The Book That Changed My Life: Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse
It was 1972, I was 20 years old, had dropped out of university two years earlier, gone to work in the mines in Northern Canada for a winter, and was now back in my hometown of Hamilton Ontario working in a factory making sewer pipes. The factory was a mind-numbing, soul-destroying place for me; it was noisy, dirty, and a dangerous place where I stood all day pushing and pulling levers, pressurizing the pipes with water, looking for cracks and hoping they wouldn’t — as they sometimes did — explode.
Further down the line from me worked a long-haired fellow who pretty much kept to himself. The older men simply referred to him as “The Hippie.” I noticed, however, that he read books during his breaks and at lunchtime. One day, he approached me and handed me a dog-eared paperback. “Here,” he said, “read this, you look like you could use it. It might save your life.” Then he walked away.
“Thanks,” I shouted after him. He simply raised his hand in acknowledgement, shouting, ‘Keep it’, and went back to work.
I looked down at the book in my hand. Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse. I had never heard of it nor its author. But that night, I began to read. I couldn’t put it down. By the time I finished it, I knew what I had to do. Three weeks later, I quit my job and headed for the highway, embarking on my own journey of enlightenment. That journey lasted two years as I travelled around North America. It opened the door to other journeys around the UK and across Europe. Travel opened my mind to new ideas, introduced me to strange and wonderful places and people, and taught me how to live by my wits. And everywhere I went, I carried that book in my pocket. Somewhere along the way, I left that copy of Siddhartha in a European hostel with a hastily scrawled note on the inside cover instructing whoever found this book to read it and pass it on.
More than thirty years later, I still think of that book and wonder how many hands and minds it might have passed through. Siddhartha certainly changed the course of my life. It launched me on a journey of self-discovery, which continues to this day. It sent me from that factory and down a road that has seen me become, among other things, a musician, lover, a social worker, a salesman, an academic, a teacher, peace activist, an education consultant, a husband, father, a divorced father, a storyteller, and, more recently, an end-of-life planning facilitator.
Like Siddhartha, I have learned a great deal about life and love. Unlike Siddhartha, I have not yet fulfilled my destiny. Perhaps now is the time to revisit my old dog-eared friend and get reacquainted. Books and their stories are like that; they always seem to come along just at the time when you need them most. Thank you, Hermann Hesse. And thank you ‘Hippie’, wherever you are, for ferrying me across the river.
Revised in 2021. This story was first published in The Book That Changed My Life (2010) by the Luath Press for the Scottish Book Trust, a collection of stories celebrating books that changed their readers’ lives. The collection included stories by such authors as Alan Bissett, Brian Cox, Janice Galloway, A.L. Kennedy, Kenny Logan, Ewan Morrison, Michael Rosen and Alexander McCall Smith.
Michael Williams is a storyteller, writer, speaker, mentor, and an End-of-Life Planning Facilitator. Born and raised in Canada, he spent nearly half his life maturing in Scotland. Learn more at www.michaelwilliamsstoryteller.com and www.myendoflifeplan.ca.
