"Fairy Tales" is a collection of newly translated magical short stories written by Hermann Hesse during World War One.
Hesse wrote the short fairy tales between 1913 and 1918, before, during and immediately after WWI, they were collected and published in book format in 1918 in German under the title "Märchen"
At the time of writing, Hesse was working as an army nurse tending to wounded soldiers. The experience transformed him completely. One can feel the tension building to the war in the early tales, get a first hand view of Hesse psyche during the war and is rewarded by the releif Hesse felt at the end of the war.
"Fairy Tale" represented an intermediate stage between Hesse's initial ambiguous stance to the war, as an internationalist who tolerated war and a pacifist who looked forward to a German victory, and his later active anti-war campaign.
Later in his life, Hesse changed his initial naive view, that "the war is nobody's fault and that it occurs by itself". He came to acknowledge the detrimental role that the military-industrial complex plays in promoting wars, a view that brought him into conflict with supporters of the war, his country and its government.
Looking at the world today, seeing military conflicts raging in many pockets around the globe, with no discernible reason or end strategies in sight, while daily life goes on as usual around us, we tend to appreciate Hesse's prophetic and timeless vision.
Fairytales included in this volume include: "Strange News", "Faldum", "Iris", "Fine Dream", "Difficult Path", "The Poet", "Augustus" and "Flute Dream"
A timeless classic and a must read by all intelligent young people around the world.
