Beneath the Wheel

Hermann Hesse's "Beneath the Wheel" is a thought-provoking and moving coming-of-age tale about academic pressures and an attempt for uniqueness in a conformist society. The novel is set in a strict early twentieth-century German boarding school and follows the lives of Hans Giebenrath, a gifted student who struggles with academic demands and cultural conformity. While attempting to grow intellectually, he is dealing with the emotional and psychological toll that this rigid system exacts.

Hes...