I Am Dynamite!: A Life of NietzscheNEW YORK TIMES Editors’ Choice • THE TIMES BIOGRAPHY OF THE YEAR • WINNER OF THE HAWTHORNDEN PRIZE A groundbreaking new biography of philosophy’s greatest iconoclast Friedrich Nietzsche is one of the most enigmatic figures in philosophy, and his concepts—the Übermensch, the will to power, slave morality—have fundamentally reshaped our understanding of the human condition. But what do most people really know of Nietzsche—beyond the mustache, the scowl, and the lingering association with nihilism and fascism? Where do we place a thinker who was equally beloved by Albert Camus, Ayn Rand, Martin Buber, and Adolf Hitler? Nietzsche wrote that all philosophy is autobiographical, and in this vividly compelling, myth-shattering biography, Sue Prideaux brings readers into the world of this brilliant, eccentric, and deeply troubled man, illuminating the events and people that shaped his life and work. From his placid, devoutly Christian upbringing—overshadowed by the mysterious death of his father—through his teaching career, lonely philosophizing on high mountains, and heart-breaking descent into madness, Prideaux documents Nietzsche’s intellectual and emotional life with a novelist’s insight and sensitivity. She also produces unforgettable portraits of the people who were most important to him, including Richard and Cosima Wagner, Lou Salomé, the femme fatale who broke his heart; and his sister Elizabeth, a rabid German nationalist and anti-Semite who manipulated his texts and turned the Nietzsche archive into a destination for Nazi ideologues. I Am Dynamite! is the essential biography for anyone seeking to understand history's most misunderstood philosopher. |
From inside the book
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Page 2
... plays the Meisterlied [Walther's Prize Song from Wagner's most recent opera, Die Meistersinger, premiered a few months earlier and the good woman tells him that this song is already well known to her. She had already heard it played and ...
... plays the Meisterlied [Walther's Prize Song from Wagner's most recent opera, Die Meistersinger, premiered a few months earlier and the good woman tells him that this song is already well known to her. She had already heard it played and ...
Page 4
... played all the important parts of the Meistersinger, imitating each voice and with great exuberance. He is indeed a ... play and relayed the news to her brother Wagner. Now the third link: Wagner's deep attachment to the obscure ...
... played all the important parts of the Meistersinger, imitating each voice and with great exuberance. He is indeed a ... play and relayed the news to her brother Wagner. Now the third link: Wagner's deep attachment to the obscure ...
Page 8
... play. He was Lutheran pastor of the parish of Röcken, south of Leipzig, where J. S. Bach had held the post of director of music for twenty-seven years until his death. Karl Ludwig was known for his Bach recitals. More unusually, he was ...
... play. He was Lutheran pastor of the parish of Röcken, south of Leipzig, where J. S. Bach had held the post of director of music for twenty-seven years until his death. Karl Ludwig was known for his Bach recitals. More unusually, he was ...
Page 11
... play among its ancient stones on account of the three slitted dormer windows that were let into the roof on that side of the house and seemed to glare down like the all-seeing eyes of God. Karl Ludwig's sufferings grew worse; he lost ...
... play among its ancient stones on account of the three slitted dormer windows that were let into the roof on that side of the house and seemed to glare down like the all-seeing eyes of God. Karl Ludwig's sufferings grew worse; he lost ...
Page 14
... play-moat but a real defensive tool bristling with fortifications. Two years before the family had come to live in Naumburg, the revolutions of 1848–9 had convulsed Europe in spasms of libertarian uprisings that had been abhorred by ...
... play-moat but a real defensive tool bristling with fortifications. Two years before the family had come to live in Naumburg, the revolutions of 1848–9 had convulsed Europe in spasms of libertarian uprisings that had been abhorred by ...
Contents
1 | |
23 | |
40 | |
NAX0S 61 | 88 |
POlson CDTIAGE | 113 |
CONCEPTQUAKE | 126 |
THE LAST DISCIPLE AND THE FIRST DISCIPLE | 143 |
FREE AND NOT SO FREE SPIRITS | 157 |
MY FATHER WAGNER IS DEAD MY SON IARATHUSTRA is BORN | 243 |
DECLAIMING INTO THE WOID | 267 |
LLAMALAND | 281 |
TWILIGHT INTURIN | 307 |
THE CAVE MINOTAUR | 331 |
Aphorisms | 383 |
Photography Credits Insert | 397 |
Notes | 407 |
HUMAN All TDD HUMAN 111 | 182 |
PHILOSOPHY AND EROS | 198 |
THE PHILOSOPHERS APPRENTICE | 211 |
Select Bibliography | 429 |
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Common terms and phrases
anti-Semitic aphorisms archive arrived Basel Bayreuth become Bernhard Förster Birth of Tragedy brother Bülow called Carl von Gersdorff Christian Cosima Wagner culture death described Diary Dionysian Dionysus Ecce Homo Elisabeth Nietzsche Erwin Rohde eternal everything Evil eyes father felt festival Förster Förster-Nietzsche Franz Overbeck Franziska free spirit gave Gay Science German Greek Harry Kessler Human Ibid idea Idols intellectual King Ludwig lectures Leipzig letter live look Lou Salomé Malwida von Meysenbug mother Naumburg never Nietz Nietzsche to Franz Nietzsche's Nueva Germania opera Paraguay Paul Rée Peter Gast Pforta philology philosopher piano play poem Professor published Rée Resa Richard Wagner Ring sche Schmeitzner Section sent Sils-Maria sister soul Spoke Zarathustra things thought tion took Tribschen truth Turin Übermensch University Untimely Meditations Wagner and Cosima Wahnfried walk wanted Weimar writing wrote