Product Description

No modern philosopher has been more completely misquoted and misrepresented than Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900). His phrase, "God is dead", his insistence that the meaning of life is to be found in purely human terms, and his doctrine of the superman and the will to power were all later seized upon and unrecognizably twisted by, among others, Nazi intellectuals. This translation of "Thus spoke Zarathustra" a spiritual odyssey through the modern world, enables the reader to judge for themselves an original thinker who has had a powerful influence upon such 20th century writers as Shaw, Mann, Sartre and Camus.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4668 in Books
• Published on: 1974-02-28
• Original language: German
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

Synopsis
No modern philosopher has been more completely misquoted and misrepresented than Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900). His phrase, "God is dead", his insistence that the meaning of life is to be found in purely human terms, and his doctrine of the superman and the will to power were all later seized upon and unrecognizably twisted by, among others, Nazi intellectuals. This translation of "Thus spoke Zarathustra" a spiritual odyssey through the modern world, enables the reader to judge for themselves an original thinker who has had a powerful influence upon such 20th century writers as Shaw, Mann, Sartre and Camus.

About the Author
Graham Parkes is the author of Composing the Soul: Reaches of Nietzsche's Psychology (Chicago, 1994), and the editor of Nietzsche and Asian Thought (Chicago, 1991). He is joint editor, with Steve Odin, of The Blackwell Source Book iin Japanese Philosophy (2005).

Customer Reviews

A review from someone who ahsnt completed the work
As a Christian, a few people might find it slightly odd that I actually like Nietzche and his works. I'm sure he would absolutely loathe me, but he seems to have loathed everything so in truth I'm not that worried. Thus spoke Zarathustra, which I have not actually completed, seems to just about summarize Nietzche's views, Zoroaster is made in Nietzche's philosophical avatar. If you are like me, a Christian (or religous), who likes to have their views challenged, and perhaps even confronted with good or irefutable arguments, Nietzche is a good place to start, and (just from my partial reading), where better to start than Thus spoke Zarathustra. If you are an atheist, this book will give you some extra arguments, and make you feel very good about yourself with Nietzche giving you intellectual authority, but if that is the only reason you want to get this book you probably quite boring. This book is good if you want to dig deep for the philosophical arguments. A lot of people have said the translation is terrible, I haven't read another copy and I can't read german, so I don't know any better. To me I think the author makes a good attempt at translating the text into an archaic poetic manner. However, I find it gets a bit greating, and if what others say is true the translations from German into archaic English words and syntax are arbitrary, and so it might be better to get a more flowing copy. The book is beautiful in many ways, and as a self-proclaimed exitentialist, I think this is certainly a very influentail book. Nietzche sure as hell (or whatever) knows his stuff.

Nice book, pity I can't read it.
Before I start I should say that 'Thus Spake Zarathustra' is an excellent book. It sets forth the majority of Nietschze's views through the mouth of the prophet Zoroaster. The closest thing to a criticism I can levy is that his succeeding works like 'beyond good and evil' might be a bit more suitable if you're a philosophy student like me since they set forward his views a bit more bluntly (on the other hand why not read both). I would normally give it a happy five stars, however in this case I'm not reviewing just the book in general but rather this particular edition. The translator has littered the book with exagerated archaisms. What the intention of this was is a mystery to me but the effect is clear, the book is near to unreadable. Tacking -eth to the end of every verb and sprinkling in thous and thees isn't an improvement and I can hardly believe that it represents in any way the original German. Don't be tempted by the low price, you'll regret it.

The Greatest Book Ever Written
The Magnificent vital force that is unleashed by each page written byNietzsche continues, even today, to influence the oaths of contemporarythought and society. Since in Thus Spoke Zarathustra was proclaimed themystical theory of the “super-man”, that the greatest effort ofcontemporary western thought has been to try engraving it intoreality.
Although apparently not being able to find the adequate musclesystem, not being able to find the adequate nervous system to fulfill it’sdestiny, much of the “superman” can be seen, although sometimes deform anddistorted, in Germany, in Eugenics, and, maybe above all, in theapparently inevitable Genetic revolution, or evolution, as many like tocall it.
The will to power is one of the strongest faces of this book,and of Nietzsche. He proposes a new way of being in the world, better, anew Being with a different way of facing society in general, a world whereideas are not mere thought, but above all action.
Besides all this and so much more, The Greatest Book Ever Written is also,in contrast to most philosophers, enjoyable. Magnificently written,poetic, prophetic, and with a sense of humor second to no otherauthor.
I know many that have read it; I know not one that has read itonly once. Read this book and you will change, that is guaranteed.