What Online Courses Help With Where To Start With Nietzsche?

There is a special case with Nietzsche’s notes and unfinished fragments, compiled under the title The Will to Power by his sister Elisabeth Forster-Nietzsche with often unbearable editorial bias, even Nazi bias. The Kaufmann and Hollingdale translation of The Will to Power includes critical comments on this score. Naturally, one must read this material with extreme caution, bearing in mind that it is not a book by Nietzsche. Translation of these notes requires a huge disclaimer; in fact, one should avoid all editions which present The Will to Power as a single, cohesive work by Nietzsche.

Has anyone here tried to read Nietzsche in the original German, even with very limited vocabulary and a dictionary? After spending an hour trying to get through one simple sentence, I realize how far from the original any translation is, not just in terms of language but also in structure and content.Each aphorism, for example, can take an hour to “read”, and only after having read it once does one begin to appreciate the work of the translator, who has to choose between the literal meaning of a word, the rhetorical force of a sentence and the poetic rhythm of a passage. In reading Nietzsche in translation I have given up searching for the “perfect” translation and now, instead, admire the courage of each translation as necessarily imperfect as it is.

This book totally changed my perspective on reproductive health. Unfortunately, there is no free version of this e-book, but I would totally spend my money on it again. I particularly found the tips on supplements and the info on how environmental factors affect fertility really useful. You can always look up the book on Google Books to get a sneak peek of the first part of the book. Sometimes the author runs promotions or even does a giveaway in collaboration with a fertility clinic, so keep an eye out for those.

Yes, technically speaking. I would say that The Godfather is a movie about a family and a business, not just a family. Similarly, while the friendship of the male lead develops into romance with the female lead, the core of the story revolves around their growth and healing from past wounds and their learning to effectively communicate with each other. He’s struggling with the immense pressure from his family and expects himself to meet an almost impossible standard, building walls around himself as he tries to cope. She’s recently gotten out of a very bad relationship that’s left her with very low self-esteem. In the safe space of their friendship, the two of them can finally begin to heal. And their eventual romance is a natural progression of the two healthiest people possible finding each other after each has done a lot of growing and healing on their own. Much of the book explores the male lead’s therapy sessions, his struggles with his career, as well as the separate lives of the two leads and their respective friend groups. A simple love story this is not. Rather, it is a deep and complex character study of two interesting people who just happen to find each other.

Boethius' 'The Consolation of Philosophy' is this beautiful blend of philosophy and literature, so if you're looking for something similar, I'd start with Seneca's 'Letters from a Stoic'. It’s got that same mix of personal reflection and deep philosophical inquiry, but with a more practical, down-to-earth vibe. Seneca’s letters feel like conversations with a wise friend, just like how Lady Philosophy feels like a comforting presence in Boethius' work. Another great pick is Marcus Aurelius' 'Meditations'. It’s less structured and more fragmented, but the way it grapples with suffering, purpose, and the nature of existence really resonates with Boethius' themes. Plus, there’s something timeless about both works—they feel like they could’ve been written yesterday, even though they’re centuries old. I always come back to them when life feels overwhelming.

The Double is another short work by Dostoevsky worth reading. It’s not the shortest work by the author, but it’s definitely short enough to be read in a few hours of dedicated reading. It’s an early work by Dostoevsky, and it’s interesting to see how he was already developing the major themes of his work, including the effects of madness on a person’s identity. The translation of The Double into English is also very important. An older translation of The Double by Constance Garnett is somewhat clumsy. A much better version of The Double is the translation by the authors of Called Up to the Front, Pevear and Volokhonsky, who also translated Crime and Punishment and The Brothers Karamazov for good reason.

I must acknowledge that the P&V marketing machine is very good at what it does. So, you’ll find them on the cover of most classic sections in bookstores, and they are often good. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that they are the best translation of a given work, and therefore, other very good translations are dismissed solely on the basis of-store front hype. And it creates a fascinating (and totally unfair) situation in which to laud Garnett or another translator one instantly appears to be a snarky, overhyping hipster contrarian challenging the givens of mass marketing. P&V is, for many, often the only good option, for specific books, however, another translator might be offering a far more suitable translation than P&V’s. Ultimately, one serves Dostoevsky, not the translator or publishing brand.

I went into ‘Carry On, Jeeves’ expecting old-fashioned writing, but I was wrong, it was a really funny book. P.G. Wodehouse makes a big deal out of trivial situations and makes them seem like the end of the world. He even makes the stilted conversation between Bertie and Jeeves sound funny. The situations where Bertie gets into trouble are pretty predictable, but that is part of the fun. This isn’t a book with deep themes and messages. It’s just a nice little book were the biggest crisis is whether or not to wear a bright pink tie to dinner. It’s a good read for someone who appreciates humor, especially one that is ironic and understated.

His short stories are good starting points, because they are short and exploratory. His best short story is “The Destructors”, because it is short and devastating. A first novel is often quite bad, so why start with those? If “The Destructors” gets under your skin then you’ll be able to tackle his novels that explore similar themes of chaos, pointless rebellion and the collapse of order.

Occasionally I will shift to a more contemplative study of the myth of Sisyphus. We form a circle of chairs and dim the lights. There are books leaning against the walls, including a well-worn copy of The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus. Students of all ages arrive for tea and for thoughtful discussion. We first study the mythology of Sisyphus in order to gain insight into the myths that were used in order to caution or inspire individuals to ponder the ethics of their actions and the nature of their existence. After that, we read the section of The Myth of Sisyphus in which Camus reinterprets the myth. Sisyphus is pushed to exert himself to roll the rock up to the top of a mountain only to have it roll back down. He represents the absurdly driven individual in search of meaningful purpose in a seemingly indifferent universe. After that first foray into the literary terrain of the myth of Sisyphus, we move into thematic stations. We look at how we can use the myth of Sisyphus to understand existential concepts by looking at examples of people who engage in repetitive tasks and have jobs with low rewards and high pressure. We look at the historical representation of the figure of Sisyphus in various cultures through different artistic media, poetry, film and visual art. We can also use the myth of Sisyphus to think about pedagogy and civic engagement and to explore ways in which the myth can be used to discuss issues of resilience without glorifying burnout. This could involve students writing short position pieces or public facing posts to communicate their take on the issue to a younger audience or to the broader local community. Ideas could be developed into a podcast episode, a zine or an illustrated thread of tweets, all of which would help students to translate complex abstract philosophical ideas into language and formats that are more suited to everyday life. Much of this work gets evaluated on a reflection dikke to application basis. So I look for students to demonstrate clear thought, creativity and empathy in whatever form they choose to express themselves. Does the student’s work reveal an understanding of the myth and its connection to real life situations? Can one see that the student has also taken into consideration several points of view? Does their piece of work evoke a response or an invitation to others to enter into the work and explore it for themselves? Occasionally I wrap up our time together with a small ritual: I ask each student to write down one thing they will ‘keep pushing’ this week. These notes get collected up anonymously and sometime later in the week we read a few of them out loud in class. It’s a small but powerful move of solidarity that leaves us all in silence and hope for a little while after.