In simple, mesmerizing prose, Hermann Hesse tells of a journey both geographic and spiritual. H.H., a German choirmaster, is invited on an expedition with the League, a secret society whose members include Paul Klee, Mozart, and Albertus Magnus. The participants traverse both space and time, encountering Noah's Ark in Zurich and Don Quixote at Bremgarten. The pilgrims' ultimate destination is the East, the "Home of the Light," where they expect to find spiritual renewal. Yet the harmony that ruled at the outset of the trip soon degenerates into open conflict. Each traveler finds the rest of the group intolerable and heads off in his own direction, with H.H. bitterly blaming the others for the failure of the journey. It is only long after the trip, while poring over records in the League archives, that H.H. discovers his own role in the dissolution of the group, and the ominous significance of the journey itself.

赫爾曼·黑塞（Hermann Hesse）

1877—1962，德國文學傢、詩人、評論傢。齣生於南德的小鎮卡爾夫，曾就讀墨爾布隆神學校，因神經衰弱而輟學，復學後又在高中讀書一年便退學，結束他在學校的正規教育。日後以《彷徨少年時》《鄉愁》《悉達多求道記》《玻璃珠遊戲》等作品飲譽文壇。

1946 年獲歌德奬，同年又榮獲諾貝爾文學奬，使他的世界聲譽達於高峰。1962 年病逝，享年85 歲。黑塞的作品以真誠剖析探索內心世界和人生的真諦而廣受讀者喜愛。

一生追求和平與真理的黑塞，在納粹獨裁暴政時代，也是德國知識分子道德良心的象徵。