Book Review — Beyond Good and Evil — Friedrich Nietzsche
Quick Summary
Beyond Good and Evil is a comprehensive overview of Nietzsche’s mature philosophy.
The book consists of 296 aphorisms, ranging in length from a few sentences to a few pages. These aphorisms are grouped thematically into nine different chapters and are bookended by a preface and a poem.
While each aphorism can stand on its own, there is also something of a linear progression between aphorisms within chapters and from one chapter to another. Nonetheless, each aphorism presents a distinctive point of view, and even the individual chapter summaries omit a great deal.
My Thoughts
That was my first Nietzsche’s book, and honestly, it was a bit hard to read and understand. From time to time I felt that the author was simply stating a random point of view without any real consistency with the rest of the book.
On the other hand, I liked how the author express his thoughts. It was a bit offending sometimes, but that was not a problem. Also, there was order in disorder. I mean, sometimes even if I didn’t understand the logic of the book, this logic was well present because there was a kind of progression through the book.
One thing that can make people dislike this book is that Nietzsche rarely proves what he states. For me, it wasn’t a problem as I think there’s no truth and I don’t have to trust what he says.
Then, Nietzsche is misogyn. It means, some words can be shocking and really offensive. But he recognizes his misogyny as one of his weaknesses, so we must succeed in the book by detaching ourselves from our prejudices about this misogyny.
One last thing, I think this book is not for everyone. There are philosophical books that you don’t really need to identify with to read and enjoy. For this one, however, you need to identify with Nietzsche. The author has such a way of expressing his goals and thoughts that it can quickly irritate someone who does not recognize himself in what he says.
To Read or Not to Read
As I just said, this book is not for everyone. On the other hand, you won’t know without reading it. But you will at least know if you can read Nietzsche or not.
For me, I don’t regret having read this book, but I’m not going to read Nietzsche again any time soon.
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