Augustus, Der Dichter [and] Ein Mensch mit Namen Ziegler

Although chiefly known as a novelist, Hesse is regarded by many as one of the modern masters of the shorter epic forms. He delights in the incredible and in the irrational and therefore has often turned to the Märchen as a form of expression. Each of the three Märchen presented here contains a treatment of a problem which appears again and again in Hesse's writings. This is the problem of the gifted, often envied individual who, set apart or isolated from his fellow men by his "extra dimension," longs nonetheless for human contacts. - Introduction.