The Glass Bead Game Herman Hesse Book
by Herman Hesse

"The Glass Bead game" captivated me, filled my soul almost to the same extent as it frees me from illusions.

Only vaguely illustrated by the author, "The Glass Bead game" is essentially a synthesis between the arts, representing the only form by which can make the transition from one art to another, combining all the knowledge into one.
I started reading the book by dreaming of a world where intellectual aspirations are not always conditioned by the struggle for existence. But Castalia, the realm of liberty, proved to me, the same for Knecht, it is just a golden cage.

We have two "glass beads" representing the two philosophies, the real-utopian antagonism. You can keep them in your hand, you can sing them, you can look through them; you will inevitably play with them and you will end up being able to break them and find yourself astonished that the perfect glass tear is made up of thousands of sharps, small truths and cruel truths.
I suppose everybody breaks the own bead of reality in the end. It's a bad thing when we break the second one.