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Thus Spoke Zarathustra
by Friedrich Nietzsche, Walter Kaufmann
by Friedrich Nietzsche, Walter Kaufmann
Riku Sayuj's review
bookshelves: reviews
Mar 19, 12
bookshelves: reviews
Read from November 30 to December 11, 2011 — I own a copy
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?
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?
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Reading Progress
| 11/30/2011 | page 15 |
|
5.0% | "What is the greatest thing you can experience? It is the hour of great contempt. The hour in which even your happiness becomes loathsome to you, and so also your reason and virtue." |
| 12/11/2011 |
|
100.0% | "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?" |
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Ashwini
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Dec 13, 2011 09:44pm
HAHAHa, since your review seems like a challenge, please do forward the book to me. collaborative understanding can surely be better for both ?
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Ashwini wrote: "HAHAHa, since your review seems like a challenge, please do forward the book to me. collaborative understanding can surely be better for both ?"it was not a challenge :) It was just me being dejected at the thought that I will soon be reading it again. This is an out-of-copyright work man... you can get it at archive.org - a gold mine of a website that.
I loved this one as well, at least what i understood of it. I agree with the 'abstuse' second half though. I should re-read this and we shall discuss!
s.penkevich wrote: "I loved this one as well, at least what i understood of it. I agree with the 'abstuse' second half though. I should re-read this and we shall discuss!"thank ol' zars!
First, I think it is a mistake to look for some sort of "overall" Nietzschean philosophy. He was much more accustomed to write with aphorisms that sometimes seem disconnected. Nor does he attempt to be always consistent. For someone approaching his work for the first time, it is helpful to have a commentary. And reading his works in chronological order is also helpful. Finally, I think that if one reads a good biography first, one can begin to place his thoughts in a context that is clarifying. Don't be discouraged; Nietzsche is challenging. He is also very wise and stimulatingly provocative in his thinking. It helps to accept that the way he formulates and presents his thoughts can be deliberately outrageous. I like reading him, and he always stimulates my thinking and makes me grow.
Bruce wrote: "First, I think it is a mistake to look for some sort of "overall" Nietzschean philosophy. He was much more accustomed to write with aphorisms that sometimes seem disconnected. Nor does he attempt..."So how to approach him then? Where do I start?
Bruce wrote: "I'd begin with A Nietzsche Reader or The Portable Nietzsche."Thanks. I'll go shopping for them and see...
This review echoes exactly what is in my own head. 2/3 through I had to check I was still reading the same book
Perhaps try his Birth of Tragedy, a better book, I think. (But I read both at least forty years ago!)
Alan wrote: "Perhaps try his Birth of Tragedy, a better book, I think. (But I read both at least forty years ago!)"I have read it and it was wonderful. Much more comprehensible :)
Riku wrote: "Alan wrote: "Perhaps try his Birth of Tragedy, a better book, I think. (But I read both at least forty years ago!)"I have read it and it was wonderful. Much more comprehensible :)"
Glad to hear it. (My memories from forty years are not terribly off.)
Alan wrote: "Riku wrote: "Alan wrote: "Perhaps try his Birth of Tragedy, a better book, I think. (But I read both at least forty years ago!)"I have read it and it was wonderful. Much more comprehensible :)"
..."
the author hated it to high hell later on in life though :)
Riku wrote: "Alan wrote: "Riku wrote: "Alan wrote: "Perhaps try his Birth of Tragedy, a better book, I think. (But I read both at least forty years ago!)"I have read it and it was wonderful. Much more compreh..."
Aha! Here would be an interesting list: Great Books their Authors have Rejected. My favorite is Mortviye Dushi, Dead Souls by Gogol. Upon conversion to Christianity, he rejected it: His next book is a boring spiritual journal. I mistakenly bought it--in Russian--since the store near Harvard didn't have Mortviye Dushi. I think it's one of the ten best novels ever written, maybe one of the five best. For one thing, hilarious--one of my standards for great lit. (Chaucer, Shakespeare, Moliere, Plautus, Ovid, Sterne, Byron, Austen,Dickens, Joyce--a bit--Bellow: all very funny in part.)
