The Glass Bead Game

Before you is a book without which the entire culture of postmodernism in Europe — in literature, in cinema, in theater — is inconceivable. What is it — a genius avant-garde novel stylized as a philosophy of surrealism, or a brilliant philosophical essay stylized as a surrealist novel? Perhaps NOW that doesn't even matter. What matters is this — years and decades pass, yet the exquisite, painful, and esoteric game of the glass bead game still shows no signs of ending. For such is the game played by the best of humanity…