Recommended 10 Nietzsche Commentaries - To learn about who Nietzsche is and his thought.

Recommended 10 Nietzsche Commentaries - To learn about who Nietzsche is and his thought.

Nietzsche has the image of being difficult anyway.

Actual,Zarathustra.When you read a book such as "The Aphorisms", you will be amazed at the unique form of aphorisms, in which short sentences are connected in one shot, and at the difficulty of what they are saying. I am also amazed every time I read them.

And the difficult thing about Nietzsche is that even if you read a reference book, there are various interpretations depending on its author, and it is not even clear what is really correct. The diversity of interpretations may also be a characteristic of Nietzsche.

Among them, I will recommend the 10 reference books I am about to introduce.

You may be surprised to see the books we are about to introduce, but they are certainly different from the books that are generally recommended by searching for "introduction to Nietzsche. You may think it is a bit difficult for those who are looking for an introductory book on Nietzsche, but as you will see when you actually read the books, they are all very detailed and easy-to-understand explanations.

In the meantime, I have read a number of introductory Nietzsche books. However, I have to admit that in the end I didn't understand them very well. When one tries to break down the esoteric Nietzschean philosophy into easy-to-understand pieces, the important things inevitably become diluted. This is what happens. Rather, it is very dangerous for Nietzsche to be understood halfway, as if he were saying, "This is what Nietzsche is all about. Nietzsche is a dangerous philosophy, depending on how it is used.

I do not mean to imply that "easy-to-understand introductory books" are not good, but I would be happy if those who are interested in learning about Nietzsche could refer to the following article for an explanation of this situation. Of course, those who are already familiar with Nietzsche should read this article as well.

So let's get started.

Please refer to the links below to learn more about the book.

1. R. Zafransky, "Nietzsche: A Biography of His Thoughts," How Nietzsche's Ideas Came to Be.

The author, Zafransky, is a German-born reviewer, journalist and scholar.

What makes this book unique is that it is not just a biography, but a "biography of thought. The book traces Nietzsche's life and looks at his thought process.

Moreover, I appreciate the fact that he explains Nietzsche's ideas, which are representative of difficult philosophers, without using small, difficult words as much as possible.

This book is an easy-to-understand but essential reference book. Explaining something difficult in easy-to-understand language carries a certain danger. There is a danger that by using simple language, the author may be distracted from what he is trying to convey. In this book, however, the author has taken great care to avoid such a situation.

I felt that this book is highly recommended both as an introduction to learning about Nietzsche and as a reference book for further study. I found it very interesting to read and to get a sense of Nietzsche's thought process.

R. Zafransky, Nietzsche: A Biography of His Thoughts, How Nietzsche's Ideas Came to Be

2. "The Nietzsche Story: Its Abyss and Multifaceted World" edited by Jiro Watanabe and Kanji Nishio, a groundbreaking Nietzsche reference book.

Who is Nietzsche?"

This may be an eternal theme.

Nietzsche appears differently depending on the time period in which he is read and the differences among the readers.

This book is a reference to think about Nietzsche, who is supposed to be such a "polymath".

Many different items in this book are written by many experts.

The table of contents will make this clear.

And thankfully, it is not merely a commentary on Nietzsche, but also on his relationship to the writers and philosophers with whom he is associated.

As you can see in the table of contents on the first page, there is also a reference to Dostoevsky. I appreciated this very much.

The book also provides a concise overview of Nietzsche's life and ideological aspects, making it a very useful reference book in times of need.

Although I feel that it is somewhat tough to read through, it is a very helpful reference book when you want to refer to your area of interest.

Jiro Watanabe and Kanji Nishio (eds.), The Nietzsche Story: Its Abyss and Multifaceted World, a groundbreaking Nietzsche reference book.

3. Ben McIntyre, "Elisabeth Nietzsche: The Woman Who Sold Nietzsche to the Nazis," a shocking book!

This book is terrific. It is shocking.

You're kidding!" I can't help but think, "What an amazing series of facts.

I picked up this book to find out how the world came to accept Nietzsche, and I found it far more interesting than I had imagined.

Nietzsche himself was an extraordinary man, but according to the book, his sister was also an extraordinary person. She and her husband established a pure Aryan village in the interior of Paraguay in South America, where she reigned as the ruler, deceiving the villagers. After Nietzsche's madness, she falsified his writings and letters to create a "Nietzsche the great philosopher" to suit her own purposes, and finally joined the Nazis.

The book also reveals Nietzsche's personality through the life of his fearsome sister. The book reveals how Nietzsche has been received and used in the world.

The book is unique in that it does not merely look at the process of thought and philosophy, but follows the Nietzsche siblings from all of their raw, sludgy lives. I found this extremely interesting.

This is a book that I would highly recommend. I highly recommend that you pick up a copy of this work.

Ben McIntyre, "Elisabeth Nietzsche: The Woman Who Sold Nietzsche to the Nazis," a shocking book!

4.W. Schubart, "Dostoevsky and Nietzsche: What Their Lives Represent," a recommended reference book to read from the Christian understanding of the two men!

The author, Walter Schubart, was a philosopher born in Germany in 1897. He is little known in Japan and is not well known even in his home country of Germany. He had to flee Germany and seek asylum in Lithuania because of his opposition to the Nazis. Despite the hardships there, he continued his research and wrote "Dostoevsky and Nietzsche: The Symbols of Their Lives" in 1939.

However, when the war between Germany and the Soviet Union began in 1941, he was taken away by the Soviet Union and killed.

So Schubart was constantly persecuted during his scholarly years, and he never made it to the front pages of history, quietly ending his life in the Nazi and Soviet conflicts.

The book "Dostoevsky and Nietzsche: What Their Lives Symbolize" is a powerful work by such a tragic author.

The author looks at both pursuers of absolute truth in terms of their relationship to God.

The book will also discuss the parallels between Nietzsche and Raskolnikov, the protagonist of Crime and Punishment, and Ivan of The Brothers Karamazov. We will look at the typical intellectuals of Dostoevsky, who pushed reason to its limits, and Nietzsche's madness overlaid on their downfall. This was also of tremendous interest to me.

There are so many interesting passages in this book that I honestly feel like quoting the entire book itself. But that would be a big problem, so I'll give that up.

However, I found the book to be very impactful for me personally, and I would like to read it over and over again carefully in the future.

This book is a very useful reference for considering both Dostoevsky and Nietzsche. It is such a waste that this book is so little known. I hope this book will spread more widely.

W. Schubart, "Dostoevsky and Nietzsche: What Their Lives Represent," a recommended reference book to read from the Christian understanding of the two men!

5. J. R. Rosenhagen, "Nietzsche in America: A Story of an Idol," The History of Nietzsche's Reception in America.

This book looks at how Nietzsche has been received in the United States. Nietzsche's image changes depending on who reads it. In other words, each person's interpretation of Nietzsche is unique. By understanding how Nietzsche was received, we can learn about the thoughts of the people of the time.

This book shows how Nietzsche was understood in diverse ways.

I feel that saying "Nietzsche is ~~" is nothing more than a statement of one's own thought. I realized that Nietzsche is such an enigmatic figure.

However, it is not recommended as an introduction to Nietzsche, as the content is quite specialized. It is only recommended to get a sense of how Nietzsche changes his appearance depending on the reader. It is a very interesting book.

J. R. Rosenhagen, "Nietzsche in America: A Story of an Idol," A History of Nietzsche's Reception in America

6. Yuichi Higuchi, "Wagner: The Twilight of Western Modernity," a recommended reference for understanding the characteristics of Wagner!

We talked about the connection between Nietzsche and Wagner in the article above, and this is one of the recommended reference books to learn about the characteristics of Wagner.

Author Yuichi Higuchi is best known for his bestseller "How Smart and Bad People Talk," published in 2004.

As introduced here, Mr. Higuchi has a deep knowledge of classical music, especially Wagner, which he has loved for more than 40 years. His love of Wagner overflows in this work.

The book will also mention Marx, Dostoevsky, and Nietzsche, who are also closely connected to Wagner.

The author will also talk about the relationship between Wagner and thought, literature, and philosophy, so the various genres are connected and very interesting.

The book is very interesting not only because of Wagner's life and characteristics, but also because of the history of Western culture. I was not familiar with classical music, but I found it very easy to understand and engrossing to read.

I struggled a lot with music classes in middle school and high school, but this book was a quick read for me. I thought I would have liked music more if these books had been textbooks, lol.

This book is another highly recommended one. It is a very interesting book that provides an overview of the history of Western culture through Wagner's music. Why not pick up a copy?

Yuichi Higuchi, "Wagner: The Twilight of Western Modernity," a recommended reference for understanding the characteristics of Wagner!

7. Kanji Nishio, "Nietzsche Part I," recommended biography of Nietzsche!

The book is unique in that it follows Nietzsche's life in detail along with the historical background and currents of thought at the time.

The book is quite large, 367 pages in all, but it describes Nietzsche as a young man, before he became a scholar, up to 1865. In other words, we will spend an entire book looking closely at Nietzsche up to the age of 21.

It was a reading experience where we not only learn about Nietzsche's life, but also experience what we think from it. It is an intellectually exciting book. I highly recommend this work.

Kanji Nishio, "Nietzsche, Part I," recommended Nietzsche biography!

8. Kanji Nishio, Nietzsche, Part II: The Unexpected True Face of Nietzsche, University Professor, Nurse, and High School Teacher

Introduced here is "Nietzsche Part II" by Kanji Nishio, published by Chuokoron-sha in 1977. This book is a sequel to "Nietzsche Part I" by Kanji Nishio, introduced above.

While "Nietzsche Part I" told the story of Nietzsche until the age of 21, this second part tells of his debut as a professor, his encounter with the great master Wagner, and the process of the formation of his first work, "The Birth of Tragedy.

The first part of the book was full of very interesting content, but this second part is no less interesting. Surprising facts keep coming up. In this book, we got to know not only Nietzsche the philosopher, but also his true face as a university professor, a nurse, and a high school teacher. It was very interesting to see the human side of Nietzsche.

I highly recommend this book. It is a work that will change your view of Nietzsche. I hope you will pick up a copy.

Kanji Nishio, Nietzsche, Part II: The Unexpected True Face of Nietzsche, University Professor, Nurse Soldier, and High School Teacher

9. "The Complete Works of Kanji Nishio, Vol. 5: Light and Cliff - Nietzsche in His Final Years" - Explanation of Nietzsche's thoughts just before he went mad.

The book includes "Nietzsche in his last years," which explains Nietzsche's work and his ideas just before he went insane.

This article is a sequel to "Nietzsche Part I" and "Nietzsche Part II" presented above.

Nietzsche's last works include "The Twilight of the Idols," "Antichrist," "Behold This Man," and other important works in Nietzsche's thought.

The author, Mr. Nishio, considers "Antichrist" to be the masterpiece of his later years, and devotes many pages to explaining it.

One of the most personal surprises was his relationship with Dostoevsky. Other reference books had stated that it was unclear whether Nietzsche had read Dostoevsky's later works, but according to Nishio, the influence of "Evil Spirits" and "The Moron" is clearly reflected in "Antichrist" and is well supported by the material.

If you are interested in learning more about "Twilight of the Idols," "Antichrist," and "Behold This Man," you will find this book very useful. It will give you a clear picture of the meaning behind these works and the background of their creation.

Another fascinating aspect of the book is its detailed explanation of Nietzsche's problematic "Will to Power". The book details how "The Will to Power" was formed and what its problems are.

This book is more than just a commentary on Nietzsche; it also makes you think about how to deal with Nietzsche. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in Nietzsche.

The Complete Works of Kanji Nishio, Vol. 5: Light and Cliff - Nietzsche in His Final Years" - Explanation of Nietzsche's thoughts just before he went mad.

10. Chizuko Hashimoto, "Nihilism and Nothingness: Schopenhauer/Nietzsche and the Intercultural Elucidation of Indian Thought.

In this book we will look at the connection between Schopenhauer and Nietzsche's Indian thought.

The influence of Indian thought is evident in Schopenhauer's The World as Will and Representation and On Happiness.

Nietzsche, who was strongly influenced by Schopenhauer, was also interested in Buddhist thought. In his later works, Nietzsche made numerous references to Buddhism, and the same Nietzsche who had harsh opinions about Christianity expressed a favorable view of Buddhism.

In this book, we will see which Indian philosophical and Buddhist texts Schopenhauer and Nietzsche actually consulted and used as food for their own thought.

It is easy to say, "They were influenced by Indian philosophy and Buddhism," but when it comes to which literature and reference books they actually read, it is a difficult question.

Buddhism in general differs considerably from one period to another and from one region to another. It is very significant to explore how Schopenhauer and Nietzsche understood Buddhism in light of these circumstances.

This is a good book for those who want to learn more about the connection between nihilism and Buddhism.

Chizuko Hashimoto, "Nihilism and Nothingness: Schopenhauer/Nietzsche and the Intercultural Elucidation of Indian Thought.

Extra, Shestov, "The Philosophy of Tragedy: Dostoyevsky and Nietzsche," Classics of Dostoyevsky's Thought.

The book was published in Russia in 1903, and as soon as it was published in Japan in 1934, it had a great impact on Japanese intellectuals and became so popular that the term "Shestovian anxiety" was coined. It is truly a classic of Dostoevsky's thought.

The work also makes reference to Nietzsche, as indicated by its title, "The Philosophy of Tragedy: Dostoyevsky and Nietzsche."

However, to be honest, I would not recommend it as a reference book on Nietzsche. If you look for a reference book on the relationship between Dostoevsky and Nietzsche, this is the first one you will find, but I honestly feel that it is difficult to understand Nietzsche himself.

If you want to know the characteristics of Dostoevsky and Nietzsche, see above, by W. Schubart.Dostoevsky and Nietzsche: What Their Lives Symbolize."is by far the clearest.

This work by Shestov is a must-read if read as a classic of Dostoevsky's thought, but it is an extra edition because it is not good in terms of learning Nietzsche.

Shestov, The Philosophy of Tragedy: Dostoyevsky and Nietzsche, Classics of Dostoyevsky's Thought.

Conclusion

These are the 10 + α recommended reference books.

I think many of these books are not easy to get a quick look at.

But all of the books are easy to read. They do not have the atmosphere of difficult philosophy books. They are all easy and enjoyable to read, just like new books or paperbacks, or even more so.

Of these, I especially recommend Ben MacIntyre's "Elisabeth Nietzsche: The Woman Who Sold Nietzsche to the Nazis". This book will make you think tremendously about what Nietzsche is, even if you have never read Nietzsche's works. I also recommend all of Kanji Nishio's writings as they are very stimulating.

And for those interested in Nietzsche in terms of Dostoevsky, Christianity, and religion, I would highly recommend W. Schubart, "Dostoevsky and Nietzsche: What Their Lives Represent". I think it is safe to say that this is now a must-read. The relationship between Dostoevsky and Nietzsche is presented in the clearest possible way. For me, it is the most impressive work I have read on Nietzsche.

Nietzsche is a big man that the more you learn about him, the more interested you become in him. Actually, I did not like Nietzsche very much, but the more I learned about him, the more I became attached to him, and now I like him. I think I also came to like Nietzsche the philosopher because I got to know Nietzsche the human being.

Nietzsche is a difficult image, and indeed a difficult man to touch.

But it is very much worth bumping into him. We invite you to collide with this philosophical giant. The books I have introduced here will be of great help to you. I hope this article will be of help to you.

These are the 10 recommended Nietzsche commentaries - to learn about who Nietzsche is and his thought.

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