Nietzsche in 90 Minutes

By: Paul Strathern

Narrated by: Robert Whitfield

Length: 1 hr and 12 mins

Publisher's summary

With Friedrich Nietzsche, philosophy was dangerous not only for philosophers but for everyone. Nietzsche ended up going mad, but his ideas presaged a collective madness that had horrific consequences in Europe in the early 1900s. Though his philosophy is more one of aphorisms and insights than a system, it is brilliant, persuasive, and incisive. His major concept is the will to power, which he saw as the basic impulse for all our acts. Christianity he saw as a subtle perversion of this concept, thus Nietzsche's famous pronouncement, "God is dead."

In Nietzsche in 90 Minutes, Paul Strathern offers a concise, expert account of Nietzsche's life and ideas and explains their influence on man's struggle to understand his existence in the world.

©1996 Paul Strathern (P)2003 Blackstone Audiobooks

Nietzsche Used and Misused

Apparently one of the strengths of Nietzsche is his ability to be quoted. Many of the other
philosophers were very hard to read, and Nietzsche next to them is not. I didn't realize the
last 11 years of his life were pretty much in a comatose state. The Nazi Party could use
Nietzsche because he spoke in Memes, and they can be misinterpreted easily. He lived on
a pension from his job as a professor in Switzerland. I enjoyed listening to the story.

Little dry

But I suppose I should have expected that going in. Otherwise, informative. Looking forward to learning more of his actual work.

Brief biography

A very quick run down on the life of and not so much the philosophy of Nietzsche.

A brief intro to Nietzsche

Good performance. Highlights into Nietzsche’s life, philosophy and works to spark interest or to just know more about this him.

Good Overview

Well written and direct. Shoes that the majority of Nietzche’s writings are aphorisms abs are commonly taken out of context. Demonstrates the folly that many succumb to with Nietzche; not the least of which is the co-opting by white supremacists who wholly misread abs misunderstand.

Nietzsche life and timeline

This was a good listen and very informative, it was more about his life and what happened in it that his actual philosophy ideas I felt, though they were talked about briefly.

In only 90 minutes a nice overview on Nietzsche

I think Paul Strathern does an excellent job explaining Nietzsche's life and philosophy putting it into context of his moment in history.

A great start

Although I am no expert in Fredrick Nietzsche, I have managed to read some of his works and find him eerily fascinating. Having his life and works read out in 90 mins. gives the listener the ability to see Nietzsche as a whole person rather than an esoteric philosopher. I am a firm believer that you cannot remove the message from the man, and I feel this short book illustrates that point quite well.

Great Outline

Excellent high-level outline that captures the main ideas and factual information. It was what I was looking for. The narrator does a nice job.

Good biography; hostile+uncomprehending analysis

This book is about:
60% Nietzsche-biography, which is well-done.
10% Strathern's personal interpretations of Nietzsche, which is hostile and not very smart.
30% various quotes from Nietzsche, which tells a little of what Nietzsche thought.
0% the context that a 21st-century lay reader would need to understand why Nietzsche's ideas mattered.

Worth reading for the biography, but not at all useful as an introduction to Nietzsche's thought.