Lest you only know Denzel Washington as an actor, the star, 69, is also a bookworm. I recently stumbled on a 2006 interview Washington did with The Guardian in which he named his favorite book: Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse.
Denzel Washington's Favorite Book Is Short Enough to Read in a Weekend
It was first published in 1922
•
Updated Oct 15, 2024
PureWow editors select every item that appears on this page, and the company may earn compensation through affiliate links within the story. All prices are accurate upon date of publish. You can learn more about the affiliate process here.
Kevin Winter/getty images
After the interviewer remarked on Washington's empathetic nature, the actor explained, "I've gone through the eastern philosophies, Christianity, Buddhism, Swamis, and back to Christianity and Islam. Just searching. Siddhartha by Herman Hesse is my favorite book, because he was walking the earth, praying, searching. I kind of had that vibe and curiosity. It leads you to your own philosophy, like working on what that 90 percent of your brain is doing."
In case you're unfamiliar (I was, too), Siddhartha was published way back in 1922. Loosely based on the early life of the Buddha, the book documents the journey of self-discovery and spiritual awakening of a character named Siddhartha. Its themes include the search for enlightenment, the connection between nature and the spiritual world, the transcendence of suffering and more, and Washington is just one of its many fans.
The book has nearly 29,000 reviews on Goodreads (and a whopping 798,000 ratings). One user writes, "As a student of Buddhism, as a struggling practitioner, I found this book extremely helpful. It cuts through all the rhetoric, the arguments and debates, and gets to the very heart of the matter itself. This is a book I will carry with me through life; this is a book that has so much wisdom to impart, and now the third book to truly impact me individually."
And did I mention it's short enough to read in just a couple of days, clocking in at 151 pages? I'm not saying it's an easy read by any means, but if you're looking for a shorter title that comes with the Denzel Washington seal of approval, it's definitely worth picking up.
Why You Should Trust Us
PureWow's editors and writers have spent more than a decade shopping online, digging through sales and putting our home goods, beauty finds, wellness picks and more through the wringer—all to help you determine which are actually worth your hard-earned cash. From our PureWow100 series (where we rank items on a 100-point scale) to our painstakingly curated lists of fashion, beauty, cooking, home and family picks, you can trust that our recommendations have been thoroughly vetted for function, aesthetics and innovation. Whether you're looking for travel-size hair dryers you can take on-the-go or women’s walking shoes that won’t hurt your feet, we’ve got you covered.