SOURCE: Durrani, Osman. “Herman Hesse's Castalia: Republic of Scholars or Police State.” The Modern Language Review 77 (1982): 653-69.

In the following essay, Durrani examines the fictional province of Castalia, which functions as the setting of Das Glasperlenspiel.

Even the most vociferous admirers of Hesse's last novel, Das Glasperlenspiel, may be forgiven for failing to form a favourable impression of the ‘pedagogic province of Castalia, where much of the novel is located. The author, scrupulously screening his identity behind the mask of an anonymous narrator, is far from generous in his comments on its history and organization. Its principal qualities must be inferred from a narrative which is not structured in such a way as to acquaint the reader with any practical details about which he may desire clarification. The introduction to the novel is concerned with the origins of the Glass Bead Game, and the ensuing twelve chapters recount...