Never too Late to Read Classics discussion

In September and October we will be reading and discussing the works of two German authors: Friedrich Schiller and Friedrich Nietzsche .

Schiller wrote ballads and poems. His poem An die Freude is featured in Beethoven's 9th Symphony. He was a prolific playwright, with many of his plays converted to operas. He was also well-known for his aesthetic writings.
Schiller had a close friendship with Goethe, but unfortunately Schiller died at a fairly young age, while Goethe lived to a good age.

Nietzsche was a poet as well as a philosopher, who had mental health issues as he grew older.
His famous work, Also Sprach Zarathustra, inspired the composer Richard Strauss. The opening bars of Strauss's work are used in the Stanley Kubrick film, 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Which books are you planning to read this month?

If you're looking for a good introduction to Schiller's plays, I recommend my favourite-Wilhelm Tell.

I will be reading both these authors for the first time. I will start with The Birth of Tragedy by Friedrich Nietzsche and some poems and ballads by Friedrich Schiller.

Has anyone read Nietzsche? Which book you would recommend to a beginner?

@Nidhi start with On the Genealogy of Morals, it will give you a good intro to Nietzsche's views before jumping into Thus Spoke Zarathustra.

Thanks for the recommendation Manuel. I will start soon.

My avatar this month is a statue of Schiller and Goethe in Weimar, Germany.

I'm planning to read Beyond Good and Evil by Friedrich Nietzsche. It's my first Nietzsche, so looking forward to reading it. Bought a penguin hardback; one of the few hardbacks I own.

I liked that one, Piyangie.

I am planning to read Beyond Good and Evil as well.

Penguin has published "Aphorisms on love and hate" by Nietzsche. This book of only 50 pages may appeal to readers with a limited taste for philosophy, who may be daunted by the heavier tomes.

Thanks for the info, Bernard.

Thanks for that tip, Bernard - In the same range and for the same price, they also have "Why I am so Clever" by Nietzsche - and that sounds like the Nietzsche we know and love!

Both are 99p for Kindle in the UK.

The books that John and I referred to are in the Penguin Modern Classics range of over 100 works, worth looking into.

Nietzsche was certainly clever, but perhaps TOO clever for his own good.

CORRECTION: Not Penguin MODERN Classics, as it includes Chaucer! Actually Penguin LITTLE BLACK Classics.

I've just finished one of Schiller's earliest works, a gothic story unlike anything Schiller wrote afterwards-Der Geisterseher. Aus Den Memoiren Des Grafen Von O**/The Ghost-seer. It reminds of the stories of E.T.A. Hoffmann, and is set in Venice during the times of the Inquisition.
Not typical Schiller at all!

I've just finished The Gay Science: With a Prelude in Rhymes and an Appendix of Songs by Friedrich Nietzsche.

Just started Ecco Homo myself, I think it’s the only thing by Nietzsche I haven’t read

Mathew wrote: "Just started Ecco Homo myself, I think it’s the only thing by Nietzsche I haven’t read"

I've read it already. I'm not too fond of Nietzsche sometimes.

I find that he helps me think even though I find myself disagreeing with him (i.e. I’m a Catholic and I love Plato, he said rather anti-Christian/Catholic and anti-Plato stuff, but he’s still interesting to read).

Someone who is anti Catholicism and anti Platonism cannot be all good.

Nietzsche also had some mental health problems, Bernard.

I will start Aphorisms on Love and Hate right away.

Good to know, Luis.