“Thus Spoke Zarathustra” — book review | |
Today’s review is for the book: “Thus Spoke Zarathustra: A Book for Everyone and for No One” (1883-1885), written by: Friedrich Nietzsche (this version (2012 ©) is a translation to English by: Thomas Common and was originally published in 1909). Nietzsche was a trained “philogist”. Basically, he studied classic languages (Greek and Latin) and in particular their literature. Nietzsche became a philosopher and is considered one of the “great” philosophers of the 19th century. He considered this work to be his greatest achievement. The book was written in four main pieces and published over several years. | |
The main character (Zarathustra) is based on a semi-mythological Indo-Iranian religious figure named Zoroaster, who started his own religion and which “may have” influenced some current day including Islam and the Bahá’í Faith. Anyway, in the story, Zarathustra is a hermit who lives in a cave for some period of years and then goes down from his mountain home to visit and teach the natives. | |
The book appears to be both a work of philosophy and a story book. Kind of like the Bible (allegory and parables), but with philosophy overlaid where “god” would normally appear. As near as I can tell, the main gist of the work is that the traditional “god” is dead and that mankind is merely a bridge between the animals and a future superior species (Übermensch) which I believe translates to “over-man”, but which generally translated as “superman”. We regular humans will recognize these coming supermen by their differing (self-created and self-benefiting) “values” which Nietzsche calls their “will to power”. | |
What did I think? BORING!! A few good bits, but mostly just boring. | |
I think I may be too hard on the work because Nietzsche was a poet / philogist / and philosopher. I am none of those and therefore am certainly not qualified to provide an in-depth analysis / critique of the ideas or how they are expressed. My reaction is to the mixed styles of writing, the verbose language, the poorly explained (mostly unexplained) allegories / metaphors. So, “God” is a creation of primitive man. Man is no longer primitive, and so, no longer needs the “God” we created. Man, in raising himself above the baser creatures should shrug off the superstition and create himself in the image of a new and superior man without the values imposed by prior civilization. We should create our own value system and impose it on lesser men who will want to retain their older values. | |
Or, as near as I can tell: “Thus spoke Zarathustra”… | |
Seriously, this work is considered one of the classics of Western (European) philosophy and it was on my “bucket-list” of books to read to consider myself “educated”. Am I now better educated? NO. Wider read, but not better educated. | |
Final recommendation: weak to moderate recommendation. I read this in chunks of 10 to 20 pages at a time over the course of almost a month. Perhaps I should have ploughed through it more quickly and decisively… Perhaps I should read a different version – maybe something with more annotations. Maybe it’s far better in the original German… I don’t know. I do know I’m not going to learn German just to try to get more out of this work. Anyway, if it’s on your personal bucket list, read this translation as I’m informed it is one of the “better” ones. If it’s not on your list, I think you’ll get more out of reading about this book, the author and Zoroaster on Wikipedia. In fairness, there were some interesting bits and some flowery prose. I just don’t know if they (the good bits) were from the original or from the translation / translator. I already have multiple Nietzsche quotes on my blog and I’m sure I add some from this book… Perhaps they will pique my readers’ interests and you’ll find a copy to read. Hopefully, you’ll gain more insight than I have. | |
Midnight has passed and there is no new day. Thus passed Zarathustra… | |
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Posts Tagged ‘Islam’
Words Without Explanation
Posted in 2020 Book Review, Book Review, Philosophy, Reviews, tagged 2020 Book Review, Übermensch, Bahá'í Faith, Friedrich Nietzsche, Islam, Philogist, Philosophy, Thomas Common, Thus Spoke Zarathustra -- book review, Weak Recommendation, Zoroaster on March 24, 2020| Leave a Comment »
Islam Is Not The Enemy
Posted in Faith, Philosophy, Quotes, tagged Faith, George Santayana, Islam, Philosophy, Quotes, Religion on November 6, 2017| Leave a Comment »
Each religion, by the help of more or less myth, which it takes more or less seriously, proposes some method of fortifying the human soul and enabling it to make its peace with its destiny. | |
— George Santayana | |
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Pragmatic Religion
Posted in Faith, Faith Family and Friends, Family and Friends, Quotes, tagged Almighty God, Ancestor Worship, Christianity, Faith, ie, Islam, Judaism, Kami, Mitsuyuki Masatsugu, On Religion, Quotes, The Modern Samurai Society, Value System on October 27, 2014| Leave a Comment »
Religion is a part of every society. It is a cultural product of mankind, a tool for survival. | |
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What is Japanese religion, then? In a word, ancestor worship. | |
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In this patriarchical value system, there could be no room for the concept of an “Almighty God,” as in the traditions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. On the contrary, Japanese kami (gods) are not considered separate personalities from men. In need of salvation and help, people turn to the superiors of ie (that is, their ancestors), who are believed to be gods. Another traditional belief in Japan is that the dead go to the place of their ancestors and become kami. … | |
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Maintaining its hereditary good name and continuing its ancestors’ glorious work was the most important responsibility of a family. The religion also set up certain ethical standards for family members. However, no provision was made for the salvation of the individual, instead, the ultimate destiny of an individual was to lose his identity and merge with his ancestral spirits after death. | |
— Mitsuyuki Masatsugu | |
From his book: “The Modern Samurai Society“ | |
[I believe this is the first time I have ever heard of religion as being a “cultural product” or as a “tool for survival“. This is an interesting way of viewing “religion”. — KMAB] | |
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