Rating: 
Summary: Ethics for the "Great-Souled Man"
Review: The title, Beyond Good & Evil, can make the author seem a bit (perhaps a lot!) crude, but only if the title is to be interpreted (without reading the whole book) at face value. This is precisely what Nietzsche was against: reaching a conclusion that is ‘certain’ based on the ‘name,’ ‘idea,’ or ‘concept’ given to things and persons from a bias of superficiality. From this ‘labeling’ the ‘simple man’ becomes prejudiced, and therefore, locked into his ‘tradition’ of thought and language, and as a consequence, cannot rise to a height ‘beyond’ this ‘good & evil’ man has created for himself. It is Nietzsche’s task to drive his readers ‘beyond’ this ‘good & evil’ (where it is possible to create higher values), to shift perspectives, to a height where one cannot look up nor look down. At this height there exists no god, no mask, no prejudice. There is only the “great-souled man.” There is a lesson to be learned, but to learn it one only has to read Nietzsche in his spirit to find it.
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Summary: Newbies, Start With This One!
Review: I'm a newbie to Nietzsche's works, though I'd come to Beyond Good and Evil through the proverbial back door. After having read prominent 20th century texts from Camus to Derrida, I figured it was time to read something by Nietzsche, perhaps the most famous first figure to doubt what was "knowable." Nietzsche, anticipating the cynicism and angst that would become the hallmark of existential texts, was equally scornful of religion AND science (both, which he argued, were reductionist and misleading). The ultimate skeptic, Nietzsche warned readers about believing to deeply in "certain truths" often framed within the dichotomy of binary opposites (good vs. evil, black vs. white, heaven vs. hell; in short, everything the Western world bases its moral framework on).I've given Beyond Good and Evil five stars, but there are some problems with the book that the unintiated may want to know. First, although this is the most straight-forward and accessible of Nietzsche's works, it's still a difficult read. Second, although Nietzsche's writing style is full of verve and gusto (or, to use N's own word, "brio") and although this style makes for delightful anti-philosophic reading, his points do become burdensome after a while. After reading the introduction and the first 30 pages or so, I found myself saying, "Okay, okay, I got it." Nietzsche's misogyny, his failure to provide concrete examples (occassionally) and his belief in a human two-level caste system ("...life itself in its essence means appropriating, injuring, overpowering those who are foreign and weaker" (152-153)) may challenge (or turn off) some readers. Neverhtheless, at 180 slim pages, Beyond Good and Evil accomplishes its task before it becomes tiresome.
Rating: 
Summary: Autobiography of a mind
Review: Forget Nietzsche the philosopher. As he himself said, 'Before you ask what a philosopher thinks, find out what he wants' (or something to that effect), and, as Freud said, "He had a sharper understanding of himself than any man in recent history." You could blow holes in the logical validity of his arguments, but he has never been about logic; all of his texts are deeply personal, and show an outstandingly intelligent and sensitive man grappling with the same issues that plague most people. Although he often has a reputation as arrogant and self-centered, he was often more tenuous about his ideas than other philosophers, advancing an idea by a series of partly related statements, sometime changing his mind or pausing to restate his position in different terms. You can see his ideas evolving over the course of this book alone. There are also some solid and entertaining insights here, and the aphorisms are highly quotable, but I think its greatest value is as a glimpse into a human soul.
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Summary: What to say about Nietzsche?
Review: N. doesn't need my sales pitch, but anyway ... First, if you're going to buy BG&E, go ahead & get the Modern Library "Basic Writings" in paperback---not a volume of snippets, but the complete text of N.'s two best books, BG&E and On the Genealogy of Morals, & some other works, for scarcely more than BG&E alone. If you don't like one book, try the other. N. says the same thing from different angles in his last 4 or 5 books. Anything after Zarathustra, except for Ecce Homo, is a good place to start. Second, despite reading a translation, don't forget that N. is a clever, funny, & devilishly smart writer. Freud said no one before N. ever had as much self-knowledge. Read him with a sense of ironic humor. Too often N. is treated as some heavy thundering German, when if there's one thing that drove him up the wall, it was heavy thundering Germans. Third, forgive his attitude problems about women. N.'s dad died when he was a kid; his mom & aunts raised him, got on his last nerve, & gave him a bad attitude towards women. Which, regrettably, was not exactly uncommon in the 19th c. BG&E includes his acknowledgement that his misogyny is a bedrock level of stupidity that he can't escape. Fourth, if you're a Christian, there's a lot of N. that won't be acceptable to you. But learn what you can. A lot of so-called "Christianity" strongly resembles the "slave morality" that he describes. This is an amazing book that I haven't even tried to describe, the book that made philosophy come alive for me with N.'s comment that, when wondering where the hell some metaphysician's notions came from, one should ask what morality the notions are aiming at. The book is full of great insights from a brilliant man. Read this, then the Genealogy, then Twilight of the Idols.
Rating:
Summary: One of the better works of 19th century philosophy
Review: The late great Princeton philosopher Walter Kaufmann does yet another fine job of translating and defending Nietzsche to a 20th (and 21st?) century audience. Kaufmann deserves a great deal of credit for bringing Nietzsche out of the ranks of taboo books for the (unfortunate) association with Hitler after World War II. This association is ironic when one considers how Nietzsche extols the Jewish race on pages 187 & 188, describing them as ...beyond any doubt the strongest, toughest, and purest race now living in Europe; they know how to prevail even under the worst conditions...by means of virtues that today one would like to mark as vices - thanks above all to a resolute faith that need not be ashamed before "modern ideas".... Can anyone seriously contend that Hitler was inspired to commit genocide upon the Jewish people because of Nietzsche with passages such as this in mind? If I have one bone to pick with this book, it is Nietzsche's unwarranted misogynistic tirades in the chapter called "Our Virtues." These attacks on woman's intellectual acumen are not only wrong, but completely unnecessary and contribute nothing to Nietzsche's overall philosophical thread of thought. His dictum of the "eternally boring in woman" (a verbal joust to Goethe's "eternal feminine") is nothing more than an adolescent, shallow cheap shot. Personally, I think his hatred of women has much more to due with his psychology (the fact that he was such a very lonely man + the inaccessiblity of Cosima Wagner) than any serious intellectual analysis that he devoted to the issue. In any case, given the accomplishments of women in the 20th century (as well as the "hidden" triumphs of historical women from before this century) any educated person today would be compelled to dismiss the idea of men being mentally superior to women as hogwash. With the exception of the anti-woman chapter, the rest of this book is quite good. It is in many ways a re-writing of his "Also Sprach Zarathustra" via a non-poetic medium. Most of Nietzsche's more important ideas are incorporated into the book at some point or other. Also, Kaufmann furnishes the reader with helpful footnotes which elucidate the allusions that Nietzsche is making. A profound book. To give you a taste of why this book is worth reading, I will leave you with one of my very favorite passages of Nietzsche. It appears on page 153: "Measure" is alien to us; let us own it; our thrill is the thrill of the infinite, the unmeasured. Like a rider on a steed that flies forward, we drop the reins before the infinite, we modern men, like semi-barbarians - and reach "our" bliss only where we are most - in danger.
Rating:
Summary: Autobiography of a mind
Review: Forget Nietzsche the philosopher. As he himself said, 'Before you ask what a philosopher thinks, find out what he wants' (or something to that effect), and, as Freud said, "He had a sharper understanding of himself than any man in recent history." You could blow holes in the logical validity of his arguments, but he has never been about logic; all of his texts are deeply personal, and show an outstandingly intelligent and sensitive man grappling with the same issues that plague most people. Although he often has a reputation as arrogant and self-centered, he was often more tenuous about his ideas than other philosophers, advancing an idea by a series of partly related statements, sometime changing his mind or pausing to restate his position in different terms. You can see his ideas evolving over the course of this book alone. There are also some solid and entertaining insights here, and the aphorisms are highly quotable, but I think its greatest value is as a glimpse into a human soul.
Rating:
Summary: Reading for those on the go
Review: I thought the book was okay, but I'm not sure I understand the title, 'The Portable Nietzsche.' Is there a book on Nietzsche that is stationary? How would a publisher get it into a book store in the first place? And how would someone go about actually purchasing a book like that? Would you have to drive to the printers and stand there thumbing through it until you were finished? Wouldn't that be prohibitively expensive for the publisher, unless there were a lot of speed readers interested in reading the book? And even then, would they really be buying the book or merely renting it, if they couldn't even take it home? And how would the printer feel about complete strangers hanging around reading a book till all hours of the day and night? Who in gods name would be dumb enough to buy a book they couldn't take home with them? Outside of Oklahoma or Arkansas, homes are about the only thing you can buy that aren't portable. The books I've read were all quite portable. I can't remember how many times I've taken a book off the shelf of a book store, paid for it, took it home, put it on my own bookshelf where I would later remove it and start reading it. I'm going to have to write Penguin books and ask them just what they were thinking when they came up with that title. What a bunch of idiots.
Rating: 
Summary: What would Nietzsche be doing if he were alive right now?
Review: I should preface this review by refering to my title...clawing violently at the lid of his coffin like the rest of us would! I'll keep this review terse for the sake of the (unlikely >1) reader(s). I find many of the reader reviews I have read here on Amazon to be either funny or disturbing depending on my mood, since, old Fred himself would be the first to admit to the following: 1. "misogyny" or as it was so ummmmm eloquantly put "his attitude problems about women" (the truth of gender equality is DOUBTLESSLY UNQUESTIONABLE!!!!! How could he possibly not KNOW that???) 2. "failure to provide concrete examples" (or possibly PROVABLE in which case please join the despised "scientists") 3. Whatever other moral quandries instantly occured to the reviewer. It's also more than a little disturbing that literally NONE of the "top ten" reader reviews give old fred <4 (out of five) stars. But then again people who post reviews about a philosophy text are very likely to be as open minded as those at a G.W. Bush fundraiser or graduate nuclear physics lecture or for that matter ME. I can offer no better advice than to think and feel for yourself....
Rating:
Summary: Pure genius
Review: Beyond Good and Evil is extremely cunning and one of the most intelligent books I've ever read; I would even say, ever written. Nietzsche pulls you in by offering his philosophy in chunks, i.e aphorisms. Reading the book is challenging and rewarding to a magnificant degree. Recommendations: Every book Nietzsche ever wrote.
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Summary: The best book by Nietzsche, & best translation
Review: My girlfriend had an old copy of this book, which she had never read, and I borrowed it from her. I found it hard to read until I got used to the style, and then it really flowed. I finished the book and thought "this is dangerous!" I put it down for a few months, and then decided to give it another try. After the second reading I thought "this is beautiful!" I went on to read all of Nietzsche's books and two other translations of "Beyond Good and Evil." I prefer this translation to them all, even more than Kaufmann's. I find this book to be Nietzsche's finest. It most adequately a concisely distills what I think to be the core of his thought. By starting with this work you will have a better grounding for tackling his other works. Read it slowly, as he suggested.
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