21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
one of the greatest books i have ever read, July 8, 2006
This review is from: Nietzsche And Philosophy (European Perspectives) (Paperback)
i first picked up nietzsche and philosophy in 1989 and couldnt make it past the first chapter which discusses theories of forces,semiotics, and other unintelligable things..i regarded the book as 'hyper abstract'..
I returned again to it in 1996 after reading deleuze's interviews, and, with a more general understanding of his ideas,the book became a revelation for me.
Deleuze presents a systematic and coherent philosophy for nietzsche, one which grounds his rather paradoxical and sometimes enigmatic writings. deleuze clearly expresses nietzsche's core concerns, showing the sanity and genius of this sometimes denigrated 'mad' philosopher.
Its a pity this book will never find itself in the self help section because thats where it belongs..Feeling depressed and worthless? A bit burnt out or indifferent? read this book! While most philosophy falls to the side with abstractions, nietzsche and philosophy goes after life itself , attacking every nihilistic habit in our psychic, social, and cosmological repetoire. Deleuze traces nietzsche's assertions on how we are reactive and despicable creatures and goes on to show why and how we can overcome, well, all those things that make humanity "the skin disease of earth'.....
so...since we all suffer from nihilism and its ailments, Nietzsche and philosophy provides antidotes and cure for our human condition...
below are some less than praiseworthy comments on this book..deleuze appropriates nietzsche, for example...or deleuze says simple things in a complicated manner...this is nonsense..
readers, this is not an easy book to grasp..its takes a few readings to fully understand whats being said..people who dont like this book just simply fail to understand it...or havent read it through at least once..
that may be the books fault..but if simple ideas are what one seeks, then try simplistic books. ..this isnt one of them
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
22 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
the double affirmation, August 23, 2000
contrary to some beliefs, gilles deleuze was NOT a psychoanalyst. in fact, neither was (strictly speaking) felix guattari. if anything, the "anti-oedipus" was set to univocally destroy without remission any notion of the psychoanalyst and his couch. nevertheless, it wouldn't be inaccurate to read nietzsche as a psychologist since he himself prided himself in that dimension among philosophers.
the amazing thing about "nietzsche and philosophy" is how deleuze does a nietzschean reading of nietzsche: basically in gathering the force of nietzsche's writings, appropriating them, and extending them without corrupting the radical implications of nietzsche's philosophy. here, deleuze remarkably reinterprets many of nietzsche's key concepts (the will to power, the eternal return, active and reactive forces) and creatively channels them into what was the initial stages of his own philosophical project. what would be striking to readers familiar with deleuze's later works (especially those with guattari) is the lucidity and rigour of his meticulous presentation here.
"nietzsche and philosophy" is illuminating precisely because it allows us to situate poststructuralist theories/thinkers and their relationship to nietzsche's writings. in particular, this book had a huge influence on michel foucault of which his debt to deleuze is outstanding, especially seen in his genealogical work from then till the end of his life.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The best book about Nietzsche, March 7, 2003
Nietzsche was not a systematic thinker and so it is very difficult to construct a book on his difficult thought. Deleuze has, however, successfully accomplished that. A combined reading of this work and Pierre Klossowski's "Nietzsche and the Vicious Circle" would provide an understanding of Nietzsche that is well beyond what is presented in most books on the author. It is sad, but we english speakers have collectively written most of the bad literature on Nietzsche. It was the french after WWII that picked-up the mantle set forth by Nietzsche after the embarrassing abuse of his thought by the Nazis.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
