A Nietzsche Reader (Penguin Classics) [Paperback]

Friedrich Nietzsche (Author), R. J. Hollingdale (Translator, Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 26, 1978 | Series: Penguin Classics

The literary career of Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) spanned less than twenty years, but no area of intellectual inquiry was left untouched by his iconoclastic genius. The philosopher who announced the death of God in "The Gay Science" (1882) and went on to challenge the Christian code of morality in "Beyond Good and Evil" (1886), grappled with the fundamental issues of the human condition in his own intense autobiography, "Ecce Homo" (1888). Most notorious of all, perhaps, his idea of the triumphantly transgressive ubermann ('superman') is developed in the extreme, yet poetic words of "Thus Spake Zarathustra" (1883-92). Whether addressing conventional Western philosophy or breaking new ground, Nietzsche vastly extended the boundaries of nineteenth-century thought.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English, German (translation)

About the Author

The philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche was born in Prussia in 1844. After the death of his father, a Lutheran minister, Nietzsche was raised from the age of five by his mother in a household of women. In 1869 he was appointed Professor of Classical Philology at the University of Basel, where he taught until 1879 when poor health forced him to retire. He never recovered from a nervous breakdown in 1889 and died eleven years later. Known for saying that “god is dead,” Nietzsche propounded his metaphysical construct of the superiority of the disciplined individual (superman) living in the present over traditional values derived from Christianity and its emphasis on heavenly rewards. His ideas were appropriated by the Fascists, who turned his theories into social realities that he had never intended.
R. J. Hollingdale has translated eleven of Nietzsche’s books and published two books about him. He has also translated works by, among others, Schopenhauer, Goethe, E. T. A. Hoffmann, Lichtenberg and Theodor Fontane, many of these for the Penguin Classics. He is Honorary President of the British Nietzsche Society, and was for the Australian academic year 1991 Visiting Fellow at Trinity College, Melbourne.
R. J. Hollingdale has translated eleven of Nietzsche’s books and published two books about him. He has also translated works by, among others, Schopenhauer, Goethe, E. T. A. Hoffmann, Lichtenberg and Theodor Fontane, many of these for the Penguin Classics. He is Honorary President of the British Nietzsche Society, and was for the Australian academic year 1991 Visiting Fellow at Trinity College, Melbourne.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Classics; First edition. edition (October 26, 1978)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140443290
• ISBN-13: 978-0140443295
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #244,919 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Whetted my appetite for more, June 20, 2003

By 

Peter A. Kindle (Kansas City, Missouri) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Nietzsche Reader (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

Assigned as a textbook in my 19th century philosophy class, I must admit that this little volume was a pleasure to read - twice. While it may be criticized as a collection of Nietzschean quotable quotes, I was continually fascinated by his insights. It left me wondering if any of the ideas attributed to Freud were actually original, and it confirmed some of my own hard won critiques of contemporary evangelicalism.

Before the class was over I had purchased another half dozen books by this man!

A warning to those considering reading this - you will not receive pages of editorial content. Go elsewhere if you are looking for an interpretation of Nietzsche. Also, you may find this thinker as addictive as I have.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A quite decent introduction to Nietzsche's thought., April 25, 1999

By 

Caligastia145 - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Nietzsche Reader (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

This book includes quotations from Nietzsche explaining the Superman, the Will to Power, his view of Religion, etc, etc. A decent introduction of his thought and ideas, but for a more complex understanding of the man Nietzsche was, I would recommend you buy his books individually. Nonetheless, a great book for the price.

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent intro, though not the real thing, July 11, 2001

By 

Michael Alexander (New Haven, CT United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Nietzsche Reader (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

THE way to start Nietzsche. It's good to know the basic philosophical currents of Western thought(at least Plato and Aristotle for the basic schools of philosophy, with Augustine, renaissance thinkers like Erasmus or Bacon, Kant, and the other German philosophers of the time being good addenda for added richness) before you get into this, because so much of this is either a recasting of those old thoughts or a vicious attack upon them. I didn't find the language difficult at all...every once and a while, there would be a convoluted sentence that took several passes to understand, but in general it's quite straightforward. A beautiful body of work condensed into some salient passages. Suggestion: start with this...you'll be able to have a perfectly educated conversation about all of his major ideas after reading this book, and you'll be able to tell how much you agree or disagree with him. Then, if his work agrees with you, pick up the Viking Portable Nietzsche, which has all of Thus Spake Zarathustra, Twilight of the Idols, the Antichrist, and Contra Wagner, and then a section of excerpts similar to this book. By that time, you'll know what other works you want to read in their entirety(I suggest Beyond Good and Evil, to begin with, along with The Birth of Tragedy as a side-endeavour), and you'll also know more Nietzsche than any pseudo-intellectual poseur who wants to sound good at parties could comprehend.

The philosophy itself deserves five stars for being eloquent, fully realised, and the work of an educated genius, not to mention its historical value on the way modern thought works, but I simply must subtract one star for its incompleteness. You get the ideas, but not the full range of its art and magesty.