Ending of "The Glass Bead Game"

"Oh! he thought in grief and horror, now I am guilty of his death. And only now, when there was no longer need to save his pride or offer resistance, he felt, in shock and sorrow, how dear this man had already become to him. And since in spite all rational objections he felt responsible for the Master's death, there came over him, with a premonitory shudder of awe, a sense that this guilt would utterly change him and his life, and would demand much greater things of him than he had ever before demanded of himself."

That is the last paragraph of the story. This book is hardly a story at all, there seems to be no conflict at all. If not for the last paragraph/sentence it would be a senseless tragedy.

As beautiful a book as it is "The Glass Bead Game" also makes me sad. It makes me feel separated from others because it is something so special and delicate to myself which I cannot share with others. Maybe I could read excerpts to bookish and pretty young women to hear their sparkling accolades. "Wow, that's really deep." But really in a way especially agreeable to myself the excerpts come in page long chunks rather than paragraphs, let alone sentences.

I guess that is just one of the preciousness qualities of a book in general. That it is so private. I can feel fellowship with a friend because of our mutual appreciation of the same book or author but ultimately the beauty of the book still belongs to us separately.