An immortal book !

A book which relieves oneself from memories of love betrayals, past memories and fears of death. A novel combining Philosophy, Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis. A compelling read.

15 people found this helpful

Humanism and Humanity Come Together

Would you consider the audio edition of When Nietzsche Wept to be better than the print version?

I have had the printed version for some time, as I am a therapist, but after several failed starts at reading it, I could not keep my attention on it. When I discovered it was an audiobook, I wanted to give it another try, as I have always preferred storytelling to reading the story myself. It was definitely worth the retry!

What other book might you compare When Nietzsche Wept to and why?

I don't recall any books from my past readings that I would find comparable to this one.

What does Paul Michael Garcia bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Paul's voice and narrating style just drew me in to where I found myself not wanting to turn it off when I had to get out of my car to go to my office. I have heard Irvin Yalom speak on many occasions, and Paul's voice sounded like Dr. Yalom was reading the story to me. Paul's voice was smooth, clear, and very in tune with the emotions and meanings of the story parts.

If you could take any character from When Nietzsche Wept out to dinner, who would it be and why?

I would probably want to spend time with Dr. Brauer. I would want to talk with him more about how he kept hope alive in himself to endure the roller coaster ride of Nietzsche's tragic struggles. I would ask Dr. Brauer to share with me some techniques and tips for working with someone who is that profoundly depressed and spiritually lost without going crazy myself. I have had some difficult patients in my own career, and could relate to several of Dr. Brauer's head-banging moments! I would be taking copious notes listening to him.

Any additional comments?

I have been a long time student of Irvin Yalom's works on individual and group therapy in the existential and humanistic way of doing therapy. This book was always one on my shelf that was in the "I'll read it someday" list. Something just got into my head one day to listen to the book when I found it was available in audio format, so I thought it might be an interesting story to hear, knowing Dr. Yalom's story telling skills and topics. LIstening to the story really filled my mind with such images and ideas that fell right into line beside my own experiences as a therapist working with difficult patients, and I felt validated in how I have been practicing, and I took a lot of notes from the story to use in my own practice. I have since discovered other books of his on Audible, and intend to listen to all of them as well. I'll have to thank Dr. Yalom the next time I see him for putting his books on Audible!

6 people found this helpful

Become who you are!

I have thoroughly enjoyed the "When Nietzsche Wept" audiobook, and found both the story as well as the performance excellent! A great "teaching novel" by Irvin Yalom, addressing big life questions that are very recognizable. Nice blend of philosophy and psychotherapy, and an engaging plot where the lines between therapist and patient get very blurry. I got a much better insight into the works of Nietzsche through this book, he truly seems to be one of the founding fathers of "self-actualization". Hats off to Yalom, who manages to make a book that is 80% dialogue and 10% monologue (diary entries, patient reports) fascinating!

13 people found this helpful

I loved it!

it was a really an awesome book. i didnt expect to like it that much!

1 person found this helpful

Insightful and a real trans experience

The writer and the writing are superb
The narrator does a super job and does justice to this unprecedented piece of work. It’s a must

Exhausting Intellectual mind games!

Interesting premise and some great insights into how theses heavy weight thinkers might have lived but the head games go on and repeat themselves to the point of exhaustion. I don't really care how this thing ends because I'm just plain sick of hearing these two self absorbed assholes playing this philosophical game. I would just tell the both of them to chill the F out and not take themselves so seriously. Of course that time and place in history was so uptight that I guess i can see why they would be so F'd up. Too bad they couldn't find a good buddhist monk in Vienna back then.

Masterpiece!

Wonderful piece of art. The narrator is clearly very skilled; you can easily get into a trance listening to him narrating.

Excellent

I hesitated at first because the story is fictitious, but now I am very glad that I read it: in only a few days.

Narrator's voice gets frustrating at times

The narrator does not have a thick magnetic voice. In some passages, his voice becomes frustrating and makes me stressed listening to this book. That is not what I'm looking for in listening to a book. I can handle dark memoirs, but not read in a stressful strained high-pitch voice. No. Those passages could be read differently that conveys the message to the listener and does not make them stressed and annoyed at the same time!

Was expecting more based on all the high reviews

It's ok. Sometimes I found it difficult to differentiate characters from the narrators voice. It was hard to tell what dialogue belonged to which character at some points. I was really interested in experiencing the blend of psychological history and fact into a fictional story, but it really didn't wow my expectations that the reviews set me up for. It's ok, not a book i'm going to finish.