Thus Spoke Zarathrustra

I’ve finally got my hands on this essential work by Nietzsche, and I feel like I should have started off with this. It’s a novel which is great, it will be entertaining, with a story line and everything! Unlike Twilight of the Idols which is composed of chapters centered on ideas that are expounded on in various sub-postulations. This structure made him much harder to grasp because of the rapid jump from one subject to another. TSZ is succinct and promising if the prologue and introductions hold any merit. The introduction by his sister cites many journal entries, and I lost him in one, so there’s still that complexity and intellectual gap between writer and reader which will make this reading either highly frustrating or revelatory. The prologue, if it is to be of any portent, tells a chronological tale of thematic principles with allegorical situations. Not only that, but the story is told in beautiful and generally pleasant verse. There’s ripe imagery and sensory provocations. Thoroughly enjoying the story and pretense so far, excited for the use of ideas referenced in the introduction by Dennis Sweet; Will of Power, Eternal Recurrence, amor fati, and of course the Superman (already mentioned). The protagonist’s characterization will be interesting to observe, his meditation in the mountains, as an archetypal OUTCAST and/or HERO on a quest, and especially his love for mankind, or more accurately his pity for mankind. I wonder who will accept his wisdom?

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