Thus Spake Zarathustra
A Book for All and None
Thus Spake Zarathustra: A Book for All and None, also translated as Thus Spake Zarathustra, is a work of philosophical fiction written by German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche between 1883 and 1885. The protagonist is nominally the historical Zoroaster, but, besides a handful of sentences, Nietzsche is not concerned with a specific resemblance. Much of the book consists of discourses by Zarathustra on a wide variety of subjects, most of which end with the refrain, "Thus spoke Zarathustra." The character of Zarathustra first appeared in Nietzsche's earlier book The Gay Science.
The style of Zarathustra has facilitated varied and often incompatible ideas about what Zarathustra says. Zarathustra's "explanations and claims are almost always analogical and figurative." Though there is no consensus with what Zarathustra means when he speaks, there is some consensus about that which he speaks. Zarathustra deals with ideas about the Ubermensch, the death of God, the will to power, and eternal recurrence.
Nietzsche has suggested that his Zarathustra is a tragedy, a parody, a polemic, and the culmination of the German language. It was his favorite of his own books. He was aware, however, that readers might not understand it. This is possibly why he subtitled it A Book for All and None. However, as with the content as a whole, the subtitle has baffled many critics, and there is no consensus.
Zarathustra's themes and merits are continually disputed. It has nonetheless been hugely influential in various facets of culture.
Excerpted from Thus Spoke Zarathustra on Wikipedia.
Thus Spake Zarathustra
| Author | Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche |
| Country | Germany |
| Genre | Philosophy, Philosophical fiction |
| Copyright | Public domain worldwide. |
| Book cover | Buch Also sprach Zarathustra Image: Hlamo | wikipedia |
| Ebooks | Project Gutenberg |
| Scans | Internet Archive |
| Audio | Librivox | Internet Archive Reader: John Van Stan 0A 0B 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56A 56B 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 |
| Read online | Thus Spake Zarathustra I, II, III, IV |
