Conversations with Nietzsche: A Life in the Words of His Contemporaries [Paperback]

Sander L. Gilman (Editor), David J. Parent (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 20, 1991 | ISBN-10: 0195067789 | ISBN-13: 978-0195067781

Nietzsche's friend, the philosopher Paul R�e, once said that Nietzsche was more important for his letters than for his books, and even more important for his conversations than for his letters. In Conversations with Nietzsche, Sander Gilman and David Parent present a fascinating selection of eighty-seven memoirs, anecdotes, and informal recollections by friends and acquaintances of Nietzsche. Translated from the definitive German collection, Begegnungen mit Nietzsche, these biographical pieces--some of which have never before appeared in English--cover the entire span of Nietzsche's life: his boyhood friendships, his arrival at the University of Bonn, his appointment to professor at Basel at age twenty-four, the impact of The Birth of Tragedy, his friendship with Wagner, his life in Italy, his confinement at the Jena Sanatorium, and his death. They present the philosopher in dialogue with friends and acquaintances, and provide new insights into him as a thinker and as a commentator on his times, recounting his views on some of the greats of history, including Burckhardt, Goethe, Kant, Dostoevsky, Napoleon, and numerous others. In his selections, Gilman has carefully balanced documents concerning Nietzsche's personal life with others on his intellectual development, resulting in an entertaining and informative book that will appeal to a wide audience of educated readers.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

These accounts of Nietzsche by acquaintances, translated from a larger German collection, give us recollections of conversations with Nietzsche and descriptions of him at all stages of his life. The informants include his mother and sister; friends such as Lou Salome; Pforta pupils; former teachers and students; colleagues and their wives; and walking and table companions. While much of this material will be familiar to readers of the standard biographies, some of the anecdotes from minor characters in Nietzsche's life will be of interest. Nietzsche would have been pleased that these accounts are given from very different "perspectives" and are invariably favorable. Richard Hogan, Philosophy Dept., Southeastern Massachusetts Univ., North Dartmouth
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"An exceedingly interesting, and often touching, collection of memories."--The New York Review of Books

"An excellent exposition of the life of Nietzsche as seen from the outside looking in. A nice complement to his own views of himself from the inside looking out."--Manuel Davenport, Texas A&M University

"Indispensable for senior students of Nietzsche."--Mark Migotti, University of Ottawa

"What sort of life emerges from this reading? A richer life, I think, than his biographers have been willing to grant....Since hero worshippers and then fascists depopulated the Zarathustra landscape, one can only be grateful to Gilman and his capable translator, David J. Parent, for repopulating that world again."--American Historical Review

"Not for Nietzsche scholars only, this exemplary collection is for anyone interested in a unique man, one as unforgettable for the exquisite fineness of his outer life as for the fire within."--Kirkus Reviews

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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (June 20, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195067789
• ISBN-13: 978-0195067781
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,274,015 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A True Biography, June 8, 2003

By 

Daybreak (Detroit, MI) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Conversations with Nietzsche: A Life in the Words of His Contemporaries (Paperback)

Refreshingly different from a standard biographical work, it reads more like a series of interviews with the individuals that actually spent time with Nietzsche the social being, in contrast to a scholarly work of academia. Not a "classic" by any means, but indeed a nice addition to any Nietzsche library. Compares favorably to Middleton's *Selected Letters*.

4.0 out of 5 stars it is okey, September 3, 2002

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Muzaffer Muctehitzade "hacibey" (Boston, Ma USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Conversations with Nietzsche: A Life in the Words of His Contemporaries (Paperback)

Book is about Nietsche as told by his friends. Friends that are family friends and his childhood friends and not professionals so you get more of their impression as him as a person rather than as a philosopher.