Beneath the Wheel Author:Hermann Hesse Hermann Hesses's spiritual autobiogaphy, Beneath the Wheel, is a touchstone in the Nobel Prize-winning author's lifelong examination of the conflict between self-affirmatin and self-destruction. Based on his own experience, his 2nd novel attacks an educational system that fosters intellect and ambition at the expense of emotion, soul and instinc... more »t. Beneath the Wheel tells with compassion and tenderness a story that is true for our own age, with all the poetic and lyrical qualities that have made hesse an outstanding literary figure of the 20th century. It is the key to all his later works.« less