Zarathustra

'Thus Spoke Zarathustra' by Nietzsche is more like poetry or a lyrical rendition than a story.
Laced with metaphors which leave you perplexed it can be difficult to see beneath the surface. I never enjoy having to flick forward to the end notes in order to decipher what the writer is going on about. However this exercise, however frustrating, engages you with the book and increases your understanding of the writer as a whole.

Sometimes Nietzsche hammers a point home by directly addressing an issue and taking it to pieces through plain speech and a self driven philosophy. This will to power leaves you enthused with wanting to do the same thing. Other times his metaphors, similes and anecdotes tell more than an example could ever do.

I personally relate to Nietzsche in a number of ways. Yes he is polemical, arrogant in his writing, and sometimes seems in dispassionate and nihilistic. However I think this is to take Nietzsche at the extreme.

His argument that we have to grasp life now and anyone who preaches otherwise is misleading strikes home with me. His love of humankind is twisted by his continued references to herd mentality and human condition. However it seems to me that he has deep compassion for humanity, as a product of nature. The condition of being part of nature means we contain both the qualities to create and destroy. This must be overcome , become the overhuman, so we can drop the latter and keep the creativity and passion. Nietzsche notes 'if one thing is true nature also has a backside' which in context is a clear reference to nature also containing an arsehole.

I could go on but I'll leave it here. If you want to discuss or criticise leave a comment.

They then call out 'Zarathustra is Godless'

And especially their teachers of submission call this out -but in their ears I love to shout: 'Yes! I am Zarathrusta, the Godless!"

Who is more godless than I, that I might seek out his instruction'

The Karamozov Brothers

Well a few weeks ago I eventually finished The Brothers Karamozov by Dostoevsky.
Three months it took me. That's a long time, even by my standards. Granted that I sometimes put this book down for over 2 weeks, it was none the less a truly awesome read.

I find Dostoevsky puts so much work in his characters and backgrounds that it sometimes can be hard to take in all the detail. Thus the frequent breaks in reading the book. However all his work come to a fruitful blossoming as the story develops. First, almost apprehensively, the story grips you, then it grows in pace and events, before you are overwhelmed by simple but none the less consistent insightful dissections of humanities psychology.

I'm not gonna review it, just interpret my three favourite events from the book.

• The Grand Inquisitor: What a great story told by Ivan. I have never thought about the symbolism of Jesus' visit into the desert in such away before. How the three trials by the devil are a representation of power and authority. Ultimately Dostoevsky sees Jesus' unwillingness to derive control over humanity by providing them with sustenance (bread), overcoming them by authority (control of the city), or overwhelming them by mystical power (angels), as a homage to Jesus' humbleness and kindness.
  
  I happen to disagree here. I think where Dostoevsky sees purity I see celestial arrogance. Asking people to have faith for faiths sake is not a value we should promote. You have to read this book, or even just this chapter to get a sense of the passion with which this debate takes place.
  
  
• A Devil Visits Ivan; Another great scene which continually keeps you guessing whether Ivan is mad, the devil is really there (unlikely) or Ivan is doing this to himself in order to orate his thoughts. I like the the passionate, compelling and rushed rant by the devil about humanity's love. A point I have often made myself. That if man realised love was a tiny finite spark in a infinite dark universe then it would be revolutionary. Love is not diminished by it's brevity but explodes into a deity itself. With love, true love, finite, fragile, framed in the context of eternity and delivered out man's fraternity with nature, man would realise his true position.
  
  Dostoevsky taunts that it would take 3000 years for man to realise this and would destroy himself before he could.
  
  
• Mitya's Justification; What an excellent character who reminds me of the innate ability to justify one's action no matter what the circumstance. Continually blaming his problems on just one hardship, which if he could just overcome would make him a pious man. Yet every time the opportunity arises to redeem himself he either runs from it or embraces it. When ever he embraces it he realises there yet another dilemma around the corner which is the real cause for his debauchery, never himself, and never ending.
  

Aims

Goal for this month.

• Read 'Thus Spoke Zarathustra' by Nietzsche
• Finish Harrington On Cash Games Volume 1
• Get into the habit of exercising.
• Reach 25 wall posts on my blog.

Idea for next month. Read Conscience of a Liberal and get back on The History of Western Philosophy