Hermann Hesse is one of the most indisputable contemporary German classics. After publishing several poems and some stories with Demian, he won the Fontane Prize and an extraordinary reception from readers and literary critics from all over the world. He is also the author of Narciso and Goldmundo,Little Joys, The Steppe Wolf, Siddhartha and a good number of excellent stories partially collected in Essential Stories, his exploration in the subconscious of the characters and his lucid approach to oriental cultures have remained as two of the greatest contributions to the universal narrative. In 1946 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.