Ecce Homo

A difficult self-portrait

I have loved much of what I have read by Nietzsche, but my response to Ecce Homo is much more mixed. Reading it alongside a biography has demystified him, and knowing more about his life makes this self-portrait come across worse rather than better.

His emphatic hostility towards Germany feels more emotional than argued. I get the impression of someone looking back at earlier flashes of genius, trying to explain what he had done and perhaps hoping inspiration will strike again. For me, that retrospective self-analysis does not quite land. The proximity to his eventual mental collapse also makes this a difficult book to read.

Still thinking it through

This is one of the rare books that has made me wonder whether I might have been better off not reading it. That is not the same as saying it lacks insight. I need more time to work through the reaction, particularly how much the biography has changed my reading of it.