Zarathustra's secret
Subtitle: The Interior Life of Friedrich Nietzsche
By: Joachim Köhler ; translated by Ronald Taylor.
Publisher: Yale University Press
Published: 2002
Place of publication: New Haven [Conn.]
Language: eng
Translated from: ger
Translation of: Zarathustras Geheimnis
Number of pages: 278
Copyright date: 2002
Subjects: Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm, 1844-1900; Philosophers -- Germany -- Biography; Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm, 1844-1900 -- Psychology; Homosexuality, Male -- Germany -- History -- 19th century
Genres: Biography.
Description: "In this biography, Joachim Kohler seeks for the first time to understand Nietzsche's philosophy through a reconstruction of his inner life. In a revealing reinterpretation of his letters, diaries and writings, Kohler shows that Nietzsche's suppressed homosexuality, generating a hatred of Christianity and conventional morality, was a central influence on his work and argues that his philosophical position was fundamentally compromised by the concealment of his forbidden sexual desire.".

"Throughout his life, as Kohler demonstrates, the unhappy genius was also plagued by terrible nightmares, stemming from the death of his much-loved father, which led to a profoundly disturbed conscience and an intense loathing of metaphysics.".

"Seeking to disguise the truth of his innermost torments, Nietzsche contrived the persona of Zarathustra. The story of the great Persian philosopher, Kohler argues, reveals Nietzsche's own suppression and dionysiac liberation, and presents the culmination of his secret yearnings in the new myth of the Superman who, in his naked beauty, resembled the gods of classical Greece."--BOOK JACKET.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [269]-270) and index.
Table of contents: title: Machine generated contents note:  List of Illustrations; title: Foreword to the English Edition; title: Preface xiii; title: I A Plant from the Graveyard; title: A Loyal Minister of the Crown - Cinderella and the Prince -; title: The Little Friend - The Bringer of Death; title: z Life as a Nightmare I2; title: A Virtuous Household in Naumburg - The Masks of the Demon -; title: The Story of the Dirty Mouse - Wotans Wild Hunt - When Sleep; title: Begets Monsters; title: 3 The Pangs of Adolescence 29; title: The Sickly Cadet - The Kiss of the Moon Boy - Temptations - Lord of; title: the Vices - The Eye of the God - Rehearsalfor Revolt; title: 4 The Knight, Death and the Dominatrix 50; title: A Ghost in His Bed - A Terrifting Voice - Philosophical Osmosis -; title: Two Young Gods - The Demon of Sexuality - The Goddess of; title: Savage Nature; title: 5 The Redemption of the Gods 76; title: Beauty and the Beast - The Orgiastic Urge; title: 6 In Klingsor's Enchanted Garden 89; title: The Wagnerian Disciple - Slander - The Madness ofMithras; title: 7 A Chapter of Accidents IIo; title: The New Philoctetes - A Declaration of Love - Eating a Toad -; title: A Company of Liars - 'Lips Made for Kissing!'- The Voicefrom the; title: 'Brown Night'- A Hidden Burden; title: vi * Contents; title: 8 'The Honeymoon of Our Friendship' I43; title: 'The Lad with the Weary Burning Eyes'- Stella; title: 9 The New Columbus I59; title: Cutting Loose - The Lizard on the Seashore - The Adventures of Prince; title: Free-as-a-Bird - 'Caesar among the Pirates'; title: ro On the Isles of the Blest 18I; title: The Discreet Disciple - An Alluring World - 'Where the Gods Cast; title: Off Their Robes in the Dance'; title: 11 'The Bird of Prey Masquerading as a Canary' 194; title: The Holy Trinity - A Cruel Quirk of Fate - Freud' Defensive Battle -; title: The Artificial Paradise; title: 12 Zarathustra's Secret 223; title: The Female Elephant - The Vision by the Lake - The Shadow on; title: the Wall; title: Epilogue to the English Edition 254; title: Notes 258; title: Further Reading 269; title: Index 271 <BR><BR>Library of Congress Subject Headings for this publication: Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm, 1844-1900, Philosophers Germany Biography, Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm, 1844-1900 Psychology, Homosexuality, Male Germany History 19th century.