Siddhartha

I want to start by saying that I didn't really like this reading, but I did actually read the book anyway. I think part of the reason I didn't like it is because I had no clue what it was about and how true to life the story was until we discussed it in class. I fell I probably would have learned more from the book if I had known some background before I started reading. I thought when I started the book that the story was a written version of the story of The Buddha, and for a while I thought I was right. When in the story Siddhartha meets The Buddha, I thought that it was actually the story of how Hinduism started. (As you can tell I don't actually know that much about either religion.) Other than being confused on how realistic the story was, I actually liked the story itself pretty well.
The story started with Siddhartha leaving his home and parents to learn how to fast, think, wait, and find inner peace. After he tried this for a few years and realizing that this was not for him, Siddhartha went to hear The Buddha speak. He listened intently and watched how The Buddha acted, walked, talked, and went about his business. He also saw that this since of inner peace could not fully be taught or preached to him, so he moved on. He went to a town, Samsara, which I realized later that is a form of Hell, or more, the town he lived in before he was reborn. Here Siddhartha learned how to gamble, earn and lose money, eat and drink fine foods, and make love to a woman. He made himself sick of life, of this form of living, so he left. In spending time in Samsara, Siddhartha forgot how to fast, think, and wait; and he still did not find inner peace. He walked a short way to a river, and asked the Ferryman if he could be an apprentice. This is where Siddhartha found his inner peace, through the Ferryman and the river; though he never really could explain it to another person, it’s something that one must find on their own. This confused me slightly because even if only one person finds enlightenment, they still try to preach ways to find enlightenment to everyone else who might listen. That is true in most every religion.
Last, I would like to state that I wish more of the people I talked to had actually read the book. I know a lot of people just read spark notes, or something similar. I guess it is their choice, but I'm wondering if more people actually read the book then just skimmed or read spark notes. I believe spark notes is a great thing, along with the book, but not instead.