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The Gay Science (The Joyful Wisdom)
- Narrated by: Michael Lunts
- Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins
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Publisher's Summary
The Gay Science (The Joyful Wisdom) is one of Nietzsche's greatest books. His wonderfully fertile mind roams over mankind, his thoughts, his emotions, his behaviour and his weaknesses with remarkable clarity, with insight - but also with humour!
In this work are 383 separate paragraphs, some short, some long, but all singular observations - the epitome of his famous aphoristic style. 'Morality is the herd instinct in the individual.' 'The world is overfull of beautiful things, but it is nevertheless poor, very poor, in beautiful moments.' Being intellectual, he declares, is not equivalent to 'taking things seriously': why not laugh while thinking!
When should one be an Epicurean and when a Stoic? Nietzsche may be best known for Thus Spoke Zarathustra (The Gay Science was published in 1882, a year before Zarathustra, and actually contains its opening paragraph!) but with its potpourri of comments, some wild, some sharp, some rather odd, it is totally different in tone. The Gay Science represents the Friedrich Nietzsche one would want to meet.
All of the 77 poems included by Nietzsche in The Gay Science have been placed at the end of the main text, to be enjoyed by dedicated Nietzscheans.
The aphorisms and poems are persuasively read by Michael Lunts.
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What listeners say about The Gay Science (The Joyful Wisdom)
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Ron
- 02-24-18
I am now a full-fledged fan of Nietzsche
Took a bit to get into the flow of his writing, written as in old-English (per-se) but otherwise quite intelligible and comprehensible, but once my mind acclimated to his flow, I discerned rhythm, rhyme, reason and incredible beauty with a deep appreciation for how his mind expresses and creates. I love this guy. Wish I could’ve met him as he penned his ideas that would reverberate thunderously through the hallowed halls of writers and philosophers, demonstrating his uniquely impetuous and creative genius, par-excellance. Second book I’ve read by him. Won’t be the last.
9 people found this helpful
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- T
- 06-25-19
Great book, silly-sounding British reader
Although Michael Luntz reads well and consistently, he sounds like a cartoon caricature of an old Oxford professor - haughty, pretentious, overly British. I enjoyed the book on 1.15 speed to make it easier to comprehend while doing something else with my hands. This is a book of hard philosophy but it was written in a more digestible style meant to be consumed quickly, according to Nietzsche toward the end of the book. It's still pretty obscure in places so having the print version as well is a good idea. Fortunately the very short chapters are easy to find in the audio and physical book.
2 people found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 04-09-19
truly a must listen!
lovely narrated, worderfully written, and a must listen for everyone! if you are thinking about buying it, do it!
2 people found this helpful
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- Jesse
- 06-07-18
Fantastic book
Nietzsche dives into the collective human subconscious, removes the basic ideas of human experience and rewrites them with elegance and flare.
Although his writing style is a little poetic and difficult to grasp at first, his insights into society and human behaviour are still relevant today.
I initially found the narrator a little irritating but soon realised he was perfect for the style and time period in which the book was written.
This is a book you’ll want to read twice!
1 person found this helpful
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- Robert Smith
- 11-17-21
Lacked coherence, but some brilliant insights.
Compared to Beyond Good and Evil, this lacked the same level of purpose and coherence. There are brilliant insights, particularly around religion and vaccumes when this faith vanishes; the need for individuals to create their own meaning; the dangers of falling into the religion of science. The issue is the rest is fanciful, sporadic, poetic quips about this and that. Perhaps a another author's translation of the ideas would be a more effective way to receive them.
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- Chris
- 03-13-19
Not Gay. Not Science. Not Half Bad.
well, good for musing and opening your mind to new avenues of thought. not bad.