Yeah, Steppenwolf can be off-putting. Yet, there is one passage in it that I quote often:

"The way to innocence, to the uncreated and to God leads on, not back, … ever deeper into human life. … Instead of narrowing your world and simplifying your soul, you will have to absorb more and more of the world and at last take all of it up in your painfully expanded soul, if you are to ever find peace. This is the road that Buddha and every great man has gone, whether consciously or not, insofar as fortune favored his quest. All births mean separation from the All, the confinement within limitation, the separation from God, the pangs of being born anew. The return into the All, the dissolution of painful individuation, the reunion with God means the expansion of the soul until it is able once more to embrace the All."

Anyway, I love, love, love Narcissus and Goldmund. As I said, I've read it four times in the last 40 years. I also really enjoyed Peter Camenzind, and his book Demian is really interesting and has impacted a lot of people. Look for the edition that has an introduction written by the actor James Franco.

In my previous response I linked to a few posts of mine that talk about some aspects of all these books. Here's another: https://thetaoist.online/cloudwatchers-delights-360d9239c9e3