The Gay Science, with a prelude in rhymes and an appendix of songs. Translated, with commentary , by Walter Kaufmann

Probably the most beautiful and important of all Nietzsche's books. It is here that the famous fragment `God is dead' appears (The Madman, book III: 125) and a passage on Eternal Return (The Greatest Weight). The best way to get acquainted with Nietzsche is to read him direct: The Greatest Weight. -"What, if some day or night, a demon were to steal after you into your loneliest loneliness and say to you: "This life as you now live it and have lived it, you will have to live once more and innumerable times more; and there will be nothing new in it, but every pain and every joy and every thought and sigh and everything unutterably small or great in your life will have to return to you, all in the same succession and sequence - even this spider and this moonlight between the trees, and even this moment and myself. The eternal hourglass of existence is turned upside down again and again - and you with it, speck of dust! -Would you not throw yourself down and gnash your teeth and curse the demon who spoke thus? Or have you once experienced a tremendous moment when you would have answered him: "You are a god, and never had I heard anything more divine!" If this thought were to gain possession of you it would change you as you are, or perhaps crush you. The question in each and everything, "Do you desire this once more and innumerable times more?", would lie upon your actions as the greatest weight. Or how well disposed you would have to become to yourself and to life to crave nothing more fervently than this ultimate eternal conformation and seal? (book IV: 341)

Kaufmann certainly makes it easier to read than other translators. The poetry is brilliant too.

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Nietzsche is one of the greatest philosophers out there. A must read.

Of all the philosophers you are ever likely to come across, Nietzsche is perhaps the easiest to read. His creative prose is graceful and poetic, whilst his aphoristic style delivers quick, witty and deeply profound insights. However, whilst his writings are the easiest to read, they are also the hardest to truly understand - and most of the time this is completely intentional. The result of this is that people dip into his works and come away believing that they fully understand Nietzsche's philosophy, when in reality they have allowed snippets of insight to snowball in entirely the wrong directions, resulting in gross misinterpretations. Look up the case of Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb for the most extreme example of this. Unfortunately, the only way to truly understand the development of Nietzsche's thought is to study all his works, beginning with the Birth of Tragedy and ending with Ecce Homo (and possibly The Will to Power, providing it is understood in context). It is also necessary to have a good background knowledge of antique philosophy and more recent 'influences' such as Spinoza, Kant, Hegel & Schopenhauer. Only in this way is it possible to ever come close to the true meaning behind these works. However, Nietzsche's work is prolific - and most people will have neither the time nor the inclination to undertake this kind of project. Therefore, it is advisable to at least read a couple of introductory texts before diving into a book like this.

It’s all mixed together: the German and English text

Nietzsche starts to up his game from the last great book Human All Too Human. I don't recommend this version of the book though because it's full of grammatical errors.

Everything top, great book quality.

Im usually careful with how I hold a book when I read, but I like to part the book so theres sufficient light coming onto the page and theres no obstruction of vision. This is my second copy of the same edition. The first one I had started falling apart after page 50: the pages slowly rip at the bottom, then complete pages start coming out. This time, on my second copy, I made it to page 196 before half the books pages were hanging by a thread. Dont buy this edition. Period.

The structure of the book is this: • 63 poems (this is the “Prelude in Rhymes”) • 5 books with 383 sections in total (this is “The Gay Science” proper) • 14 songs (this is the “Appendix of Songs”) In this book, Nietzsche makes many perceptive observations about history, religion, morality, women, art, music, culture, Christianity, Jews, Germans, Europeans, suffering, joy, and much more. This is also where he first declares that “God is dead,” and where Zarathustra is first mentioned in his writings. In fact, he wrote Thus Spoke Zarathustra right after finishing book four. Book five was written a few years later, after he finished Beyond Good and Evil. Something vital to keep in mind: As Kaufmann notes, this book (these “books,” really) is not meant to be read willy-nilly; it is to be read in order and bearing the context in mind; this point cannot be stressed enough. Now to speak of the general spirit of the book: Nietzsche wrote elsewhere (Twilight of the Idols, Raids of an Untimely Man, 51), “The aphorism, the apothegm, in which I am the first among the Germans to be a master, are the forms of ‘eternity’; it is my ambition to say in ten sentences what everyone else says in a book—what everyone else does NOT say in a book” (“NOT” is italicized in the original, not capitalized; but since I can’t italicize here, I capitalized the letters for emphasis). If you want philosophical writing that’s dense, layered, and packed with meaning, all in a single breath, look no further! It’s not just about economy of language but a kind of compression that forces you to slow down and unpack every word. Agree or disagree with his ideas, you’re sure to be taken for a ride! I personally don’t “agree” or “disagree” but rather “relate” or “don’t relate”—and it’s usually the former! I’ve found this to be an excellent entry into Nietzsche’s writing. I’ll probably go with either Thus Spoke Zarathustra or Beyond Good and Evil next, depending on my mood. All in all, this isn’t just a book; it’s an experience, a diary of sorts. He himself calls it “the most personal of all my books.” I highly recommend it for the right person at the right time.

Purchase "Mass Market PaperBack version" i.e., Translated with commentary by Walter Kaufmann (Vintage) . Paperback version is not authentic and is translated by some unknown translator.