Set in India during the time of the Buddha, Siddhartha ;is the most influential and famous novel of Nobel Prize-winning author Hermann Hesse. Desiring spiritual fulfillment, Siddhartha, a young Brahmin, leaves his home to become an ascetic-and on his journey meets the wise Gotama, the famous Buddha. But Siddhartha believes no teacher, however great, can discover meaning for an individual-and so continues alone on his quest to find himself. In his journey Siddhartha experiences life as a pious brahmin, a Samana, a rich merchant, a lover, and a father-shifting between decadence and asceticism as he navigates the material world. Still unhappy, still unfulfilled, Siddhartha is on the verge of giving it all up when he encounters the ferryman. The events that follow change his life forever. Thought-provoking, inspiring, and utterly profound-this spiritual novel has influenced generations of readers, writers, and thinkers.