Thus Spoke Zarathustra

May 04, 2013 Chris rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

How you liking them apples, Jede-fucking-diah?!

Thus spoke Barnaby Jones.

I read this book back around 2001 or 2002. I wasn't much concerned with writing reviews back then—and how weird is that?—but, deeming Nietzsche a pretty smart guy, I scribbled down a bunch of notes and quotes. Since I've not a single review by Friedrich N. at this place, I thought, in lieu of anything more insightful or intelligent, to copy those notes out below, verbatim. And after having done so, I'm not quite sure what I...more

like 21 likes · see review

Jun 05, 2011 مؤيد المزين rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

يووووووووووووووه يوه يوه يوه ،، سأرقص ، إنه وقت الرقص والرقص والرقص
هل تتوقعون أن زرادشت نيتشه ، سيهتم بالتقييم والتعليق هنا ، لا لا لا أظن إطلاقا ،، فلهُ مخرجه
ولكنّه لو رآني وحروفي نرقص ، لأقبل ملتويا على رأسه راقصا ،، :)))))))))))))) ٠

تجربة رائعة ، إعراجية ، أستمتعت بالقراءة وإرادة القرآءة لهذاالزرادشت من ترجمتين ، الأولى علي مصباح ، والأخرى لفليكس فارس ٠
بابٌ هُنا وبابٌ هُناك ، مُحاولاً فكّ الرموز والتشبيهات تارة ، مُندهشاً أُخرى ، مُسرّحا ثالثة ، مصفوقاً كثيرا
تجربة ممتعة
الكتاب -بإختصار- مركز إ...more

like 25 likes · see review

Feb 21, 2011 Miquixote rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: philosophy, non-fiction, 65a, academic, 718, super-classics, a, 9t, intellectual-value-5, enjoyment-value-4

Incredibly interesting ideas. For sure you will be thinking about what is said here for a long, long time.

This most famous book of Nietzsche delves into the central idea: the "eternal recurrence of the same", also the parable on the "death of God", and the "prophecy" of the Übermensch. Nietzsche himself claims it is "the deepest book ever written". (he wasn’t one prone to humility…)

A fictionalized prophet descends from his recluse to mankind, Zarathustra, and turns traditional morality on its...more Incredibly interesting ideas. For sure you will be thinking about what is said here for a long, long time.

This most famous book of Nietzsche delves into the central idea: the "eternal recurrence of the same", also the parable on the "death of God", and the "prophecy" of the Übermensch. Nietzsche himself claims it is "the deepest book ever written". (he wasn’t one prone to humility…)

A fictionalized prophet descends from his recluse to mankind, Zarathustra, and turns traditional morality on its head. Zarathustra was the first moralist (and now fictionally the first anti-moralist). This is intended as an irony, Nietzsche mimics the style of the Bible and indeed has ideas which fundamentally oppose Christian and Jewish morality and tradition. Many criticisms of Christianity can be found in Thus Spoke Zarathustra, in particular Christian values of good and evil and its belief in an afterlife. Nietzsche sees the complacency of Christian values as fetters to the achievement of overman as well as on the human spirit. To Nietzsche truthfulness is the highest virtue; the self-ovecoming of the highest morality, the opposite of the cowardice of the "idealist” who flees from reality.

According to Nietzsche, the will to power is the fundamental component of human nature. Everything we do is an expression of the will to power. The will to power is a psychological analysis of all human action and is accentuated by self-overcoming and self-enhancement (please note emphasis on self). Contrasted with living for procreation, pleasure, or happiness, the will to power is the summary of all man's struggle against his surrounding environment as well as his reason for living in it. Faced with the knowledge that he would repeat every action that he has taken (the eternal recurrence), a normal man would be moved to depression. An overman however would be elated as he has no regrets and loves life.

To many it sounds like evolutionary theory. And like Darwinism his philosophy was interpreted by many into a form of Social Darwinism and extermination of races. It is still up for debate whether he really was a Social Darwinist.

Although the word ‘Uberman’(overman, superman) has been thought to have connotations of racial superiority, especially by the Nazis, there is no evidence in Thus Spake Zarathustra that Nietzsche intended it to mean anything other than a generic "higher being". (however, you may find sentences about ‘inferior and superior races’ in his previous work The Gay Science… whether he meant race literally is unclear, and problematic translations may further complicate the interpretations.)
A vulnerability of Nietzsche's style is that his nuances and shades of meaning are very easily lost — and all too easily gained — in translation. There is an ambiguity and paradoxical nature, which has helped its eventual enthusiastic reception by the reading public, but has frustrated academic attempts at analysis (as Nietzsche may have intended). Thus Spake Zarathrustra was however clearly intended to be taken as an alternative to repressive moral codes and an aversion to "nihilism" in all of its varied forms. Two things that can and should also be taken positively.

There are certainly moral issues to take up against the man though (as he intended). Most controversially and to the point that matters most for many, would he have condoned the mass extermination of Jews taken upon by Nazis? I don’t think so, but only because he was too intelligent, and there is no evidence there is such a thing as a literally ‘inferior race’. He would however condone lethal actions in ‘the will to power’ (he quite explicitly states so in the Gay Science) and he did not have a positive view of participatory democracy (because he wouldn’t agree so-called lesser-developed men, the ones he would probably define as lacking the ‘gay knowledge’, should be given equal power).

Not passe at all, his ideas are alive and well today, but his immoral approach should be considered extremely problematic. If an important challenge to repressive moral codes it should also be firmly acknowledged as too absolutist and all-encompassing of a challenge to all morals.

For those who doubt Nietzsche’s influence, and are still unclear what he represents, he is fundamental to a wide variety of ideas. Some are highly questionable as helpful against nihilism (such as anarco-individualism/anarcho-capitalism and post-modernism). And some you may or may not find helpful (such as atheism). If still in doubt, here is a short list of those he has profoundly influenced:

Adorno, Bataille, Baudrillard, Benjamin, Bloom, Allan, Buber, Butler, Camus, Deleuze, Derrida, Dreyfus, Foucault, Freud, Heidegger, Iqbal, Jaspers, Jung, Kafka, Kaufmann, Kojeve, Lovecraft, Marcuse, Mencken, Molyneux, Onfray, Robakidze, Rogers, Santayana, Sartre, Strauss, Spengler, Williams, Wittgenstein, Zapffe
(less)

like 12 likes · see review

Apr 20, 2011 بثينة العيسى rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

في قراءتي الأولى للكتاب خلال سنوات الجامعة كنتُ أبحث عن دهشة اللغة على ما يبدو. في قراءتي هذه كنتُ أبحث عن فكر نيتشه. يحسب له - قطعاً - سعيه الدؤوب نحو قلقلة وهدم والتشكيك في كل شيء، ويحسب له أيضاً حبه للتجاوز وتأكيده على ضرورة تفوق الإنسان على نفسه، إلا أن ..

المنهج الذي يقترحه من أجل وصول الإنسان الحالي إلى الإنسان الأعلى مبنية على سحق الآخر / الضعيف، وضرورة موته. الناس كلهم " رعاع " في نظر زرادشت نيتشه، وينبغي أن يمضون إلى حتفهم لأجل أن يكونوا جسراً للآتين. الفكر ذاته الذي كرسته محارق الهولوكو...more
في قراءتي الأولى للكتاب خلال سنوات الجامعة كنتُ أبحث عن دهشة اللغة على ما يبدو. في قراءتي هذه كنتُ أبحث عن فكر نيتشه. يحسب له - قطعاً - سعيه الدؤوب نحو قلقلة وهدم والتشكيك في كل شيء، ويحسب له أيضاً حبه للتجاوز وتأكيده على ضرورة تفوق الإنسان على نفسه، إلا أن ..

المنهج الذي يقترحه من أجل وصول الإنسان الحالي إلى الإنسان الأعلى مبنية على سحق الآخر / الضعيف، وضرورة موته. الناس كلهم " رعاع " في نظر زرادشت نيتشه، وينبغي أن يمضون إلى حتفهم لأجل أن يكونوا جسراً للآتين. الفكر ذاته الذي كرسته محارق الهولوكوست وجرائم حرب هتلر من أجل الارتقاء بالإنسان من خلال " الألمان " .. الممارسات التي استخدمت في أوروبا لقتل المرضى الميؤوس من حالهم لأن " الموت بكرامة أفضل عندما تتعذر الحياة بكرامة " ..

نيتشه مليء بالاحتقار والقرف. هو يحتقر الدين / الشعر / الإنسان / السعادة، ولكنه يكن احتراماً عظيماً للضحك والرقص. تقولُ لي صديقة : عندما أقرأ نيتشه أضحك، وأنا أعترف بأنه ساخر دائماً ومضحك في أحايين كثيرة .. ولكن أنا شخصياً عندما أقرأه أخاف.

كل فكر يكرس العنصرية ويحط من الإنسان مخيف.
قيل لي: اقرئيه في زمنه وفي سياقه التاريخي ..
وأنا أتساءل إن كان هذا السياق التاريخي يبرر لنيتشه أن يحتقر إنساننا القديم؟ أليست هناك قيم كونية على الإطلاق؟

طبعاً، أنا بحكم نيتشه متخلفة جداً لمجرد أنني أتحدث عن " قيم " .. ولكنني ككاتبة لا أستطيع إلا الانتصار للإنسان بكل حدوده وقصوره وقلة حيلته.
(less)

like 13 likes · see review

Apr 14, 2012 سوسن صالح rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

هكذا تكلم زرادشت:
*|هي رواية فلسفية للفيلسوف الألماني فريدريك نيتشه، تتألف من أربعة أجزاء، تتكون من سلسلة من الخطب التي تسلط الضوء على تأملات زرادشت. وقدم نيتشه في كتابه الفضائل الإنسانية كما يراها إلا أنه أخذ عليه تمجيده للقوة حيث يعد نيتشه من أوائل من صاغوا نظرية "الرجل الخارق".

لم زرادشت يعتبر كتابه «هكذا تكلم زرادشت» 1883 من اشهر كتبه، بل والأعظم من بينها. فقد كتبه بأسلوب ادبي ـ نقدي رفيع المستوى، جمع بين النثر والشعر والموسيقى، وصاغ فيه افكاره «الجهنمية» وصور نموذج الانسان المتفوق، الخارق للع...more

like 7 likes · see review

Feb 14, 2013 Jeremy rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: literary, philosophy, poetry, translated-from-german, review

Of the Modern Reader

So Zarathustra dwelt among the trees, in the musty flat spaces where the air was stifling, and his breath was shallow; his face set grim; and his body ached, ached as if he had been run upon by a multitude. And he had.

There was a wind and a fluttering as of birds, and a man stepped out of the air. He seemed warm and old but young enough to be butchered, as is the fate of unproductive sheep. And the man spoke: ‘I know you, Zarathustra; you are one who goes both after and befor...more

like 11 likes · see review

May 19, 2008 Shawn rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

Horror movies never frightened me in the same way certain works of literature and film did. Reading through Zarathustra as a teenager was a singularly powerful experience; the work defies categorization or genre, time or place. I was warned that Nietzsche was dangerous for young readers (like Machiavelli) because he went insane. This I HAD to read. It was my first encounter with existential thought, a stinging critique of the very nature of values and belief. The events in the book are more like...more

like 70 likes · see review

May 01, 2013 Emma rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: philosophy

I know my fate. One day, there will be associated with my name the recollection of something frightful - of a crisis like no other before on earth, of the profoundest collision of conscience, of a decision evoked against everything that until then had been believed in, demanded, sanctified. I am not a man. I am dynamite.

(The above is Nietzsche's view of himself from the concluding chapter of Ecce Homo).

I know I bitch about the iconoclastic Nietzsche, the l'enfant terrible of philosophy, but I...more I know my fate. One day, there will be associated with my name the recollection of something frightful - of a crisis like no other before on earth, of the profoundest collision of conscience, of a decision evoked against everything that until then had been believed in, demanded, sanctified. I am not a man. I am dynamite.

(The above is Nietzsche's view of himself from the concluding chapter of Ecce Homo).

I know I bitch about the iconoclastic Nietzsche, the l'enfant terrible of philosophy, but I can't deny how he excites me. I hate him! I love him! I want to kick him in the nuts! I want to give him a hug! It’s great stuff, even though he makes me work like a bastard. Ecce Homo aside, I find interpreting tax legislation easier than understanding Nietzsche.....although when I do suddenly comprehend his meaning, I get a rush of adrenalin that only jumping jacks and beta blockers can alleviate.

I've always enjoyed Nietzsche's radical perspective on morality and his view that everyone got it back to front (except him) and his aim to make good, bad. I've even got a post-it note on my desk at work with the letters WWND written on it (what would Nietzsche do?). I work for a tax consultancy company - nobody in the office seems to find my (hilarious) joke funny.

Nietzsche declares himself to be the world's first immoralist and he tries to revalue all values, starting with the unmasking of Christianity, which is, obviously, just a plot to disempower great men (and only men) like himself. In Thus Spoke Zarathustra there is a pretty famous passage where a crazy person carrying a lantern announces that 'god is dead'. 'Where has God gone?' he cries. 'I shall tell you. We have killed him -you and I. We are all his murderers' and Nietzsche makes a nice argument about how god should not be the basis of a moral code. Using Zarathustra -a fictional creation -as his proxy Nietzsche goes on to include many criticisms of Christianity. There is also a lot of chat about great men enjoying their power to the full, unparalleled, without notions of responsibility, duty and pity, the will to power etc. I need to 'calm the hell down' whenever I start reading these passages and I am going to re-read and digest slowly before becoming too outraged and provoked beyond measure. A bit more thought about how/why the 'will to power' is fundamental to our human nature is, perhaps, required.

Honestly, there is still so much of Nietzsche I don't understand and I am only beginning to grasp some of his major themes, but all of the Nietzsche I have read so far has been worth the effort, and if you are thinking of reading his philosophy, then no better place to start than Thus Spoke Zarathustra.

Among my writings my Zarathustra stands to my mind by itself

True story. Thus Spoke Zarathustra was trapped inside the boot of my battered old car for the best part of a week- the rusty lock snapped off- and I almost lost a finger rescuing it with a screwdriver and a hammer. (less)

like 15 likes · see review

Jun 28, 2007 Yousef Alikhani rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

زماني كتاب مقدسم شده بود

like 5 likes · see review

Jan 08, 2013 محمود أغيورلي rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

هكذا تحدث زرادشت
فريدريك نيتشه
--------------------
لقد علمتني ذاتي عزة جديدة اعلمها الان للناس : علمتني الا اخفي راسي بعد الان في رمال الاشياء السماوية بل ارفعها راسا عزيزة ترابية تبتدع معنى الارض
--------------------
ان اقرب الطرق بين الجبال هو الخط الممتد من ذروة الى ذروة
--------------
انني مازلت راكضا منذ تعلمت المشي وها انا ذا اطير ولست بحاجة الى من يدفعني لاتحرك لقد اصبحت خفيفا فانا اطير مشعرا بانني احلق فوق ذاتي وان الها يرقص بداخلي
---------------
عليك ان تدفع البطل الكامن في نفسك اذا عليك ان...more

like 5 likes · see review

Dec 28, 2009 Salma rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

الكتاب جميل جدا...0
و جماله أنه رمزي و كلٌ يفهم منه ما يُخاطب شيئا فيه...0

قرأته قبل عدة سنوات و كان منعطفا في حياتي... قرأت فيه الكثير من نفسي حينها، حين كنت أشعر بالحيرة...0
و حين قلت للأستاذ الذي نصحني بقراءته بأني وجدته رائعا و لكني لست متأكدة إن كنتُ فهمت ما أراد لنا نيتشة أن نفهمه، فأجابني بأن لا يهم ما أراد نيتشة المهم ما فهمته أنا...0

قرأت أن البعض يخرج من بعد قراءته و قد فقد إيمانه، لا أدري كيف يُفهم من كتاب كهذا التجديف؟!؟ 0
شخصيا حين قرأته ازددت إيمانا و امتنانا...0
وجدت أن ما يقتله هذا الك...more الكتاب جميل جدا...0
و جماله أنه رمزي و كلٌ يفهم منه ما يُخاطب شيئا فيه...0

قرأته قبل عدة سنوات و كان منعطفا في حياتي... قرأت فيه الكثير من نفسي حينها، حين كنت أشعر بالحيرة...0
و حين قلت للأستاذ الذي نصحني بقراءته بأني وجدته رائعا و لكني لست متأكدة إن كنتُ فهمت ما أراد لنا نيتشة أن نفهمه، فأجابني بأن لا يهم ما أراد نيتشة المهم ما فهمته أنا...0

قرأت أن البعض يخرج من بعد قراءته و قد فقد إيمانه، لا أدري كيف يُفهم من كتاب كهذا التجديف؟!؟ 0
شخصيا حين قرأته ازددت إيمانا و امتنانا...0
وجدت أن ما يقتله هذا الكتاب هو الكهنوتية و النفاق... و يخبرنا بأنا حين انعزلنا عنهم و لم نستسغ نفاقهم فإنا كنا على حق... 0

و الحق يُقال أني نادرا جدا ما أترك ملاحظاتي على كتاب ما، لكني الآن حين فتحته وجدته مليئا بملاحظاتي... كثير منها أخاطب فيها نيتشة، فتارة أترحم على روحه، و تارة أؤنبه، و تارة أخبره بأنه رائع، و تارة أخبره بأنه مخطئ، و تارة أشكره من كل قلبي، و تارة أقول له: للأسف يا نيتشة خيبت أملي فيك (هذا حين تحدث عن المرأة و السوط ) _حسنا لا يُلام كثيرا فقد عانى من حب بئيس_...0

لكني أشعر بأني تجاوزت هذه المرحلة، و أحسبني محظوظة أكثر من نيتشة المسكين...0
فقد مات و هو ما زال يبحث... بينما أنا لم أعد حائرة _و الحمد لله_ 0
و أحسبني في النهاية تعلمت كيف أرقص و لا أكون ثقيلة، و آمنت بالأبدي _جل شأنه_ من دون كلماتهم المشوّهة عنه 0

لذلك أحس بأني بت أستطيع التخلي عن الكتاب... لكني لن أفعل كرمى للملاحظات التي كتبتها في تلك الفترة ...0

قرأته بترجمة مصرية قديمة و شعرية ترجمة فليكس فارس(less)

like 7 likes · see review

Aug 22, 2007 Clint rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

It's like Jesus, but cooler.

like 54 likes · see review

Feb 07, 2010 Mashael Alamri rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

قرأته من مدة طويله لكنني لم أكتب عنه لأنه يقرأ من أجل التأمل فقط , كتاب يحكي عن نفسه وكما ذُكر عنه ( أنجيل خامس ) مليئ بالمواعظ و البحث عن الحقيقة التائهه بلغة جميلة وشاعرية , عبر نيتشه عن معنى الحيرة في كتابه بشكل مذهل صحيح أنني شعرت في بعض الأجزاء أنني تائهة ( جداً ) لكنني في مواضع أخرى فهمتني أكثر , كتب ضخم بدأ بمقدمة المترجم التي أعتبرها ( مملة ) جداً اخرجتني من حماسي للكتاب حتى قبل أن أبدء به وأحتجت إلى أيام كثيرة حتى أعود ( للمود ) المفترض حين قرآءة نيتشه

وأخيراً " هكذا تكلم زرادشت " رائع...more

like 4 likes · see review

Mar 19, 2012 Riku Sayuj rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: reviews

Verily have I overshot myself in my vanity into thinking that I was ready to attempt this book. Humbled am I now.

I probably got less than one-third of what Nietzsche was fulminating on. Maybe in another two reading or so... maybe with a different translation... ?

Can anyone who has read this help me out? Is the second half of the book just plain abstruse or was it just me?

like 25 likes · see review

Dec 11, 2012 Katy rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Please note: Read in 2007 from an on-line edition for personal research and edification. Reactions to it are my own.

Annotated Synopsis: Described by Nietzsche himself as "the deepest ever written", the book is a dense and esoteric treatise on philosophy and morality, featuring as protagonist a fictionalized Zarathustra. A central irony of the text is that Nietzsche mimics the style of the Bible in order to present ideas which fundamentally oppose Christian and Jewish morality and tradition.

The o...more

like 10 likes · see review

Jan 04, 2012 John Kulm rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I haven’t been able to sincerely laugh in a long, long time. This book gave me what I needed: a logical basis for accepting laughter into my life again.

I didn’t expect the intuitive introvert atheistic existentialist Nietzsche to have anything to say about laughter, but laughter was one of the primary themes here. This book isn’t just a collection of a philosopher’s wisdom. Nietzsche journeyed deep inside himself for his writing – so deep that he lost his own sanity and ultimately couldn’t agai...more

like 12 likes · see review

Apr 17, 2008 Katie Muffett rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Anyone who feels they should read Nietszche but are turned off by his other books

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. While this book will sadly always be bogged down in Nietzsche's unresolved and immature childhood angst, his poetic brilliance is...well, brilliant.

The real stride of Zarathustra lies more at the beginning, with the prophet's existence rather petering out toward the end, rather than the usual ascent into spiritual ecstasy with which similar stories finish. Still, I suppose if I read the text as an insight into the mind of Nietzsche himself - rather than an educational, theological journey - the...more

like 18 likes · see review

Jan 23, 2008 Vincent Flock rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Though I doubt that I could read the German version as easily as I once could, I still much prefer it to the translations. If you must read a translation, make it the Walter Kaufmann version, which is, in any case, easiest to find beyond being the best that I have seen. Side note: Kaufmann's translation of Goethe's Faust is also one of the best you will find for that work.

As for the work itself, what can I possibly say that has not already been written in praise of this epic? The criticism one m...more

like 11 likes · see review

Sep 18, 2009 Joshua Nomen-Mutatio rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: People That Have Already Read A Substantial Amount Of Nietzsche's Other Work

Shelves: philosophy, fiction, religion, nietzsche, poetry

"Have you ever said Yes to a single joy? O my friends, then you have said Yes too to all woe. All things are entangled, ensnared, enamored; if ever you wanted one thing twice, if ever you said, "You please me, happiness! Abide moment!" then you wanted all back. All anew, all eternally, all entangled, ensnared, enamored--oh then you loved the world. Eternal ones, love it eternally and evermore; and to woe too, you say: go, but return! For all joy wants--eternity."

Someday I'm going to go through m...more

like 11 likes · see review

Dec 01, 2011 ريم الصالح rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

كرهتُ هذا الزرادشت !!
أنا وأنت وجميعنا / لا شيء بعينه
سوى مطايا و وسائل للوصول إلى
إنسانهِ العلويّ البارد !!
إنسانه الذي لا يعرف جنون المشاعر
وازدحام الأفكار ..
بل ولا يعرف حتى الرقص !!

نحن -بعين زرادشت- يجب أن نكون
ساعين للهلاك !! من أجل الإنسان الأعلى
فضائلنا، أعمالنا، تفانينا / كلها إرادات للهلاك !!

لقد كان ظالماً !!!
وكارهاً للبشر !!!
وباحثاً عن البرود؛ لم أشعر بلحظة أنه كان مهرجاً
أو حتى راقصاً !!

( أنصح بقراءة الكتاب،ولكنني لا أنصح
بإيقاف سيل علامات التعجب الذي سينهمر!! )
بصراحة وللحظة / تمنيت لو أقول لزر...more

like 3 likes · see review

Jul 01, 2012 Eyadr rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: philosophy

الكتاب المقدس لكل الوجوديين والداروينيين والفوضويين في العصر الحديث بلا منازع ..

قصة الفيلسوف الاهم والأعمق في التاريخ , بكل ما لهذا الفيلسوف من حكمة واخطاء عليك انت أن تكتشفها !!
نعم !! .. نيتشه في هذا الكتاب أبدع حين خلق شخصية مقدسة قابلة للخطأ .. شخصية مهمتها الاساسية هي طرح الاسئلة عليك لا أن تعطيك الاجابة ..

like 3 likes · see review

May 12, 2012 Giorgi rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: +18

it is impossible to experience this book and sustaine identity

like 4 likes · see review

Aug 05, 2009 Andreas Voigt rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A wonderful piece of work, Nietzsche’s best, but highly complex, very multifaceted. You should know his other work before you take the intellectual challenge. It touches your spirit just like Goethe’s FAUST touches your heart. I needed three tries and age and academic sophistication until I truly comprehended the depth of Nietzsche’s superior mind. Reading and understanding ALSO SPRACH ZARATHUSTRA might not make you a SUPRAHUMAN (“...lightning out of the dark cloud Mankind”), but it will take yo...more

like 5 likes · see review

Feb 03, 2013 Farhan Khalid rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

one virtue is more virtue than two

one must still have chaos in oneself to be able to give birth to a dancing star.

Everybody wants the same, everybody is the same: whoever feels different goes voluntarily into a madhouse.

companions I need, living ones - not dead companions and corpses whom I carry with myself wherever I want to. Living companions I need, who follow me because they want to follow themselves - wherever I want.

Ten times you must overcome yourself.. Ten times you must reconcile yours...more

like 2 likes · see review

Feb 14, 2012 Ali Alawi rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Mad people

Shelves: favorites

Nietzsche would probably think I'm the dumbest person on earth who couldn't understand a single word of this book, but, well:

THIS IS A HOLY BOOK!

I wont write in my usual figurative slash flamboyant slash surrealist style, because my prose would be definitely ashamed of daring to describe the prose of this book. My words seem flat dead compared to his. they are the grumbling bumbling speech of a stupid beast who haven't evolved yet sufficiently to preform basic linguistic abilities. Another anal...more

like 2 likes · see review

Jan 15, 2013 Chris rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is one of my top 3 favorite books of all time. It’s a story, it’s a sermon, it’s poetry, it’s philosophy. It seems heavy reading at first, but it grows progressively easier once you get used to his language and ideas. Zarathustra’s style is Biblical, almost like one of the Old Testament prophets lamenting society’s turning away from the truth, and he preaches and raves like a prophet too. His message is a bit different, enjoining his listeners to turn away from a traditional notion of God a...more This is one of my top 3 favorite books of all time. It’s a story, it’s a sermon, it’s poetry, it’s philosophy. It seems heavy reading at first, but it grows progressively easier once you get used to his language and ideas. Zarathustra’s style is Biblical, almost like one of the Old Testament prophets lamenting society’s turning away from the truth, and he preaches and raves like a prophet too. His message is a bit different, enjoining his listeners to turn away from a traditional notion of God and values written in stone; but his call to a pure heart and pure mind, and his appeal to return to an innate sense of right and wrong with an emphasis on caring for others and striving to live according to the highest ideal for humanity moves essentially in the same vein.

When I first picked up this book I knew next to nothing about Nietzsche or this specific work except, although I had heard it referred to by one of my profs in a negative light. I’m pretty sure we were supposed to feel sorry for Nietzsche’s unfortunate beliefs. His works were cited as the voice of opposition. Somebody must’ve heard that Nietzsche was the Spirit of postmodernism, a veritable boogieman for theologians; but it didn’t dawn on me until years after grad school that most people who spoke about him had never actually read his stuff, only excerpts that their peers had already excoriated. Well, the real irony here is that somewhere along the line I was desperate for something that made sense beyond the conformist theology and terrified Christian apologetic that was supposed to keep us so warm and snug; and one night I heard a prof quoting him again and thought, “Maybe this guy we’re supposed to be afraid of might actually have some answers I’m looking for.” Years later I would find confirmation to these feelings in the words of Joseph Campbell, “Where we had thought to find an abomination, we shall find a god; where we had thought to slay another, we shall slay ourselves; where we had thought to travel outward, we shall come to the center of our own existence; where we had thought to be alone, we shall be with all the world.” I had started reading Thus Spake Zarathustra at night after the night sort at UPS, and it was like huge gulps of fresh air smuggled between the iron bars of fundamentalism. And so began my journey with the abomination that is called Nietzsche.

Everybody knows about Nietzsche, very few know him. Ubermensch is fun to say, I guess because it makes you sound intelligent or something; but few are aware, or even care, about what Nietzsche’s Superman really is all about. It’s not easy being Nietzsche: Christians love to hate him, philosophers smirk to think they’ve outgrown him, political zealots throw him out as the hapless father of Nazism, but there’s so much misunderstanding. So many wiki-dabblers, so little reading of his actual work. I won’t deny that, not unlike other authors that I love to read, some misunderstandings may be Nietzsche’s own fault, but like his prophet Zarathustra, he has offended many with the truth he has gleaned, and has learned to hide himself “like one who hath swallowed gold—lest my soul should be ripped up.” Well, many have gutted him, and made a spectacle of selections from his works, but few have found the wealthy current of hard-won truth that flows out of his carcass like honey.

It might help to think of Nietzsche less like a novel parlor discussion than a prison-break, and his works are best understood when read in the dimly lit cell of fetid customs, on a starvation-diet of water-thin traditions, and stretched on a rack of heartless religious doctrines on which one’s joints are already popping loose preventing vital living. Nietzsche would spit in the face of his executioner, and give a final word of hope and courage to those of us who are next. He would dig you out to freedom, and once in the free air, help you escape the searchlights of Mother church and state, furious with its escaped worshipers. He’d be a great guy to be around when people are wrong. However, because he’s a nihilist (not in the sense of believing in no values, but in the sense of believing we choose our own values) we may have to be satisfied with abandoning him as we begin a new life. He has no promise of a map to buried treasure once outside prison walls, but he has the confidence that we can figure the rest out on our own.

Nietzsche is, in general, a tonic against conformity. Zarathustra teaches that each individual ought to be able to eventually privatize their sense of self worth, “Greatness is achieved away from the marketplace.” But Zarathustra isn’t anti-community, rather he’s anti-celebrity, and he opposes any type of self-loathing that is evinced in the desire to be loved by the masses to make up for one’s lack of self-acceptance. He speaks up for the individual, and he is loud, even brash. Whereas Buddha’s comfort to his disciples disarmed and prevented them from engaging in any evangelistic conflict (“He who proclaims the truth, ye monks, fights with no man”), Zarathustra warns the truth-bearer of the avoirdupois of his calling: “Beware the doom of the incendiary.” Of course, there are times, when one’s community freezes in the cold on the side of a mountain, that the progressive man often needs to pretend to freeze with them, lest they discover that he has found a warm grotto on the other side that shames their contented shivering. “How could they endure my happiness, if I did not put around it accidents, and winter-privations, and bear-skin caps, and enmantling snowflakes! –if I did not myself commiserate their pity, the pity of those enviers and injurers! – if I did not myself sigh before them, and chatter with cold, and patiently let myself be swathed in their pity!” One must often conceal his happiness so that others’ may not feel the shame and waste of their voluntary ease and accompanying suffering and boredom, and turn and attack him for waking their conscience and jealosy. Jesus cautioned against the same imprudent revelation of one’s internal treasure that might be trampled by pigs that have no value for riches beyond the troughs. Zarathustra’s desire to proclaim the truth while avoiding premature martyrdom becomes an art he celebrates in himself and others. “My silence hath learned not to betray itself by silence…the clear, the honest, the transparent [people]—these are for me the wisest silent ones: in them, so profound is the depth that even the clearest water doth not—betray it.”

Strength in the guise of weakness is one thing that often must be endured, but weakness masquerading as strength is anathema in the scheme of planning for the ‘superman’, or the next step in anthropo-historical progress. In contrast to the Ubermensch, the ‘last man’ has ceased to strive to become a higher life form, or to give birth to a being that can advance beyond its parents’ limitations, but only evinces a soul-weariness. Life’s meaning for this ‘superfluous one’ is lost in waking, dressing, eating and sleeping. Living is sacrificed to mere existence. The last man is the tired end of a race, the end of a people’s history. And Lord knows we all know people that, if the fate of the human race were left in their hands, we would be done for. We’re not talking about genetic imperfection here, but a refusal to live up to one’s full physical, mental, and spiritual potential; and of course in Nietzsche’s thought, there are many religious people that are infected with the ‘last man’ disease, and bloated religious teachers are referred to as “despisers of the body”, those who see in all the present material world an evil that must be endured for the reward of an easy, sleepy afterlife. Contrary to these despisers of the body is the Ubermensch, the beyond-man-and-woman, the despiser of conventional living. But these brand of despisers are actually ‘great adorers’, because they sacrifice what mankind is to achieve what mankind can become.

Nietzsche passion was truly religious in essence. He buffeted religion with religion, though I’m sure he would turn in his grave to hear someone suggest it. What has been dubbed the ‘prophetic imagination’ is most prominent in him, and he preaches as vehemently as any late revivalist against the error of prejudice and bigotry. His precepts are much more negative than positive in that they are a foghorn away from the shoals, not as much a beacon guiding ships to harbor. But being a negative voice in no wise implies that he is a pessimist. Pessimism ends in hopelessness, but Nietzsche’s hope in the meaning and purpose of life is clear. Contrary to what many pseudo-Nietzscheans bruit, Nietzsche, particularly in the persona of Zarathustra, believed life to be beautiful because it is full of potential and meaning—“We love life, not because we are wont to live, but because we are wont to love.” In his paradigm, joy is deeper than woe, so deep in fact that it “thirsts for woe” to enrich joy all the more. He believed in some mystical permanence of human existence, and embraced what feels like an Eastern idea of recurrence and reincarnation. “Joys all want eternity”, and that’s what each individual can expect—an eternity to discover and rediscover the meaning of their existence and the union of beings in love.

So, as I have now developed a profound appreciation for some of his writings, does this mean I have become a blind fanatic of Nietzsche? Course not. He writes in Zarathustra, “Companions the creator seeks, not corpses, and not herds or believers either. Fellow-creators the creator seeks, those who grave new values on new tables.” Zarathustra at one point leaves his followers and says he will come to them again as friends when they have learned to live without him, “Ye venerate me; but what if your veneration should someday collapse? Take heed lest a statue crush you!...Now do I bid you lose me and find yourselves; and only when ye have all denied me, will I return unto you.” And so it goes with my dedication to Nietzsche. Christopher Hitchens, in a posthumous publication of his final essays called Mortality, recollects that he once answered an interviewer’s question regarding his feelings on Nietzsche by saying he “agreed with some arguments put forward by the great man but didn’t owe any large insight to him, and found his contempt for democracy to be somewhat off-putting.” Apparently the writings of Nietzsche were much more pivotal in my life than they were in Hitchens’ life, but I would echo with him that there are things I like about Nietzsche, and things I don’t like about him. I choose to focus on what I appreciate from his works, but that does not vindicate him in all ways in my mind. Sad I have to state that, but it’s what people want to hear. I suppose they think there’s something in his ideas that will make you want to go crazy, hug horses, and arguably die of syphilis. We’ll see.
(less)

like 2 likes · see review

Nov 27, 2009 Kathryn rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, audiobook

Supposedly, this book is recommended before attempting any of Nietzsche's other later works. I'll freely admit that I was lost through most of this. I listened to the audio for approximately the first third and then switched to the free download. Otherwise, I would never have finished. I realize that I'd probably benefit from a second reading of this book but really, I try to read for pleasure and this was not pleasurable the first time so a second go around any time soon is out of the question....more

like 5 likes · see review

Oct 07, 2008 Mr. rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Nietzsche's Thus Spoke Zarathustra remains one of the most powerful and cryptic tomes in the history western thought. Is this a work of philosophy or poetry? Due to the immense power of Nietzsche's writing, it remains highly readable, even for those who are not usually comfortable reading philosophy. In the prologue, Nietzsche describes Zarathustra's isolation in the mountains and his intention to descend so that he can teach mankind. Zarathustra proclaims that God is dead and the overman, the s...more Nietzsche's Thus Spoke Zarathustra remains one of the most powerful and cryptic tomes in the history western thought. Is this a work of philosophy or poetry? Due to the immense power of Nietzsche's writing, it remains highly readable, even for those who are not usually comfortable reading philosophy. In the prologue, Nietzsche describes Zarathustra's isolation in the mountains and his intention to descend so that he can teach mankind. Zarathustra proclaims that God is dead and the overman, the sort of man who has overcome his own nature. Zarathustra proclaims: "The time has come for man to set himself a goal. The time has come for man to plant the seed of his highest hope" (17). Nietzsche is passing his philosophical project onto Zarathustra as an author might pass his personal impressions onto a fictional character. Zarathustra is a new symbol of wisdom in the modern era; he teaches that man is now burdened with the task of creating a meaning for himself. In Zarathustra's speeches, he speaks of the "three metamorphoses of the spirit" (25), which include how the spirit becomes a camel, the camel a lion, and the lion a child. For Nietzsche, even the lion of freedom is not sufficient; the child who can create represents the possibility of an overman. Zarathustra says: "The child is innocence and forgetting, a new beginning, a game, a self-propelled wheel, a first movement, a sacred `Yes.' For the game of creation, my brothers, a sacred `Yes' is needed: the spirit now wills his own will, and he who had been lost to the world now conquers his own world" (27). Zarathustra teaches man that God is the result of an act of creation, that man is capable of willing new gods and goals. He says: "this god whom I created was man-made and madness, like all Gods!" (33). Zarathustra might be called the God of the Body as he claims that it was originally the sick and decaying who hated the body and nature and subsequently created heaven. Zarathustra provides and alternative: "Listen rather, my brothers, to the voice of the healthy body: that is a more honest and purer voice. More honestly and purely speaks the healthy body that is perfect and perpendicular: and it speaks of the meaning of the earth" (33). Zarathustra warns man of the power of `Good and Evil,' of preachers of virtues and the soul. However, for all of man's creative efforts in conjuring systems of value, man still is left without a clear goal. Zarathustra concludes the first book by insisting that he will only return when his listeners have denied him, for he desires to cultivate an independence of thought.
In the second book, Zarathustra returns and begins to speak about creation and pitying. In the second section (Upon the Blessed Isles), he argues that "God is a conjecture; but I desire that your conjectures should not reach beyond your creative will. Could you create a god? Then do not speak to me of any gods. But you could well create the overman [...] of the overman you could recreate yourselves: and let this be your best creation" (86). For Zarathustra, creation is the solution to redeem man from his suffering. Additionally, man's will to power is a potentially liberating capacity. In the fifth section, Zarathustra critically examines different conceptions of traditional virtue. He says: "you are too pure for the filth of the words: revenge, punishment, reward, retribution" (94). After much vivisection and refutation, Zarathustra moves into a discussion of the possible meaning of existence for man in the section On the Tarantulas. Here, he makes a proposal: "For that man be delivered from revenge, that is for me the bridge to the highest hope, and a rainbow after long storms" (99). Zarathustra warns man to mistrust all who have a powerful inclination to seek revenge and enact punishment.In book three, Zarathustra continues his prophetic teachings to mankind, though he insists that he is "Godless" (170). He reflects about the absence of having a true audience; one gets the impression that Zarathustra is echoing Nietzsche's loneliness as a largely unrecognized philosopher and writer. He continues with a transvaluation of all values wherein Zarathustra declares the `three best cursed things,' which are: "sex, the lust to rule, [and] selfishness" (188). He condemns Christianity's disapproval of these things, arguing that sex represents a happiness of the body, the lust to rule is a variant of the will to power, and selfishness is a mode of self enjoyment. Zarathustra is concerned that the dominant institutions of our time have conditioned human beings to hate and fear themselves. Additionally, he teaches man about man's ultimate purpose, which he describes in the third section of `The Old and New Tablets,' where he writes: "There it was too that I picked up the word `overman' by the way, and that man is something that must be overcome-that man is a bridge and no end" (198). For Zarathustra, a going under is a crossing over, a transition. In this way, mankind is taught to confront his own mortality.
In `The Convalescent,' Zarathustra rests for seven days after a collapse in his cave. He is upset with the animals for watching him in pain, for pain and cruelty (whether it is directed inward or outward) is the greatest flaw of man. It is here that Zarathustra gives his most profound teaching: "Alas, man recurs eternally! The small man recurs eternally!' Zarathustra has established his reason for being: to teach the eternal recurrence of the same. All events and beings of the universe have existed an infinite number of times and will continue to repeat eternally. Zarathustra claims: "I myself belong to the causes of the eternal recurrence. I come again, with this sun, with this earth, with this eagle, with this serpent-not to a new life or a better life or a similar life: I come back eternally to this same, selfsame life, in what is greatest as in what is smallest, to teach again the eternal recurrence of all the things" (221). It is because of the eternal recurrence of the same that mankind should affirm life and will subsequently overcome nihilism. Zarathustra expresses a desire that mankind embrace himself as such, and to be willing to act as a bridge for something greater. He declares: "You are mere bridges: may men higher than you stride over you. You signify steps: therefore do not be angry with him who climbs over you to his height" (283). According to Zarathustra, it is only since God has died that mankind can be resurrected. In `On the Higher Man,' Zarathustra announces the life of the overman, an indication of a higher being able to climb over man. Zarathustra announces: "O my brothers, what I can love in man is that he is an overture and a going under [...] Overcome these masters of today, O my brothers-these small people, they are the overman's greatest danger" (287). Human beings must, in accordance with their nature, be willing to go down in order to go across. They are the bridge to something higher. The thought of eternal return contains many facets and implications. One the one hand, the notion of eternity without the trajectory of a goal and without a definitive close could be viewed as the essence of nihilism or pessimism. However, this is not a complete thought of eternal recurrence. Yet if the thinker understands the relation between nihilism and the eternal recurrence of the same, he can fully affirm life.
(less)

like 10 likes · see review

Dec 30, 2007 Christopherseelie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Easily the best book of wisdom literature I've come across. This one I shall take slowly, with many sections reread...for pleasure.
Walter Kaufman warns the reader ahead of time that this is the work of a profoundly lonely man. I think it adds to the joy of reading, because one must separate for themselves the wisdom and the neurosis. The devise of an "untrustworthy narrator" reaches a new level of subtlety. And for it all, the book actually has some laugh lines!
Nietzsche thought this his masterp...more

like 4 likes · see review

Jan 18, 2008 Todd rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Jill

Shelves: western-philosophy

I reread this book periodically. Nietzche's work is often completely misunderstood and misrepresented. He is one of the most reviled thinkers in the western philosophical pantheon. Some of this comes from Nietzche himself who went bonkers toward the end of his short life (it was a brain tumor actually and not syphllis as many believe) and some of it comes from the Nazi perverts who did not apprhend his concept of the uberman and used his ideas to justify some of their more perverted ideas.

Zarath...more

like 4 likes · see review

topics	posts	views	last activity
You in Nietzsche or Nietzsche in you?	3	76	Sep 13, 2012 03:30pm
Masterpiece	15	144	Sep 04, 2012 05:39am
Emerg	2	62	Jun 08, 2012 02:06am
پارسا	1	21	Sep 22, 2007 02:47pm

title link	preview: Thus Spoke Zarathustra
avg rating	preview: Thus Spoke Zarathustra Goodreads rating: 4.02 (32703 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8611383-thus-spoke-zarathustra?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1279727894l/8611383.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8611383-thus-spoke-zarathustra?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Thus Spoke Zarathustra by Friedrich Nietzsche[/url]

Thus Spoke Zarathustra

Friend Reviews

Lists with This Book

Community Reviews

new topic
Discuss This Book

combine
Other Editions (409)

Genres

Readers also enjoyed similar books

About Friedrich Nietzsche

Books by Friedrich Nietzsche

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website

Trivia About Así habló Zaratus...

Quotes from Thus Spoke Zarathustra