While the [Walter Kaufmann translation](https://a.co/d/06pbQVOn) is preferred, a link to the free Cambridge translation is [here](https://www.academia.edu/70325665/Nietzsche_the_gay_science). **For this Meetup, we will read aphorisms 225-235,** and discuss them one at a time and get as far as we get, carrying forward any undiscussed aphorisms to the following week.

It’s 1882, and a friend has just given you a copy and recommendation of a book by a former professor of philology named Friedrich Nietzsche. Your friend says that he seems to be a philosopher of some sort, even though he doesn’t write like one, and in this book he argues, among a lot of other provocative things, that God Is dead!

This Is the beginner’s mind that this Meetup will take with this book. You may know his contemporaries and antecedents, but you’re here to share YOUR thoughts, not those of subsequent critics.
**Recordings and AI summaries of previous sessions are available [here](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ngwyvkVie17Vp_FetNBDk4KCy0Y9LQryDBQkGAjGayI/edit#gid=0).**
**Suggested texts:** [The Portable Neitzsche, edited by Walter Kaufmann ](https://www.amazon.com/Portable-Nietzsche-Library/dp/0140150625)and [The Basic Writings of Nietzsche, edited by Walter Kaufmann](https://www.bookfinder.com/search/?ac=sl&st=sl&ref=bf_s2_a1_t1_1&qi=iKKSgzpmhF94NHJC0jpmSq.rMSY_1706652092_1:37690:69508&bq=author%3Dfriedrich%2520nietzsche%26title%3Dbasic%2520writings%2520of%2520nietzsche)
**Syllabus** (titles are linked to free PDF’s, most of which require a free [academia.edu](https://www.academia.edu/) account)
[The Gay Science](https://www.academia.edu/70325665/Nietzsche_the_gay_science) ([academia.edu](https://www.academia.edu/))
[Thus Spoke Zarathustra](https://pdfcoffee.com/friedrich-nietzsche-walter-kaufmann-walter-kaufmann-thus-spoke-zarathustra-a-book-for-none-and-all-1978-penguin-non-classics--pdf-free.html)
*[Beyond Good and Evil](https://www.academia.edu/42917404/Beyond_Good_and_Evil)* ([academia.edu](https://www.academia.edu/))\*
*[On The Genealogy of Morals](https://www.academia.edu/29525922/On_the_Genealogy_of_Morals)*[ ](https://www.academia.edu/29525922/On_the_Genealogy_of_Morals)([academia.edu](https://www.academia.edu/))\*
*[The Case of Wagner](https://www.gutenberg.org/files/52166/52166-h/52166-h.htm)\**
[Twilight of the Idols](https://www.academia.edu/15437485/FRIEDRICH_WILHELM_NIETZSCHE_Twilight_of_the_Idols)\*\* ([academia.edu](https://www.academia.edu/))
[The Antichrist](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/19322/pg19322-images.html)\*\*
*[Ecce Homo](https://www.academia.edu/8905966/Ecce_Homo)\**
[Nietzsche Contra Wagner](https://www.gutenberg.org/files/25012/25012-pdf.pdf)\*\*
\*[The Basic Writings of Nietzsche, edited by Walter Kaufmann](https://www.bookfinder.com/search/?ac=sl&st=sl&ref=bf_s2_a1_t1_1&qi=iKKSgzpmhF94NHJC0jpmSq.rMSY_1706652092_1:37690:69508&bq=author%3Dfriedrich%2520nietzsche%26title%3Dbasic%2520writings%2520of%2520nietzsche)
\*\*Walter Kaufmann’s, [The Portable Nietzsche](https://www.amazon.com/Portable-Nietzsche-Library/dp/0140150625)

The World Philosophy Group

Jason Peng

Lindsie

Sarah 

Nietzsche: The Gay Science [Session 59]

Online event

Geoffrey Chaucer’s *The Canterbury Tales* (late 14th century) is both a vivid portrait of medieval life and a timeless study of human nature. Written in Middle English—the living language of Chaucer’s England—it gathers a diverse group of pilgrims journeying to Canterbury, each telling stories that reveal wit, faith, desire, hypocrisy, and laughter. The work’s brilliance lies in its variety: bawdy fabliaux, courtly romances, moral sermons, and fables all mingle in a single tapestry of voices. Reading it in the original language is demanding but deeply rewarding: you’ll hear the rhythm and humor as Chaucer’s first audience did, and glimpse the roots of modern English. A glossed edition (with notes or a facing-page translation) will ease the way, allowing the vitality of Chaucer’s verse—its sharp observation, compassion, and playfulness—to shine through as freshly now as six centuries ago.

**Editions** [available from your local library or online]:
*The Canterbury Tales: Seventeen Tales and the General Prologue*. A Norton Critical Edition, Third Edition, Edited by V.A. Kolve and Glending Olsen. New York: W.W. Norton & Co. 2018. ISBN: [9781324000563](https://www.bookfinder.com/isbn/9781324000563/?author=&binding=ANY&condition=ANY&currency=USD&destination=US&firstEdition=false&isbn=9781324000563&keywords=&language=EN&maxPrice=&minPrice=&noIsbn=false&noPrintOnDemand=false&publicationMaxYear=&publicationMinYear=&publisher=&bunchKey=&signed=false&title=&viewAll=false) Used: $13+

*The Selected Canterbury Tales.* A New Verse Translation by Sheila Fisher. New York: W.W. Norton & Co. 2012. ISBN: [9780393341782](https://www.bookfinder.com/isbn/9780393341782/?author=&binding=ANY&condition=ANY&currency=USD&destination=US&firstEdition=false&isbn=9780393341782&keywords=&language=EN&maxPrice=&minPrice=&noIsbn=false&noPrintOnDemand=false&publicationMaxYear=&publicationMinYear=&publisher=&bunchKey=&signed=false&title=&viewAll=false&mode=BASIC) Used: $7+ [Mid/Mod English on facing pgs]

*The Riverside Chaucer.* Third Edition. Edited by F.N. Robinson. New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 2008. ISBN: [9780199552092](https://www.bookfinder.com/isbn/9780199552092/?author=&binding=ANY&condition=ANY&currency=USD&destination=US&firstEdition=false&isbn=9780199552092&keywords=&language=EN&maxPrice=&minPrice=&noIsbn=false&noPrintOnDemand=false&publicationMaxYear=&publicationMinYear=&publisher=&bunchKey=&signed=false&title=&viewAll=false) Used $25+

**Online via Zoom**
RSVP for the link.

**Schedule of Readings [P&T=Prologue and Tale]:**
**Nov 2, 2025 -Front matter, General Prologue, Knight's Tale**
Nov 16th - Miller's P&T, Reeve's P&T
Nov 30th - Wife of Bath's P&T, Friar's P&T, Summoner's P&T
Dec 14th - Clerk's P&T, Merchant's P&T
Dec 28th - Franklin's P&T, Pardoner'P&T, Prioress's P&T
Jan 11, 2026 - Nun's priest's P&T, Second Nun's P&T, Manciple's P&T, Chaucer's Retraction

Join the core Meetup group for this discussion of the western canon:
[https://www.meetup.com/letsreadclassics/](https://www.meetup.com/letsreadclassics/)

For 2026 [subject to change]:
Chaucer: *Troilus and Cressida*
Di Pazan: *The Book of the City of Ladies*
Virgil: *Georgics*/*Aeneid*
Ovid: *Metamorphosis* /*Erotic Poems*
Homer: *Iliad*/*Odyssey*

David Johnson

Reen

Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales, 11-02-25, 1st of 6 sessions

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