by Herman Hesse

isbn: 0374507481
subject: Fiction and Literature, Academia
finished: 2/25/1998

This is a tragic book about Hans, a brilliant young student who is crushed beneath the wheel of institutional education. It's good, but it wasn't really the compelling indictment of intellectualism and academic ambition that I was expecting. Not only is Beneath the Wheel overly manipulative, but it also spreads the blame around too much to make a good case against Hans's personal ambition, the expectations of his father and his teachers, or the academic system.