Und Nietzsche weinte : Roman

by Irvin D. Yalom

Other authorsIda Sträfling (Translator)

Paperback, 2002

Status

Available

Call number

HU 9800 Y19 N6

Genres

Collection

Wien

Publication

München: Piper, 2002.

Description

In nineteenth-century Vienna, a drama of love, fate, and will is played out amid the intellectual ferment that defined the era. Josef Breuer, one of the founding fathers of psychoanalysis, is at the height of his career. Friedrich Nietzsche, Europe's greatest philosopher, is on the brink of suicidal despair, unable to find a cure for the headaches and other ailments that plague him. When he agrees to treat Nietzsche with his experimental "talking cure," Breuer never expects that he too will find solace in their sessions. Only through facing his own inner demons can the gifted healer begin to help his patient. In When Nietzsche Wept, Irvin Yalom blends fact and fiction, atmosphere and suspense, to unfold an unforgettable story about the redemptive power of friendship.… (more)

Media reviews

bergenbibliotek.no

Forlaget skriver om denne boka: En hemmelig pakt inngås mellom en ung, forførende kvinne og en anerkjent lege. En enestående tenker bringes inn i en terapi han tror handler om å bli kvitt en hodepine. Men raskt vendes rollene om - legen blir pasient og pasienten terapeut. Scenen er Wien i

1880-årene. Det er Friedrich Nietzsche, noen år senere berømt som en av Europas fremste filosofer, som møter Josef Breuer. Sigmund Freud, en ung medisiner, er Breuers betrodde elev. Lou Salomé, senere en kjent psykoanalytiker, er meget bekymret for sin venn Nietzsches helse. Sentralt i dramaet står Bertha, en ung kvinne som skal bli kjent som Anna O. i litteraturen. Elisabeth Nietzsche, historiens onde ånd, opptrer i en birolle. Irvin D. Yalom har skrevet en intellektuell thriller om en terapi som ikke har funnet sted, men som viser psykoanalysens historiske drivkrefter og gir et troverdig og bevegende bilde av psykoterapiens vesen.

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User reviews

LibraryThing member MiserableLibrarian

Yalom spins an engaging and thoughtful story of a relationship between Friedrich Nietzsche and Joseph Breuer, a leading turn-of-the-century doctor in Vienna who was involved in the early development of psychotherapy. Breuer is engaged to take on Nietzsche’s case by a woman friend of Nietzsche’s

named Lou Salome. Through his experimentation with the “talking cure,” Breuer finds that his own problems consume the majority of their time together. The tale illuminates the necessarily close ties between psychotherapy and philosophy, and (for Yalom, once again) the fact that no therapist can solve a patient’s problems, but can facilitate an individual’s own self-cure. Certainly contrived, sometimes a little hokey, but an enjoyable story.

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17 more

LibraryThing member hennis

Badly written, this novel did not appeal to me at all. The discussions between the dokter something and "his patient" were somewhat interesting, but the writing style throughout the book was way too sentimental. Such a bad writer. I must say it is one of the worst books I have ever finished.

LibraryThing member Linus_Linus

The writing is average , but the content is very interesting. I particularly liked the latter half which supposes a trenchant interaction between Breuer and Nietzsche in late 19th century, thus giving birth to the science and philosophy of psychotherapy. Just for its possibility should be read once.

LibraryThing member StaffPicks

Set in Vienna and based partly on fact with a generous measure of fiction, this book explores the hypothetical relationship between Friedrich Nietzsche and Josef Breuer (friend and teacher of Sigmund Freud). It gives a fascinating account of the effect psychotherapy has on them both, and brings to

life Nietzsche, Breuer and Freud vividly and perceptively.

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LibraryThing member marianapdias

I only got interested on the reading after page 200, so you have to be very persistent on it.
I read it until the end because I don't like giving up on books, but I feel like I wasted a lot of my time and my patience on this one.
Boring, with freaking unecessary descriptions of sex from doctor

Bauer.
Read it only if you have no other choice (which I believe is not the case here).

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LibraryThing member mottledpigeon

Pretentious and tedious. Hated it.

LibraryThing member Parthurbook

How might psychotherapy have started? Certainly protagonist Josef Breuer has been overshadowed by Freud in popular consciousness (excuse the pun). Here, Yalom tries to set the record straight about the birth of the 'talking cure', albeit through an imagined, hypothesized version of history. Which

has great resonance in the book because the relationship between Breuer and Nietzsche itself becomes is mutual deception - from which emerges two deep personal truths. The intellectual and emotional chase is thrilling and, at its climax, genuinely moving. An engrossing re-creation of C19th Vienna which frames vivid portraits of two thinkers who did much to shape C20th thought.

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LibraryThing member mschaefer

A fictitious story about the origins of psychotherapy in a consultation of Friedrich Nietzsche with Joseph Breuer. An excellent novel of ideas, developing its themes with virtuousity.

LibraryThing member gmicksmith

The film is worth seeing but the novel is an improvement and adds details not as artfully displayed nor as well communicated in the film version.

LibraryThing member Eliz12

While I loved Yalom's other works, this one could not hold my interest. An interesting beginning, but an long, tedious imaginary conversation between two real human beings is not my cup of tea.

LibraryThing member LynnB

This book is so well written....many, many lovely sentences. And, bringing the philosopher Nietzsche and the doctor Josef Breuer together provided a great vehicle to portray their ideas. I read this for a book club, and there was so much to discuss!

That said, the plot is a bit contrived, and in any

book which tells a fictional story about real people, it's hard to know what is true and what isn't. I found this frustrating at times, and was glad for the "afterward" section which set some of this out.

So, a mixed feeling overall...really enjoyed reading it, but upon finishing it, I am less satisfied.

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LibraryThing member hemlokgang

A fantastic novel! An imagined transactional relationship between Josef Breuer and Friedrich Nietzsche takes the reader on a journey of existential angst. As a psychotherapist myself, I found this story utterly believable. The author creates a story which is historically accurate in terms of the

status of the field of psychology in 1882, and addresses the central existential kernel which is present for each of us. At times I had to stop and reflect on my own life choices, and I deeply appreciated the ability of the author to evoke that desire to reflect. Marvelous!

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LibraryThing member Eye_Gee

This book was recommended to my by someone who had a career as a psychotherapist, and it's a fictional account of an encounter between Friedriche Nietzche, the philospher, and Josef Breuer, a physician is credited as one of the founders of psychology. Nietchze and Breuer lived and worked at the

same time and although there is no evidence that they ever met, it may have happened. In this book they not only meet but have an intense meeting of the minds. Nietchze comes to Breuer for treatment of his intensely debilitating migraine headaches . Unknown to Nietche, Breuer had previously been approached by a woman with whom Nietchze had a disastrous love affair, who begged Breuer to take the case fearing Niecheze is going to commit suicide. Breuer agrees. Because Breuer knows about the love affair and the stress it has caused, he attempts to draw Nieetche out over the course of his medical examinations. Extremely reticent by nature, and too smart for this by half, Nietchze parries every effort Breuer makes to get him to reveal anything personal. Breuer himself is in the midst of a midlife crises and eventually he and Nietche reach an agreement in which Breuer treats Neitchze's physical symptons, and submits himself to Neitchze to treat his angst by applying his readical philosphies. The story is quite a page turner. The author, a psychologist himself, drew on a lot of factual information, including letters and diaries, to create this original book.

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LibraryThing member FlavioMiguelPereira

Incredible, imersive and very well written. Cant stop reading until the end, and lets say that Frederic Nietzsche have another fan due to the ideas placed in this book
A must read if you like philosophy

LibraryThing member Cuchulainn

I was a bit torn about this one. I loved the content, but I thought the proze was a bit flat. Nevertheless, good read, and I will probably pick up some other books by him.

LibraryThing member pathogenik

The greatest novel ever!!!! Too bad the journey had to end somewhere at page 310 :(

LibraryThing member TTAISI-Editor

I have a soft spot for this book, because I have (if it's possible) a soft spot for Nietzsche. This story is, however, as much about the development of psychiatry -- for which Nietzsche's understanding of human psychology seems rather important -- as it is about the love-story plot that holds it

together.

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LibraryThing member DrFuriosa

This is a slow but rich and fulfilling read with a wild dash to the finish. Yalom unpacks Nietzsche's philosophy well for a lay reader (I definitely count myself as one) and continually pushes us to think about what motivates us all. I will be thinking about the ideas in this book for a long time.

4.5 stars.

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