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Jolly Hunting
A friend recently wrote that he would be interested in my thinking about Steppenwolf in light of recent mass and/or school shootings, as...
Alan Bray
Dec 23, 20214 min read


Hot For Teacher
Last week, I said, “Although it masquerades as one, this (Steppenwolf) is not a realist novel that attempts to show “life as it really...
Alan Bray
Dec 16, 20214 min read


There Are No Coincidences
– Don Juan, in Carlos Castenada’s The Teachings of Don Juan No coincidence, no story - an ancient Chinese saying. Two mutually exclusive...
Alan Bray
Dec 9, 20214 min read


Magic Theater
Last week, we talked about how the first section of Steppenwolf—after the preface—describes Harry Haller’s painful existence. He is glum,...
Alan Bray
Dec 2, 20215 min read


Rage Against the Machine
Harry Haller’s purported journal begins with a description of his day—written in past tense, something we must return to later. He is, to...
Alan Bray
Nov 25, 20214 min read


Get Your Motor Running
This week, a new book, Hermann Hesse’s Steppenwolf, first published in 1927. I am using a Picador edition published in 1963 which...
Alan Bray
Nov 18, 20214 min read