Book #55

Why I Am So Clever by Friedrich Nietzsche

Self-celebrating and self-mocking autobiographical writings from Ecce Homo, the last work iconoclastic German philosopher Nietzsche wrote before his descent into madness.

What a blast of self-awareness and ego from Nietzsche here. If I had half of the man’s knowledge, I’d be living a very good life.

Broken into three sections on why Nietzsche is so wise, so clever, and why he writes such good books, this collection reads almost like a diatribe on how Nietzsche is so bloody cool. It’s quite self-aggrandising, and good tickle of his own ego, but impressive nonetheless. The man is unbelievably intelligent, yet this became old quite quickly.

It’s quite a slog to get through his words, and I can’t pretend to have grasped it all. Still, it’s a worthwhile read, and an interesting look into the brain of this sharp man.