Dostoevsky vs. Nietzsche

And the second most fateful bookstore encounter in history...

Author

Justin Murphy
August 03, 2024

“He who makes a beast of himself gets rid of the pain of being a man.”

—Dr. Johnson

An abandoned chateau (photo by befakilla)

In this issue, some things I’ve been reading lately and what’s new/upcoming around the community:

  • The Prodigal Sons: Nietzsche vs. Dostoevsky

  • When Boswell Met Johnson

  • Upcoming Events

The Prodigal Sons: Nietzsche and Dostoevsky by Daryl Cooper (Novitate Conference 2023)

This talk on Nietzsche and Dostoevsky by Daryl Cooper is a tremendous piece of work, one of the most interesting and compelling things I've read/listened to this year. Strong recommend.

Both figures lose their fathers traumatically as children, have brief military experiences, and face severe professional setbacks in their 20s and 30s. At around 40 years old, both emerge from obscurity with seminal works: Nietzsche's "Thus Spoke Zarathustra" and Dostoevsky's "Notes from Underground." The overwhelming implication I took from the talk is that Nietzsche's philosophy of ressentiment stems primarily from his tragic, lifelong immersion in it. Cooper narrates in riveting detail Nietzche's constant succumbing to the most pathetic mimetic rivalries—for instance, his absurd investment in the disgusting Wagner cult (which he never escapes, even after he quits it). Nietzsche not only dies alone in bitter madness (this is well known), but more importantly and much less known: He dies muttering about God. In the days before his death:

"His landlord reported hearing him talk to himself loudly in his room. Once, he was caught shredding currency and throwing it in his waste paper basket. And he demanded that the paintings be removed from his room in order to make it more resemble a temple, a home for a God like himself. He told people in person that he had arrived to take the place of God. Now that the old one had gone away, he approached strangers on the street and asked them what they thought of his creation...

Nietzsche was out walking the streets of Turin, Italy, when the friend with whom he'd been staying was called to retrieve him... Nietzsche had seen a man beating a horse, and he ran and threw his arms around the horse to protect it from further blows, and then collapsed, hysterical and weeping...

The next day, after he'd been brought back and put to bed, he wrote a note: "Sing me a new song. The world is transfigured and all the heavens are full of joy." And he signed it 'The Crucified.'"

(Emphases mine)

In a miraculously perfect contrast, when Dostoevsky hits the bottom of the barrel, he finds redemption through repentance and faith, and achieves a beautiful ending to his life.

The overall lesson could not be more clear, convincing, or forceful.

Top-shelf indie scholar work here. Link.

Seminar on the Gospel of John: 10-15, August 9th at 10AM - 11:15AM Central

Prepare by reading Chapters 10-15 of the Gospel of John. I'm particularly interested in how John uses the term "truth" (ἀλήθεια or aletheia). See if you can discern what I might have in mind. While reading, please prepare some written observations or, at the very least, some questions for discussion. I'll begin with some remarks on what I find most interesting, but these meetings are primarily for you to develop your own ideas around the material. Members can RSVP here (free). Guests can RSVP here for a small fee.

Writing Co-Working Sessions (Open to All Members)

Build your writing habit with friends. Each session consists of two 45-minute writing sprints with a few minutes of casual chat in between. Hosted by Joel Carini.

  • August 5th - 8:00 AM CDT

  • August 6th - 8:00 AM CDT

  • August 7th - 8:00 AM CDT

  • August 8th - 8:00 AM CDT

  • August 9th - 8:00 AM CDT

Mars Review of Books White Party, August 31

The Mars Review is one of my favorite publishing projects running right now. I think Noah is doing a great job and I really want to see them subsume the entrails of The New York Review of Books and the Paris Review, etc. (they all had their moments but their hour has come).

I can't make this one, sadly, but I want to help get the word out. If you read this newsletter, you will be warmly welcomed and I'm certain you'll find the MRB milieu highly congenial. Whatever you might have heard about the NYC literary scene right now, Noah and the MRB are the crème de la crème of everything notable and interesting up there right now. It's not super cheap but if you're into independent Arts and Letters (and especially if you've been successful in your career), go check it out for yourself (as a guest, or patron if you can).

It will be hosted at a beautiful mansion in Connecticut, where Ernest Hemingway wrote one of his early works (exact location revealed upon ticket purchase): Catered food, free cocktails, beautiful lawn, pool, etc. Some of the biggest names in literature, art, and fashion. Free transportation from NYC. Dress code: All white.

Buy tickets here. Discount code 'JMURPH723' for 20% off. If you go, tell Noah I say hi.

How Empires are Built, August 22-25

Longstanding member of the community Alex Petkas (Cost of Glory) is organizing a weekend retreat in Quito, Ecuador, August 22-25. It’s called "How Empires are Built" and I’m going. I’ve never been to South America and I’m not getting any younger, so I said why not? The event’s not cheap but it looks epic, there’s a professional team helping to run things, etc. Other guests you may recognize include Samo Burja (Bismarck Brief), Lomez (Passage Press), and quite a few others I believe. The event is open to writers, founders, investors, artists, business people, and history enthusiasts interested in empires and network-building. Learn more and see photos on Alex’s Substack and apply to join here.

When Boswell Met Johnson

I recently wrote about how I met my wife in a bookstore.

Turns out that was only the second most fateful bookstore meeting in history...

James Boswell first met Dr. Samuel Johnson on May 16, 1763, in the bookshop of Thomas Davies in London.

Boswell, a young lawyer from Scotland, had been eager to meet Johnson, whom he greatly admired.

The encounter occurred serendipitously while Boswell was having tea with Davies.

As Johnson entered the shop, Davies theatrically announced his arrival to Boswell, likening it to a scene from Hamlet where Horatio sees the ghost of Hamlet's father.

Boswell, aware of Johnson's well-known disdain for Scots, nervously asked Davies not to reveal his nationality. However, Davies mischievously did so, prompting Boswell to blurt out, "Mr. Johnson, I do indeed come from Scotland, but I cannot help it." Johnson's sharp retort was, "That, Sir, I find, is what a very great many of your countrymen cannot help."

Dr. Johnson and Boswell in Fleet Street (1884) by Charles Green. The print shows them passing Ludgate, one of the oldest gates in London.

Despite this rocky start, Boswell's persistence paid off, and he soon visited Johnson at his lodgings, leading to a friendship that would last for the rest of Johnson's life.

This first meeting marked the beginning of a significant literary partnership, which would eventually be immortalized in one of the strangest and most remarkable works in the English language: Boswell's The Life of Samuel Johnson.

The lesson is obvious.

You need to be loafing around in bookstores more often, looking for a big fat genius man to follow around for the rest of your life (or a hot girl, also to follow around the for the rest of your life).