Back
Friedrich Nietzsche: The Birth of Tragedy (1967, Vintage Books) 4 stars

Goodreads Review of the Birth of Tragedy

4 stars

Early Nietzsche. The Apollonian/Dionysian distinction is an interesting one, and I find it helpful. But, I didn't get a lot of what Nietzsche had to say here about ancient Greek art forms; he definitely has a separate set of cultural references than me. It concludes with a praise of Wagner for reunifying the Dionysian and Apollonian, akin to Greek tragedy, which Nietzsche sees as the best art form. Honestly, he's wrong here, and he figured that out for himself later.

Still, you can see Nietzsche playing with ideas of chaos and order, creativity and structure, and it's interesting to apply to my own life.