls toward the Classics average of 7.7. That is how 8.0 comes out.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Library | 8.5 | 60 | 16% |
| Hardcover | 8.0 | 319 | 84% |
Frequently asked
How long is Demian?
It has 184 pages — shorter than 85% of the ranked books in Classics.
In this book
Themes this book shares with others — each leads to the best books on it.
If you liked this
The same shelf — Classics — and a score of 8.0, the closest to this book.
