35 books
—
22 voters
Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read.
Start by marking “Nietzsche and the Burbs” as Want to Read:
Nietzsche and the Burbs
by
This highly anticipated followup to the acclaimed Wittgenstein Jr. finds a young Nietzsche experiencing the excitements and the humiliations of finals season in a modern high school.
When a new student transfers in from private school, his public school peers nickname him Nietzsche thanks to his mysterious charisma. Nietzsche, like his philosopher namesake, is brilliant but ...more
When a new student transfers in from private school, his public school peers nickname him Nietzsche thanks to his mysterious charisma. Nietzsche, like his philosopher namesake, is brilliant but ...more
Get A Copy
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Reader Q&A
To ask other readers questions about
Nietzsche and the Burbs,
please sign up.
Popular Answered Questions
Community Reviews
Showing 1-30
Start your review of Nietzsche and the Burbs
Such a fun book. The author always writes his novels with hyper wordplay and characters obsessed with philosophy. This time out, he’s set the book in the English suburbs and follows a small group of students in their last weeks of school before university. I could have spent another five hundred pages with these funny, hyper articulate characters and their embrace, and sometimes misunderstanding, of the world’s bleaker philosophical writings.
Lars Iyer is one of my favourite authors and this is yet another funny, entertaining and above all intelligent novel. Who'd have thought that nihilism in the M4 corridor could be so much fun?
...more
"But won’t the suburbs defeat philosophy? Don’t the suburbs mean the impossibility of philosophy? Won’t the suburbs mean the destruction of all philosophical inquiry, including Nietzsche’s? Won’t we have to reconcile ourselves to suburban lives? To depression and suicide attempts in the suburbs?"
The violently nihilist version of Perks of Being A Wallflower. Strange, lyrical and fast paced. Exceedingly funny. Consider this charming excerpt on parents:
"They won’t leave us alone. They round us up f ...more
The violently nihilist version of Perks of Being A Wallflower. Strange, lyrical and fast paced. Exceedingly funny. Consider this charming excerpt on parents:
"They won’t leave us alone. They round us up f ...more
Hilarious, touching, wonderfully wordy. A group of sixth-formers search for meaning in the suburb of Wokingham, philosophize about the meaning/meaninglessness of life in the suburbs. Sort of series of riffs on various themes.
Nietzsche and the Burbs is a book that should be savored, but you can't help but devour it like a tasty dish of pad thai. You keep reading even when you are way past full because the words and ideas are so delicious. The story revolves around a group of self-described misfits who are dear friends, love each other immensely, and enjoy riding their bikes around town.
This group of friends is finding their way through life and the last weeks of school, balancing on the edge of transition, vacillati ...more
This group of friends is finding their way through life and the last weeks of school, balancing on the edge of transition, vacillati ...more
Reading this book was reliving so many teenage existential crises on the unwieldy emotional spectrum from Kurt Cobain to ABBA... in a good way. It was funny, smart, relatable, yet awkward, inducing eye-rolls and cringes. I did not want it to end, and I will read this again.
As I read this book, I found myself alternately cringing, laughing, nodding knowingly, and re-reading, especially the passages having to do with the characters' efforts to understand nihilism. As a "senior" (derided for their smugness and self-congratulatory attitudes at one point in the book), I feel I gained valuable insight into the minds of young people today who are facing what appears to be a bleak future. It reminded me that the world looked pretty bleak when I was at that age, myself, an
...more
Incomparable riotous delight. Bernhard, Beckett, Blanchot, Bataille, Woolf, Golding, Wilde, Jung, Joyce, heck, all of ‘em, are twirling and cavorting under their headstones at the way Iyer pulls off this homageous reincarnation of N’s vision. Iyer’s career trajectory proofed, perfected, epitomized, proactively personalized. A genital-tickling wonder. A triumph of sensibility, wisdom and compassion. Venus in slashed jeans.
get these kids some THERAPY
I absolutely ADORED this book. From the first sentence to the last, it was brilliant. I’ve never read anything quite like it. And that’s all I want to say apart from the fact that I’ve now got a copy of ‘Thus Spoke Zarathustra’ by the side of my bed ...
Man muss noch Chaos in sich haben, um einen tanzenden Stern gebären zu können. (You must have chaos within you to give birth to a dancing star.)
Man muss noch Chaos in sich haben, um einen tanzenden Stern gebären zu können. (You must have chaos within you to give birth to a dancing star.)
This was an incredibly fun read. It captured the feeling of being in the last year of 6th form in the UK well (even though it is set today, it seems as though not too much has changed since I was at that point in time). The author is clearly as scholar of philosophy, as can seen by his non-fiction works, and this shines through in the discussions the friends have. The characters are fully formed and thoroughly engaging, and I felt like could listen to their rambling conversations on the meaning
...more
I just finished the book Nietzsche and the ‘Burbs by Lars Iyer. Overall I enjoyed it, however, sometimes the main characters were far too edgy for me. They often lament life rather than embrace it, rejecting the concept of amor fati that the real Nietzsche held so close to heart. The book is about a suburbian band of British misfits who try and make music to escape their boring lives as well as adventuring to entertain themselves. Most of the plot points, relationships, parties, whatever, are pr
...more
Couldn't finish this. I have a rule that I give a book no longer than 1/3 to get enjoyable. This failed.
The book is almost entirely speech which would be okay if not for:
1) No speech marks are used which annoyed me more than it really ought
2) The pace is so stop start and jerky that it felt exhausting.
3) The characters talk in the quick quips of Tarantino characters which comes over as hugely unbelievable.
4) The "banter" is basically The Inbetweeners without the wit.
5) Even with only a 1/3 d ...more
The book is almost entirely speech which would be okay if not for:
1) No speech marks are used which annoyed me more than it really ought
2) The pace is so stop start and jerky that it felt exhausting.
3) The characters talk in the quick quips of Tarantino characters which comes over as hugely unbelievable.
4) The "banter" is basically The Inbetweeners without the wit.
5) Even with only a 1/3 d ...more
The premise of the book was quite interesting - a bunch of adolescents trying to weave through life and seeking a philosophical basis to it...a greater meaning. The new kid, nicknamed Nietzsche is the centrepiece of their exploration here as he, in their eyes, embodied nihilism and its teachings. Them trying to explore these notions even with their band was amusing. I felt like their observations and conversations throughout the book had a lot of overlap, which made it slow at various points. Bu
...more
Incomparable riotous delight. Bernhard, Beckett, Blanchot, Bataille, Woolf, Golding, Wilde, Jung, Joyce, heck, all of ‘em, are twirling and cavorting under their headstones at the way Iyer pulls off this homageous reincarnation of N’s vision. Iyer’s career trajectory proofed, perfected, epitomized, proactively personalized. A genital-tickling wonder. A triumph of sensibility, wisdom and compassion. Venus in sliced jeans.
After a shaky start, I ended up really liking this book! (and by start I mean setting aside and reading another book by the same author). His sentance style is staccato at times. It 's a great book for teenage angst.
...more
Dfn at page 126. Could not keep up with the teenage banter.
Odd and strange...so abstract.
This was not my kind of book. I didn't like the choppy writing style and lack of character development. I also found the narrative to be depressing and repetitive.
...more
This book was funny but felt long to me. I did enjoy the friend group's discussions and dynamics but it wasn't a quick read for me. Overall, I enjoyed it.
...more
Bleak and repetitive. Gave up one third in.
This book is pretentious and repetitive and probably not for everyone, but it did make me laugh out loud consistently during a pandemic and for that I am eternally grateful.
I’m not a huge fan of choppy angst-filled narrative, but I appreciate the story told.
Wow, unique. Got a little long-winded, but such modern teenage insight.
Decent, and some laugh out loud parts. If you aren't into nihilistic philosophy, you may not get all the jokes.
...more
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
Readers also enjoyed
News & Interviews
Die-hard mystery fans are always on the hunt for their next supremely satisfying whodunit. To help you stock that Want to Read shelf, we asked...
38 likes · 21 comments
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
