Stanziliëri

Professor Friedrich Nietzsche and Doctor Josef Breuer never met. And, of course, psychotherapy was not invented as a result of their encounter. Nonetheless, they could have. And which rich intellectual whirlwind would have resulted from that? How much would it devour? How much would it create?

People often write so-called FanFic. Stories based on characters from blockbuster movies or bestseller fiction. They use their imagination to build further on the vast foundations laid before them. The best way I can describe this amazing book, "When Nietzsche Wept", is by saying it is real life intellectual fanfic, at its finest.

Irvin D. Yalom is a Jewish man, and Professor of Psychiatry at the Stanford University School of Medicine. He can be described as a fan of the main characters in his book. In his work, he writes about the fictional encounter of Friedrich Nietzsche and Josef Breuer. The first one a fenomenal philosopher. The second a renowned physician. Both highly intelligent. Both thinking about similar issues in life. And what would happen if those two men would meet?

The book reads like an intellectual battlefield. A raging storm of IQ's above 160. Two men hiding from each other, trying to outsmart each other, but failing to outsmart themselves, while seeing how their lifes are ruins that need all but fall apart.

It's a revelation for the mind to read something as brilliant like this. The mind thirsts for more! But what could possibly feed the mind after this summum of intellect? The only possible answer is probably, the works of the main characters themselves. The ones that inspired this outstanding book.
If you don't feel like that, try reading this book first. It might very well stir your apetite. If you already did, then read this too, because it's good to let go of fact once in a while, even though the book is overflowing with it, to set the mind thinking once more.

I love my Veju a little bit more for making me read this. :-)