Demian, The Story of Emil Sinclair's Youth: Free Audiobook and Listening Guide

Demian, The Story of Emil Sinclair's Youth, credited to Hermann Hesse, is available as a LibriVox volunteer audiobook. This guide identifies the recording, its source summary and its audio tracks.

About the work

The LibriVox catalogue summary, preserved with the recording, reads:

LibriVox recording of Demian, The Story of Emil Sinclair's Youth by Hermann Hesse. (Translated by N. H. Priday.) Read in English by Michele Fry Somewhat autobiographical, this "coming of age" novel unfolds an introspective boy's formative years in pre-World War 1 Germany, from grade school through college. Hesse likens this confusing process to a giant bird struggling to break out of its egg (the protective shell of home, family, social norms), to be reborn as an individuated adult with his own goals, ideas and ideals. Much importance is given to dreams and their interpretation, Fate vs individual choice, Gnosticism (particularly the god Abraxas), opening up to one's unconsciousness, all showing the influence of Carl Jung's psychology. One of the book's major themes is the existence of opposing forces (good vs evil, society vs individualism, God vs Devil, etc.) and the idea that both are natural and necessary parts of the Whole. Adjacent themes are about puberty, sexuality, bullying, loneliness, mentorship, the divine feminine, psychic connections, questioning religious dogma, and the herd mentality. It is also a story of one soldier’s experience on the battlefield of WWI, feeling part of and being willing to die for a cause outside ones own control. Due to its controversial themes, Demian was first published under the pseudonym "Emil Sinclair" (the narrator of the story) but Hesse was later revealed to be the author. - Summary by Michele Fry, Soloist

Recording facts

• Recording title: Demian, The Story of Emil Sinclair's Youth
• Author credits: Hermann Hesse
• Language: English
• Original MP3 tracks: 15
• Listed recording duration: 5:41:44

Catalogue topics

• Gnosticism
• bildungsroman
• coming of age
• individualism
• abraxas
• puberty

Track guide

1. 00 - Introduction, The Story Of Emil Sinclair's Youth — 4:34
2. 01 - Ch 1.1 Two Worlds — 20:27
3. 02 - Ch 1.2 Two Worlds — 20:04
4. 03 - Ch 2.1 Cain — 22:42
5. 04 - Ch 2.2 Cain — 20:32
6. 05 - Ch 3.1 The Thief on the Cross — 24:33
7. 06 - Ch 3.2 The Thief on the Cross — 19:40
8. 07 - Ch 4.1 Beatrice — 26:06
9. 08 - Ch 4.2 Beatrice — 22:50
10. 09 - Ch 5 The Bird Fights Its Way Out of the Egg — 38:34
11. 10 - Ch 6.1 Jacob Wrestles With God — 22:17
12. 11 - Ch 6.2 Jacob Wrestles With God — 24:43
13. 12 - Ch 7.1 Mother Eve — 29:04
14. 13 - Ch 7.2 Mother Eve — 25:29
15. 14 - Ch 8 The Beginning of the End — 20:08

Listen to this recording

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Source and rights

This is a record from LibriVox's official Internet Archive collection, with a public-domain licence recorded in its metadata. LibriVox's policy includes its catalogue summaries as well as its recordings. Its public-domain assessment follows United States law; copyright status can differ elsewhere. The summary and track facts are reproduced and reformatted from that record. Dates attached to the archive upload are not treated as original book publication dates.