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Ever since Siddhartha was a little child, he had been shielded from the outside world. His father and mother made sure that their precious child was never to see the world of suffering, but instead only see the good in the world. As the novel begins, Siddhartha has a friend named Govinda. They are very close and do things together all the time. However, as time goes on, Siddhartha becomes intrigued on what goes on outside of his little bubble. 

Once Siddhartha finds out that there is suffering in this world, he begs his father to leave his Brahmin family, and strive to become a Sammana instead. As the young man gets approval, he and Govinda set out to learn the heritage of suffering, and learn from the wise Sammanas. 

Once Siddhartha sets out to be a Sammana, he is set on finding his inner peace with or without Govinda. Siddartha spends multiple years with the Sammanas, and learns how to fast and take in suffering. However, he is not satisfied with the teachings. He feels as if he has been stuck in this loop and he hasn’t learned anything since. 

After departing from the Sammanas, Siddhartha and Govinda roam free until they hear that there is someone named Gotama (Buddha) that is going to this town to preach. They decide that it is best to go and listen to what the Enlightened one had to say. Once they listen to his teachings, Govinda is intrigued by it and decides that he wants to become one of Govindas followers. However, Siddhartha believes that Gotama is lacking something and decides to go THEIR separate ways. 

Siddhartha then decides that he would like to go across this river into a town. While crossing, he runs into the Ferryman who says that Siddhartha will eventually come back. He is confused by this, but doesn’t think much of it. Once he goes into this town, he meets two people named Kamala and Kamaswami. Kamala is a beautiful woman who works as a courtesan, while Kamaswami is a rich businessman. When Siddartha meets Kamala, he cannot take his eyes off of her, and begins to betray his Samanna beliefs and lusts for her. When Siddhartha also meets Kamaswami, he falls into this feeling of greed. 

Once Siddhartha realizes that he has done wrong (these include multiple sexual encounters with Kamala, and spending, and earning lots of money with Kamaswami, while gambling) he leaves the city with shame, and meets Govinda. The two companions talk for a short period of time, and part ways again. That is when Siddhartaha crosses paths with the Ferryman for the second time. However this time, Siddhartha begins to learn from him and receive knowledge on how to become Enlightened. 

Overall, I would rate this book a 3.5/5. I enjoyed it and would definitely recommend it to others if you enjoy stories that keep you on the edge of your feet. However, if there was something I could change, I would rather have the book be shorter, so the reader does not have to read a lot of unnecessary commentary. 

My favorite part of the book is when Siddhartha realizes that spending time with Kamala and Kamaswami are distracting him from reaching his own goals. I feel like this could relate to me because although I may have goals in life, I am always distracted from attempting to meet them. In Siddhartha's case, it was a beautiful woman and getting greedy with money. For me, it could be my phone and spending too much time with others, rather than doing work. 

Check out Siddhartha from NBPL!