Questions About The Birth of Tragedy

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I've never read Nietzsche before, though I've often meant to. Have you read anything else by him (Thus Spoke Zarathustra, perhaps?) and, if so, what do you recommend for me to start with?

Mishou If you've never read Nietzsche before the worst possible thing you can do is read Thus Spoke Zarathustra. That is his final complete piece of writing …moreIf you've never read Nietzsche before the worst possible thing you can do is read Thus Spoke Zarathustra. That is his final complete piece of writing with so much weight and hardiness after writing complex pieces previous to it. Yes The birth of Tragedy is his first published work but it is still quite an undertaking and not to be read lightly. If you truly want to experience and appreciate his thoughts and philosophy properly, the best thing you can do is read a secondary source to get a sense of the matter without having to jump through fiery hoops to understand it. I'm a minor in Philosophy and my boyfriend is a 3rd year Major. Trust me you'll be doing yourself a favor and will have better success in excelling with Nietzsche. A great secondary source is "The Importance of Nietzsche" by Erich Heller. Then, if you want to move on past Secondary sources I suggest (smaller than The Birth of Tragedy) "Human, All-Too-Human". (less)

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