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 19
... poems and took lessons in the noble art offencing that was so unsuited to his physical makeup but necessary to a position in society. “I wrote poems and tragedies, blood-curdling and unbelievably boring, tormented myself with the ...
... poems and took lessons in the noble art offencing that was so unsuited to his physical makeup but necessary to a position in society. “I wrote poems and tragedies, blood-curdling and unbelievably boring, tormented myself with the ...
Page 20
... poems lacked the chief thing of all—ideas... A poem which is empty of ideas and overladen with phrases and metaphors is like a rosy apple in the core of which a maggot lies hid ... In the writing of any work one must pay the greatest ...
... poems lacked the chief thing of all—ideas... A poem which is empty of ideas and overladen with phrases and metaphors is like a rosy apple in the core of which a maggot lies hid ... In the writing of any work one must pay the greatest ...
Page 32
... poets who are healthier, more lucid and more German.” In fact, Hölderlin could hardly have been more thoroughly German but he did heartily dislike iberalles nationalism. It was an attitude shared by seventeen-year-old Nietzsche and his ...
... poets who are healthier, more lucid and more German.” In fact, Hölderlin could hardly have been more thoroughly German but he did heartily dislike iberalles nationalism. It was an attitude shared by seventeen-year-old Nietzsche and his ...
Page 34
... poems, Om Nature and The Purifications. On Nature is a beautiful creation poem reminiscent of Ovid's pastorals and of Paradise Lost but Empedocles was not merely a word-conjuror who reminds us of Ovid and Milton. He is important for ...
... poems, Om Nature and The Purifications. On Nature is a beautiful creation poem reminiscent of Ovid's pastorals and of Paradise Lost but Empedocles was not merely a word-conjuror who reminds us of Ovid and Milton. He is important for ...
Page 37
... poem or an essay, a musical composition or an architectural design. The others would then criticize it “in a ... poems and he dedicated a musical rhapsody to her. When the time came for Anna to return to Berlin, he gave her a portfolio ...
... poem or an essay, a musical composition or an architectural design. The others would then criticize it “in a ... poems and he dedicated a musical rhapsody to her. When the time came for Anna to return to Berlin, he gave her a portfolio ...
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