Happiness "is neither a privilege of the few, nor a fleeting state of mind: it is hidden behind a door that every person can open once they have found it, at the end of an arduous journey of self-discovery." The two Nobel Prize-winning writers Rabindranath Tagore and Hermann Hesse are arguably very different: one comes to us from the core of Indian culture, the other from the very heart of Old Europe; the former is an eternal wanderer, the latter a determined armchair traveller. Still, there are extraordinary affinities between their works, and they both understood that the path to happiness is paved with small acts and simple notions. Flavia Arzeni’s book offers us an oasis of stability and calm in which we can find the answers to our fundamental concerns about life and happiness.
"An enchanting and passionate book, a sophisticated literary essay on the inner paths of two great authors tied to the orient." - Corriere della Sera
Flavia Arzeni is Professor of Modern German Literature at the Faculty of Arts and Humanities at the University La Sapienza in Rome. Her previous works include Images and Symbols. Japonism in European Culture between the 19th and 20th century (Il Mulino, 1987), Berlin, A Literary Journey (Sellerio, 1997) and The Journey to Rome. From Freud to Pina Bausch (Edizioni di Storia e Letteratura, 2001). An Education in Happiness: The Lessons of Hesse and Tagore was first published in Italian by Rizzoli in 2008 and was awarded the Grinzane Pavese prize. The author has travelled extensively and lived in Tokyo, London and Washington DC. The metaphor of the garden shared by Hesse and Tagore inspired the author to create a garden for meditation on the border between Tuscany and Umbria, close to the same paths that Hesse walked in his Italian journeys.
Happiness "is neither a privilege of the few, nor a fleeting state of mind: it is hidden behind a door that every person can open once they have found it, at the end of an arduous journey of self-discovery." The two Nobel Prize-winning writers Rabindranath Tagore and Hermann Hesse are arguably very different: one comes to us from the core of Indian culture, the other from the very heart of Old Europe; the former is an eternal wanderer, the latter a determined armchair traveller. Still, there are extraordinary affinities between their works, and they both understood that the path to happiness is paved with small acts and simple notions. Flavia Arzeni’s book offers us an oasis of stability and calm in which we can find the answers to our fundamental concerns about life and happiness.
Reviews
"An enchanting and passionate book, a sophisticated literary essay on the inner paths of two great authors tied to the orient." - Corriere della Sera
Author
Flavia Arzeni is Professor of Modern German Literature at the Faculty of Arts and Humanities at the University La Sapienza in Rome. Her previous works include Images and Symbols. Japonism in European Culture between the 19th and 20th century (Il Mulino, 1987), Berlin, A Literary Journey (Sellerio, 1997) and The Journey to Rome. From Freud to Pina Bausch (Edizioni di Storia e Letteratura, 2001). An Education in Happiness: The Lessons of Hesse and Tagore was first published in Italian by Rizzoli in 2008 and was awarded the Grinzane Pavese prize. The author has travelled extensively and lived in Tokyo, London and Washington DC. The metaphor of the garden shared by Hesse and Tagore inspired the author to create a garden for meditation on the border between Tuscany and Umbria, close to the same paths that Hesse walked in his Italian journeys.
