external monologue

reflections on nietzsche

i snagged this out of an email i wrote to a friend who was helping me proofread my paper.

"you're right about those existentialists. i decided last night that i
much prefer existentialist literature to philosophy - camus vs. sartre,
percy vs. nietzsche, etc etc. characters who actually live
existentially are much more convincing than crabby old philosophers who
just wish they did."

it think this pretty well sums up my feelings about reading just about everything nietzsche wrote, during the past 3 months. i think its really due to the fact that existentialism is flawed as a system because it always looks for "salvation" from within - the inconsistent and ever-disappointing self. however, characters in novels can be made to find their satisfaction within, or at least be at peace with themselves at the close of the story. in real life, we have to keep on living, and battling - something that nietzsche did poorly with in his own life. the impression i get of his later years are one sustained anxiety attack. ugh...