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The Portable Nietzsche (Portable Library) Paperback – January 27, 1977

by Friedrich Nietzsche (Author), Walter Kaufmann (Translator)
4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 807 ratings
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A captivating collection of Friedrich Nietzsche’s seminal works, from his provocative musings on truth and morality to his profound exploration of human existence

“In this volume, one may very conveniently have a rich review of one of the most sensitive, passionate, and misunderstood writers in Western, or any, literature.”—Newsweek

“Few writers in any age were so full of ideas.”—Walter Kaufmann, from the Introduction

The works of Friedrich Nietzsche have fascinated readers around the world ever since the publication of his first book more than a hundred years ago, yet few writers have been so consistently misinterpreted. The Portable Nietzsche includes Walter Kaufmann’s definitive translations of the complete and unabridged texts of Nietzsche’s four major works: Twilight of the Idols, The Antichrist, Nietzsche Contra Wagner, and Thus Spoke Zarathustra. In addition, Kaufmann brings together selections from his other books, notes, and letters, to give a full picture of Nietzsche’s development, versatility, and inexhaustibility.

Penguin Classics is the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world, representing a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
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Previous page
  1. Part of series
    Portable Library
  2. Print length
    704 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publisher
    Penguin Books
  5. Publication date
    January 27, 1977
  6. Dimensions
    7.76 x 5.08 x 1.65 inches
  7. ISBN-10
    9780140150629
  8. ISBN-13
    978-0140150629
  9. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

The philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche was born in Prussia in 1844. After the death of his father, a Lutheran minister, Nietzsche was raised from the age of five by his mother in a household of women. In 1869 he was appointed Professor of Classical Philology at the University of Basel, where he taught until 1879 when poor health forced him to retire. He never recovered from a nervous breakdown in 1889 and died eleven years later. Known for saying that “god is dead,” Nietzsche propounded his metaphysical construct of the superiority of the disciplined individual (superman) living in the present over traditional values derived from Christianity and its emphasis on heavenly rewards. His ideas were appropriated by the Fascists, who turned his theories into social realities that he had never intended.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ 0140150625
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Penguin Books; First Edition (January 27, 1977)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 704 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9780140150629
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0140150629
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.06 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.76 x 5.08 x 1.65 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 807 ratings

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  1. Friedrich Nietzsche

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Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
4.7 out of 5
807 global ratings
Good content — Minor construction issues with book itself
4 Stars
Good content — Minor construction issues with book itself
Includes Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Twilight of the Idols, The Antichrist, and Nietzsche Contra Wagner. Also includes about 90 pages of additional material. This consists of letters to his sister and some intellectual friends (Gast, Rée, Overbeck, Burckhardt), notes, drafts, and brief excerpts from Gay Science, Beyond Good and Evil, Case of Wagner, Human All-Too-Human, Dawn, and minor essays.The reason for subtracting one star is that my version (Penguin, Viking Portable Library, paperback) came with a printing error where 30 pages from The Antichrist are shorter than the rest of the book. See images for context. The difference appears to have been taken from the bottom margin of the pages. Fortunately the full text of these pages including footnotes has not been affected or cut off.
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Top reviews from the United States

Jamie Rodriguez
5.0 out of 5 stars Evolutionary
Reviewed in the United States on February 28, 2024
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Nietzsche glorified life on earth and wanted people to be grateful for all the events one faces, both good and bad, and to learn from them. Thus Spoke Zarathustra is the culmination of Nietzsche's idea of man evolving and becoming better men; of releasing from the recurrent cycle of life where emotions lead our actions. He says that God is dead and it is up to men to not look towards outer things to save them, but to look inward and become gods themselves.
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amazon customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book!
Reviewed in the United States on March 15, 2024
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Great service!
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Zac Moretz
5.0 out of 5 stars Another excellent translation with explanatory information by Walter Kaufmann
Reviewed in the United States on January 14, 2024
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Make sure if you are buying Nietzsche, you are buying the Walter Kauffmann translations. This is perfect and has lots of explanatory information from him, the world's foremost Nietzsche scholar.
2 people found this helpful
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Southern Lady
4.0 out of 5 stars Helpful
Reviewed in the United States on April 24, 2023
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This was the best Nietzsche reference book I've found. It was much easier to read his works in printed form than electronically. It was well organized.
2 people found this helpful
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BMR
5.0 out of 5 stars This is It
Reviewed in the United States on October 7, 2011
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If you're looking to read Nietzsche -- either superficially or deeply -- there are only 2 books you really need: Kaufman's Portable Nietzsche and Kaufman's The Basic Writings of Nietzsche.

Of course, you're getting different works from both of these anthologies.

If you're looking to read Thus Spake Zarathustra (as well as letters, Twilight of the Idols, the Antichrist, and selections from many of his other works), buy the Portable Nietzsche reader

If you're looking to read Beyond Good and Evil and the Geanology of Morals (or the Birth of Tragedy / Ecce Homo, etc.) buy the Basic Writings.

Really, you SHOULD own both. One is certainly not a substitute for the other. However, if you're thinking about what to read first.... let me put it like this:

Read Thus Spoke Zarathustra first if you're looking for something more laconic and literary (buy Portable Nietzsche)

Read Beyond Good and Evil first if you're looking for something more aphoristic and philosophical (buy Basic Writings)

All in all, I reference them both about the same.... and once you've worked your way through these you can touch The Will to Power.

Good Luck!!! He really was brilliant man. Hopefully you won't be one of the many who have egregiously misunderstood what he was saying.
208 people found this helpful
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Amazon_Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Quality-worth and received on time.
Reviewed in the United States on December 28, 2022
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Arrived in perfect condition, though the words were printed crooked on the paper. Readable, nonetheless.
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John Napieralski
5.0 out of 5 stars Invaluable Book for a Starter
Reviewed in the United States on June 29, 2023
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A difficult read but certainly worth it.
One person found this helpful
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Rick
5.0 out of 5 stars A True Genius
Reviewed in the United States on August 13, 2019
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Nietzsche was undoubtedly a gifted genius; but I am not convinced that he really had a coherent philosophy. Nietzsche's genius consisted of being able to make very insightful (and usually sarcastically critical, but very witty) comments about human nature, philosophy, psychology, history, literature, and religion. He was recognized as an intellectual prodigy at a very young age, but, unfortunately I believe his eventual decay into dementia was becoming apparent in his writings for quite a while before his actual collapse. His wide range of grandiose statements is why Nietzsche was taken as a philosophical "thought leader" of so many other diverse figures. I believe most of them were taking snippets out of context with no real appreciation of Nietzsche's actual positions.
27 people found this helpful
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John Downing
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent choice for Non Germans!
Reviewed in Canada on March 26, 2022
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 The quality of the translation goes without saying, this is the definitive modern English gateway to Nietzsche.

In regards to the quality of the physical book, it is a typically well put together Penguin paperback. After buying various “no name publisher” classic books on Amazon, I now make an effort to find titles from Penguin and other well known publishing houses. Any minor additional cost is always worth it.
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Andrew Thomas Robinson
5.0 out of 5 stars Thrilling
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 12, 2024
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Helped me break the hold of religion and pursue the path to becoming an Ubermench/ Overman.
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Subhasis
5.0 out of 5 stars Portable Nietzsche? More like a bulky Thus Spoke Zarathustra. Still worthy of five stars though.
Reviewed in India on March 10, 2018
Verified Purchase
Summary: This is a great book is for people who know what they are getting into. I do not treat this as my only Nietzsche book. I substituted it with other works of Nietzsche.

Pro: This book contains the Kaufmann translation of Thus Spoke Zarathustra, and that alone makes it deserving of five stars.

Cons: 52% of this 704 page book is Thus Spoke Zarathustra. The typeset is ancient and most of the book's girth gets sacrificed to accomodate the huge font,spacing, and margins. It is great for old people, and people who seek a durable book with thick pages, but it utterly fails as a portable library.

Note: Personally, I don't think Thus Spoke Zarathustra is a good entrypoint to Nietzsche's Will to Power. In the absense of Beyond Good and Evil, they should have at least included the full text of On the Geneology of Morals in this book.

But I won't judge Kaufmann's decision. He is the most impartial Nietzsche translator to my knowledge. This book certainly doesn't have a replacement.
20 people found this helpful
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Dr. Emmett
5.0 out of 5 stars 英語でニーチェ読むならまず持つべき本。
Reviewed in Japan on May 13, 2010
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ニーチェに強い関心があるけど、ドイツ語原文は読めない、という人は、これと、それから同じカウフマンの訳した "Basic Writings" を持ってれば、とりあえずニーチェの主要な作品は（いくつかを除いてですが）一通り読めます。カウフマンの翻訳には定評がありますから、日本語の翻訳に不満な人には特にお勧めですね。短い解説もついていますが、短いけれど内容を理解するのに結構助けになります。
9 people found this helpful
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Justin
5.0 out of 5 stars The Best of Nietzsche!
Reviewed in Canada on August 7, 2019
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The Best of Nietzsche!
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