Knulp

Wandering from town to town, dropping in on people he knows and staying a few days, Knulp is the eternal vagabond who just does not want to settle down.

Haunted by a sense of the perishable nature of everything, he keeps on the move, sure of a welcome when he chooses to stop. But for Knulp, as for everyone else, the sunny days of good health give way to illness and decline.

Even an aimless life, he realizes, has some purpose.

Knulp was Hesse's most popular book when it first came out. It remains one of his classic works; evocative, subtle and moving.