Thus Spake Zarathustra

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Summary: Talk about translations!
Review: I only want to say one thing here, and I say it primarily because I already love this work. This is the translation to buy. Everyone seems to adore Kaufmann, but the truth is he's much more obtuse and difficult to read (and I don't believe it's necessary, as some may say). Hollingdale gets it right. I'll defend myself with one example from a class I took, where Kaufmann's translation was the required text. I had read both translations (cover-to-cover), and sold my copy of Kaufmann's translation, keeping only my Hollingdale. So, needless to say, I wasn't about to buy Kaufmann again, and went to class with Hollingdale. Slowly, but surely, as the other students read bits of the translation I had, or heard when I spoke pieces aloud, they overwhelmingly agreed with me: Hollingdale is simply more clear, more beautiful, more powerful (less academic, shall we say, which is pure Nietzsche). Ok, over and out, enjoy.

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Summary: For Ye of Little Faith...Watch out!
Review: Walter Kaufmann is acclaimed as premier translator of many classics in German literature and poetry. His translation of Thus Spake Zarathustra warrants this renown. His TSZ(ASZ)is good and "fair" as informed readers can ask for.Having said this, remember(Ecce Homo)Herr Nieztsche was close to being psychotic as a man can be. When he exhorts followers to "be like him...by being nothing like him", this is as lucid and forthright a statement of his philosophy of UBERMENSCH as you'll ever get. Reviewers note deliberate mockery of Biblical Prophet's voice and gravitas (particularly ISAIAH). FEAR & TREMBLING by Christian soul brother, Soren Kierkegaard is actually...in my estimate...truer rendering of a tale of the adept who dares soar "Beyond Good & Evil". Dostoyevsky's NOTES FROM UNDERGROUND is fearfully clear in its shrill, bizarre tirade/monologue manifesting outrage wherefrom the essence of most would-be Zarathustras/Ubermenschen derive their "Wille zu Macht".

What appears in Nietzsche to be glorious and heroic is vile and craven as interpreted by Big D? Two sides of the same coin? Nietzsche proclaimed, AMOR FATI...love of fate...as the hero's First Commandment. Yet this Poet(Nieztsche is superbly provocative as poet; Kaufmann does him justice)who recognized "GOD is DEAD"...buried under Hegel's comfortable Christianity, now resurrected as PM Yuppie Materialism...cops-out with an absurd "myth of Eternal Return": grocery store, New Age Reincarnation. Is this great literature? Philosophy? Anti-Christian theology? When reading Nietzsche, bear in mind his own caveats and fact he spent the final 11 years of life bedridden schizophrenic. That this man captures moments of gnostic illumination, there is little doubt. But for Ye of Little Faith...Watch out: Milton's DARKNESS VISIBLE is finally what ZARATHUSTRA evokes.(3 & 1/2 stars)

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Summary: This Book Will Change Your Life!
Review: This book is transfinitly excellent! Even if you don't agree with Nietzsche's conclusions or points of view this is still an interesting and worthwhile read. This book should be required reading for all inhabitants of planet earth!

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Summary: Beyond Good and Evil is Zarathustra
Review: When I was seventeen I got a tattoo which, inscribed upon my shoulder, said: "Beyond Good and Evil", a quote from this book (written before it later became a title of another of Nietzsche's books). I had a vague notion as to what this slogan delineated when I had it done, it relates to empathy- which can only be achieved via dispelling both your own predilections and by looking beyond virtue, at least according to Nietzsche. Another quote from this book goes to cement that fact: "As soon as you find yourself against me you cease to understand my position and consequently my argument. You must be a victim of the same passion!" Many of the reviews supplied to Amazon are extreme to say the least, giving the implication that Pink's new album (or, add superfluous element of pop culture here) is the best ever made, but I'm not ahead of myself by saying that this has, and I'd imagine will always be, the most influential (at least on me) and best book ever created. To accord it with such a judgement, or any judgement, is to demean it entirely. For this is an entirely uncompromising story detailing how, when society and all its subsidiaries have been alleviated, what you're left with is logic; repellent, pompous, brazen logic. Such logic possessed by Nietzsche asserted that in theory people should be nihilists, because if death is forever nearing- what is it that's holding you down? Why don't we just climb trees, kiss strangers and rejoice in Nature's elation? The answer is time. Life amongst others is a war of attrition, their moralistic ways inevitably catching up with you, grinding away at your anachronisms even if they are logical.
I wonder now if I would still get that tattoo- with its anti-social connotations. Was not Nietzsche trying to warn me of its repercussions in the book Thus Spoke Zarathustra? Detailed in this book is the notion of the Superman, one of those rare souls blessed with the gift of empathy. This main character of Zarathustra is a thinly veiled emulation of the writer himself (in the R.E.M. song Man on the Moon, they mentioned Nietzsche's terrible asp), a revolutionary prophet trundling amongst the mediocre masses, looking in their eyes to see how far off the Superman is. The world is truly his oyster, and with every step, still manages to gratify, appal and surprise him. Perhaps the character is an embryonic version of the writer's later Anti-Christ, if that is the case then the one question that resides the proceedings is, if the existence of Zarathustra is to deride and debunk the myth of Christianity and Jesus, if he is Jesus' antonym- then does not his very existence prove that of God's? Through the evolution of Nietzsche's thoughts and musings via his books, many of his later ideas are earlier staged as brief asides. Further adding to the Anti-Christ theory, during the latter stage of the book it becomes clear that Zarathustra finds it impossible to live with the ideal being- the superman- and questions himself and his world, is perhaps God still alive? Being an anomaly, albeit a vaguely respected one, will inevitably have repercussions- and Zarathustra's paradoxical Will at the end drowns amidst society's own desires. I think if I reckoned upon this at first read, I might have thought twice about the tattoo.
This book is wrapped up in metaphor after metaphor (see what I did...), I wouldn't be surprised if it was declared that this was the most allegorical, metaphoric book ever written. The book is divided into aphorisms, each of which conveys a straightforward (although revelatory) musing, and in itself several undertones which, if cared to be discerned, are just as amazing. This book has ripped a hole into the fabric of literature that has never been filled. If you are a fan of life, then I'd recommend you buy this, become immersed, and then question your future and past existence afterwards. What more can you expect of philosophy?

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Summary: outdated translation
Review: This translation is quite old (now public domain) and fiddled with substantial errors. Have a look at the Kaufmann translation instead and spend a few extra bucks -- the book will make far more sense if you do! More enjoyable, too...

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Summary: Great!!!
Review: To fully appreciate the book, one must first accept that "man is the bridge between ape and Overman". Nietzsche's core views revolve around the concept that we (the human race) are a mere rung on the ladder of evolution. From ape, to man, to Overman. Thus Spoke Zarathustra is poetic, logical, insightful, and full of focussed creative effort. I highly recommend it to anyone. Other good philosophical works I reccomend are Heiddeger's Being and Time and Paul Omeziri's Descent into Illusion.

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Summary: 80% gibberish and riddles, 20% interesting
Review: Thus Spoke Zarathustra (R.J. Hollingdale's translation) is quite simply one of the least enjoyable classics I've ever read. It was a chore to get through the 330+ pages and what I was constantly hoping would get better, never did. TSZ attempts to espouse many aspects of Nietzsche's philosophy through, for the most part, meaningless riddles and analogies. You won't understand even half of what Nietzsche's trying to tell you. When I read a book I expect to be able to at least understand the plot or message. TSZ was overall a waste of time.

There are a couple of redeeming points to consider. Nietzsche's "Superman" philosophy is interesting and he goes into some detail on the inadequacies of man today and what the future Superman will be like. According to Nietzsche, God created everything but then died sometime in the past out of pity for humanity's imperfections. The Superman race will one day come out of man and be perfection in mind and body. Also, Nietsche has unique viewpoints on many aspects of life: work, family, friendships, etc. The fraction of a time that Zarathustra speaks coherently, he's interesting.

The problem is, Zarathustra spends the vast majority of his time preaching in gibberish and poor poetry. 80% of the dozens of topics in TSZ are practically unreadable. I understand that the original work is German and many of Nietzsche's plays on words cannot be translated properly. However, I can't imagine even the original German prose making much sense to a fluent German speaker.

Here's an excerpt typical of the prose found throughout the novel, from the section "On the Blissful Islands": "Truly, I have gone my way through a hundred souls and through a hundred cradles and birth-pangs. I have taken many departures, I know the heart-breaking last hours. But my creative will, my destiny, wants it so. Or, to speak more honestly: my will wants precisely such a destiny. All feeling suffers in me and is in prison: but my willing always comes to me as my liberator and bringer of joy. Willing liberates: that is the true doctrine of will and freedom - thus Zarathustra teaches you. No more to will and no more to evaluate and no more to create! ah, that this great lassitude may ever stay far from me!"

Hmm, so he wants to will and create, but doesn't want to feel? What's his point? He's not making sense here. Now imagine 80% of the book written in mediocre prose like that and you have an idea of what you're getting into. It would have been far better if Nietzsche had simply written a clear one-paragraph summary of Zarathustra's point at the end of each section. Then you could go back and interpret better what Z was talking about. I've read a whole bunch of classics and have a large library of them. I consider my reading comprehension skills to be above-average. Yet this book ranks at or very near the bottom of my list. NOT recommended!

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Summary: Thus Spoke Zarathustra
Review: And god gave us Nietzsche! Or did he? One of the first discoveries of Nietzsche's main character, Zarathustra, in this fictional work is the revelation(or lack thereof) that God does not exist. An excellent description of Nietzsche's life is provided at the beginning of this translation, along with the traditional editor's notes. If you skip parts of this work, do NOT skip the notes about his life. To connect with Zarathustra, you must know the author. The ever-present references to Nausea hint at Nietzsche's numerous illnesses. The constant references to sleep parallel his insomnia etc etc.

Philosophically, Nietzsche is labelled a nihilist by some. Zarathustra is Nietzsche's giving up or "going under" as the book describes it, so in a sense, this may be correct. Zarathustra renounces how the world has lived, and as a hermit, he finds himself and what the world means to him. Without God, who is destroyed by his pity for man, the world means everything to Zarathustra. This life is all he has to live, and he spreads his teachings for hope that one day man will "go over" or rise above, man as it existed 100 years ago, or for that matter, even today. His journey reminds me of a drawn out Fight Club a few centuries old. As Zarathustra drags his theoretical feet through an almost biblical writing style(used in mockery), the reasoning behind Nietzsche's Godlessness take form aside from God's pity for man. He takes a look at preachers of the spirit and how much they're missing in life. Proclaiming that the spirit and body are one and connected as an earthly concept he mocks the preachers of the body and their constant babblings of the "after-life" and a higher spirit while the earthly life is full of suffering. Sometimes going a bit far and portraying the apparent antagonists as a bit over the top, Nietzsche's main character can distance himself from the reader if taken verbatim. Zarathustra does not believe in current society or power and for good reason; what earthly ground do they stand upon? One apparent enigma I remember quite well was Zarathustra's distaste for the wise man. One tends to assume that Zarathustra is poking fun at the reader, you have a choice to drop the book now if you're following it as an instruction book and you've just become his "higher man". Carry on, and you'll find later that this is not an end(consequently neither is Nietzsche, see postmodernism). The term "going under" is really what the entire philosophy is about. I got quite a bit out of the puzzling writing style. It denies convention, as seen in the philosophy and religion of the time, its foothold on society, and without any sort of convention nothing holds up too well to Nietzsche's barrage of destruction within Zarathustra's mind. Simplified, my thoughts are that this constant questioning of ideals and beliefs are what brought on later ideas like Deconstruction in works of Derrida and other authors of similar beliefs. Reading this, it's strange to see where the hell Freud is coming from as far as Nietzsche's works go. Sex is downplayed in Thus Spoke Zarathustra. It's viewed almost as casual as going to the bathroom and reading a newspaper. The ideas presented by Zarathustra are often intriguing and help to solidify the reader's opinion on a topic one way or another.

As far as writing style, this story is written like the bible. Obviously, it mocks the bible in almost every way, from the dated vocabulary to the stories of animals and silly symbolism. The ridiculous songs and poems poke fun at related portions of the bible. The setting is even pseudo-biblical. I found it somewhat hard at times to get Nietzsche's point out of some of the more muddled passages, and I had to continue on to find later that he'd repeat something a different way and I'd eventually grasp it. While, a progression(or regression depending upon your viewpoint), I feel Zarathustra's journey forward looks backward often, and some of the necessary introductory pieces didn't appeal to me much, as I felt I've already "gone under" these traditions of good and evil.

This is a necessary read for anyone even somewhat interested in philosophy. Depending upon how familiar you are with works by later authors it might be a bit boring and repetative. As much praise as I give for it, the work doesn't go without flaw. Obvious in Zarathustra is a certain contempt for everything currently around him and an outwardly destructive nature to an extent that isn't directly militant, but it reflects someone shunned by a society and falls to subjectivity at certain points. One or two sections struck me as very sexist and I dismissed them as a result of the time period and Nietzsche's lonliness in life. Shining through where unwanted at times is Nietzsche's praise of solitude and on a much lower level his illness. It leaves the reader unconvinced in specific passages and opens questions of bias(not to say this isn't a biased work).

Overall, 4/5 stars. A necessary, excellent read. It's a tough read and you'll have to go over a few passages more than once to grab the meaning, but you'll come out with a clear idea of where you stand on some of the issues and maybe a new view on society's conventions.

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Summary: Beautiful
Review: Nietzsche's Thus Spake Zarathustra is Nietzsche's only fictional piece to ever have been created. With prose that speaks more eloquently than the "word of God" does through his followers, Nietzsche reveals his philosophy (or rather masks it partially) through the story of Zarathustra. TSZ reads more like an epic than a modern novel and thereby, I would maintain, raises it far above the fiction pieces by Ayn Rand (whose heroes seem to lack a personality with any sort of complexity) and perhaps, not as far above, some works of Dostoevsky and Sartre. I too, would recommend at least reading Beyond Good and Evil before taking up TSZ, for Nietzsche, as I alluded to above, was one for masks and encryption in his philosophizing. However there shall be no worries in taking that extra step in understanding Nietzsche, as his non-fiction books are written with the same fiery passion and eloquence that pervades TSZ to the very end.

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Summary: You should be there
Review: The prophet was not meant to be understood; rather to be lived.

Have you arrived on you own, to a place where you shed all that you know to be true? Then the prophet will guide you.

You will be indebted to him, for he is as unique as Job.