Written on December 21, 2024

I recently read The Abyss by Marguerite Yourcenar and even as I was reading this book, I knew that this would be one of my favorites. Someone online compared this book to a book written by Herman Hesse called Narcissus and Goldmund, so I decided to buy a copy and read it.

The book is about two young friends at a monastery school called, unsurprisingly, Narcissus and Goldmund. With the help of Narcissus, Goldmund discovers that he was never meant to be a monk and begins a wandering life.

Most of the book is filled with Goldmund's travels and at the end of the book the two friends are reunited — Narcissus is now an abbot — and they talk about their different paths in life. To me, this all sounds great. If only the book wasn't filled with Goldmund's travels.

I have never read a book by Marquis de Sade, but I think it would be similar to this book. Throughout the book, Goldmund does everything wrong that a person can do wrong. The book starts off strong, but the longer you travel with Goldmund, the more you start to dislike him.

He uses and abuses everyone around him, never feels bad about it and never gets his comeuppance. And at the end of the book he shows no remorse and no character development.

Even the book itself never criticizes his behavior, but it states that Narcissus and Goldmund both walked two different but equal paths to enlightenment. In principle, the book justifies Goldmund's behavior.

If the storyline sounds interesting to you, do yourself a favor and read The Abyss by Marguerite Yourcenar instead of this tripe.