When Nietzsche Wept [Book]

OK, this long overdue post on Nietzsche is gonna start with a confession of sorts: I admit I was really prejudiced against this book. I don't really know why, probably the title and the whole thing just seemed a little bit corny... I thought it was just some cheap way of capitalizing on Nietzsche's name. I certainly wouldn't have bought it. But my mom gave it to me, so I thought "hey, what the hell, I'll give it a try!". And a try I gave. Only after having already loved it did I find out it's written by a professor from Standford who certainly knows what he's talking about. And since I've always really enjoyed reading Nietzsche, but hadn't done so in a while, it was really good to shake the dust off of a few of his books.

First off, a piece of advice. If you can get your hands on Nietzsche's autobiography (of sorts), called Ecce Homo, I really think you should read the first couple of chapters beforehand. They are called:

1. Why am I so wise
2. Why am I so intelligent
3. Why do I write such good books

(Well, that's a free translation, I don't know how the actual English version goes.)
I guess from that you can take a little perspective on who Nietzsche was and what he thought of himself (certainly no self-esteem problems there). After that, it's gonna be a little easier to appreciate and understand Irvin D. Yalom's portrayal of Nietzsche in his book. It's really something amazing. After a slightly rocky start, while the whole plot is being set up, the last two thirds or so of the book are just inspired. It's all about the dialogs, and Mr. Yalom is certainly very good at that. And, as long as I could tell being no expert, it's really accurate regarding Nietzsche's general philosophy. It's probably the best and easiest way to be introduced to it.

Nietzsche, in my opinion, is someone to be admired. Not necessarily believed in, or followed: but most certainly admired. His relentless search for "truth", each one's truth that is, is nothing less of inspiring. And he wrote powerful words. I couldn't help but get a weird feeling of getting analyzed along with Nietzsche and Dr. Breuer (the two main characters in the book). And couldn't help but feeling many questions answered and many thoughts challenged or confirmed in a brilliant way. I can't think of anything better to be read, absorbed, reread, and then discussed over a few beers with great friends.