Nietzsche at Night - ‘The Gay Science’ in Day Defiance - Part 1

Hi folks!

Somewhere down the line, this description will be left blank. Those three beautiful words "Nietzsche at Night" (N@N, to those most intimately familiar) merely gracing the event's title will be enough. Heads will turn, eyes will well, electricity in the air. All will be immediately understood and millions will flock and fight for a space amidst our 16-person assortment of rauchbier-rabble-rousers and pilsner-provocateurs. But for now, I must provide you with that which you will not read and that which I do not wish to type.

This is N@N No. 3. Should you have read the previous texts? Nope! It is not essential and, most importantly, I don't care. I'll leave this for you to come to terms with.

For this session, we will be reading the first half of The Gay (or, Joyous) Science, depending on your translation. I will be reading the Penguin Classics edition available here, translated by R. Kevin Hill. Walter Kaufmann's is also stellar - I also have this edition and will be performing a super through comparative analysis between the two (promise (lol)).

Kaufmann's version is available here, for free. I reckon let's use this as our default.
Just in case you're feeling funky, here's another translation for free from Josefine Nauckhoff.

For this meeting, we will be reading through Book 2. For Hill's translation, this will end at page 117. For Kaufmann's, it'll end at page 164. For Nauckhoff's, page 108.

If you're unable to complete the book prior to our meeting, no worries - we're just happy to have you and welcome whatever insights, critiques, questions, etc., you may have based on what you were able to read. If you read nothing, then - bravo on the boldness showing up to a book club empty-handed.

We will be meeting at TALEA Beer Co.'s Taproom in Williamsburg (87 Richardson Street, Brooklyn, NY 11211 - next to McCarren Park). I'll let everyone know where to find us on the day of the discussion.

As always, this group is open to newcomers to Nietzsche, novices of philosophy, ragamuffins, ne'er-do-wells, urchins of all sorts, etc. All insights are encouraged, just be somewhat sensible and all the way cool. Ain't no fun to be found in nodding your head along with a thinker for a hundred pages - strive to disagree with decency.

Alright, looking forward to it. Reach out to me with any questions in the meantime.

See y'all then!