Thus Spoke Zarathustra, The Philosophy Classic
Friedrich Nietzsche, with an Introduction by Dirk R.Johnson and Edited by Tom Butler-Bowdon
Capstone/Imprint of Wiley (July 2022)

“Of all that is written, I love only what a man has written with his own blood.” Friedrich Nietzsche

This is one of the latest volumes to be added to the Capstone Classics Series. Each is edited by Tom Butler-Bowdon and includes an introduction by a world-renowned scholar on the given subject, in this instance Friedrich Nietzsche’s Thus Spoke Zarathrustra, published in four parts (1883, 1884, and 1885).

As Butler-Bowdon points out, “German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche’s Thus Spoke Zarathrustra is a monumental work exploring the mysteries of life, poWer, humanity and God. Widely considered the masterpiece of his career that ties all his other writings together, it received little attention during his lifetime…As part of the bestselling Capstone Classics series, this deluxe hardcover edition is essential reading for anyone interested in Nietzsche’s unique outlook and the development of Western philosophy. It includes an insightful Introduction by Dirk R. Johnson, who decodes the most enigmatic of Nietzsche’s works.”

According to Dirk R.Johnson, “Thus Spoke Zarathrustra arrived like a lightning bolt in the history of Western literature and thought. Nothing Nietzsche had written prior to Zarathrustra foreshadowed the ambition of this endeavor. He himself commented on its singularity: the combined acuity of two hundred years, he claimed, could not have guessed that the same author of his earlier work was the visionary of Zarathrustra.”

Why had he selected a legendary Iranian religious figure as the focus of the book? Johnson: “Nietzsche stated that Zarathrustra was the first to have seen the struggle of good and evil as the true wheel of human history — morality as a form of metaphysics. Since he had created the fateful error, he would have to be the first to recognize his mistake.” Frankly, there were several times while reading this book when I was unsure who was sharing the thoughts expressed, the author or Zarathustra…or both.

Here is an abbreviated timeline (based on material in The Portable Nietzsche) that helps to create an historical context for Nietzsche’s life and major works:

1844:  Born (15 Oct) at in Röcken, Prussia.
1849:  Death of his father, a Lutheran pastor, on July 30.
1864:  Studies classical philology at Bonn University.
1865:  Continues studies at Leipzig and accidentally discovers Schopenhauer’s main work in a second-hand bookstore.
1868:  First meeting with Richard Wagner.
1869:  Professor extraordinarius of classical philology at the University of Basel, Switzerland.
1870:  Promoted to full professor. As a Swiss subject, Nietzsche volunteers as a medical orderly in the Franco-Prussian war and serves briefly with the Prussian forces. Returns to Basel in October, his health shattered.
1872:  Publication of The Birth of Tragedy
1872-73: Winter semester – Lecture course on “The History of Greek Eloquence” (attended by only two students)
1873-74: Nietzsche prepares notes for a course of lectures on classical rhetoric for the summer semester of 1874; the course is not offered because of lack of student interest.
1879:  Resignation from the university with pension.
1882:  Goes to Rapallo in November.
1883: Writes the First Part of Thus Spoke Zarathustra in Rapello during the winter; summer in Sils Maria, where he completes Part Two: Both parts are published separately in 1883. From now until 1888, Nietzsche spends every summer in Sils Maria, every winter in Nizza.
1884: Writes the Third Part. It is published later the same year.
1885: The Fourth (and last) Part of Zarathustra is written during the winter in Nizza and Mentone. Forty copies are printed privately, but only seven distributed among friends.
1886: Publication of Beyond Good and Evil.
1888: Nietzsche spends winter in Nizza, spring in Turin, summer in Sils Maria, fall in Turin. Publication of The Wagner Case.
1889: Nietzsche becomes insane early in January in Turin. Overbeck, a friend and former colleague, brings him back to Basel. He is committed to the asylum in Jena, but soon released in the care of his mother, who takes him to Naumburg.
1891: The first public edition of the Fourth Part of Zarathustra is held up at the last minute lest it be confiscated. It is published in 1892.
1900:  Nietzsche dies (25 August) in Weimar.

Johnson again: “If Zarathustra is about anything, then, it is about the uncovering, and his protagonist’s personal overcoming, of historical morality — that fateful error.” This is a key point, an insight that — as he suggests in Ecce Homo –– “overtook him.” He had reached a personal and professional tipping point: “either continue to write within a tradition he had intellectually undermined and which he felt to be spiritually bankrupt, or nihilistic — or to break free from the spiritual and linguistic stranglehold of the moral tradition.” As clearly indicated in Zarathustra, Nietzsche was inspired to write it by the concept of “the external return”: the universe is cyclical and everything that happens is destined to endless change.” He was driven to free himself from tradition and orthodoxy even as he acknowledged the inevitable repetition of human experience.

This is not a book to take with you on holiday, nor one that will ever become a film starring Taika Waititi, but over the years it has attracted and rewarded readers who are eager to accompany one of the most influential thinkers in the 19th century during a shared journey of personal exploration. If a Rushmorean monument honoring philosophers were planned, Friedrich Nietzsche would be among the most prominent candidates.

I conclude this brief commentary with a suggestion: Read “Zarathustra’s Prologue” in Part One (Pages 3-27) with an open, curious attitude. Then re-read it at least once. Chances are, your subconscious mind will determine whether or not you continue to read the book.  For many but not all people, Nietzsche establishes and then nourishes a close rapport with Zarathustra. If you accompany him throughout the remainder of the book, expect occasional frustration, confusion, impatience, and even anger perhaps…but what he shares may “overtake” you in ways and to an extent you will never forget.