Nietzsche in Turin: An Intimate Biography

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Daniel Raphael, May 6, 2006 (view all comments by Daniel Raphael)
Reading this small volume prior to beginning an arduous, first-time encounter with Nietzsche's texts would have greatly eased my way through his complex philosophy. Chamberlain does a very good job of explaining that more than most other philosophers, Nietzsche's work was something he lived into being: his books, correspondence, and other remnants of the man's life are the wake of a boat that has passed. Properly speaking, you won't find Nietzsche's philosophy at all; it's the old riddle of trying to get to the moon by climbing a signpost pointing towards it. Nietzsche's lessons were all lived, his grappling a personal journey reflected in his various texts, which cumulatively can be viewed as a philosophical diary.

Ms. Chamberlain stresses the important of music, both as presence and metaphor in Nietzsche's musings. Contrary to the National Socialist caricature cooked up by his "silly antisemitic goose" of a sister, he came to prefer music that was light and gay, reflecting his core optimism. It was Wagner's decadent High Romanticism that turned Nietzsche away from his former muse, causing their irreparable, famous split. Nietzsche wanted music--as with art in general and with all things in culture--that glorified and nurtured life.

Nietzsche is, like Heidegger, hard to access via translation because of his deliberate and extensive play with the meaning and tone of language. This accounts for some of the "scandalous" statements for which he is famous, but this volume does a great service in providing explanatory context for Nietzsche's often koan-like quips. Once his concerns and values are understood and his writing seen as an organic expression of his daily life, the obscurity of his thinking is disspelled.

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Product Details

ISBN:

9780312181451

Subtitle:

An Intimate Biography

Author:

Chamberlain, Lesley

Publisher:

Picador

Location:

New York :

Subject:

Biography

Subject:

Nietzsche, friedrich wilhelm, 1844-1900

Subject:

Philosophers

Subject:

Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm

Subject:

Turin (Italy) Intellectual life.

Subject:

Turin

Edition Number:

1st Picador USA ed.

Edition Description:

Picador USA

Series Volume:

no. 25a

Publication Date:

19981215

Binding:

Hardcover

Grade Level:

General/trade

Language:

English

Illustrations:

Yes

Pages:

272

Dimensions:

8.58x5.83x.97 in. .93 lbs.