I finished reading "When Nietzsche Wept" during the holiday weekend. I thought about the book for a few days and this is what I posted to amazon.com:
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Midlife Crisis Has Not Changed Since 1882
I heard that 1st Miracle Group (MVEE), which soon may become Miracle Entertainment, bought the theatrical rights to When Nietzsche Wept. So, I decided to read the book.
As I opened the book I thought to myself... who is this Nietzsche person that I should care that he wept?
The first chapter did a very good job of answering that question.
As I read more of the book, I was impressed with the power that was packed into very succinct phrases to deliver Nietzsche's philosophical message. However, I was not impressed with Nietzsche's philosophy. About 90% of what was shared in the book were thoughts that I have had since I was a teenager. Another 5% came to me in the last two or three years. And the only philosophy that I read is in the Holy Bible.
So, I could not help but see Nietzsche as nothing more than an average person just like me who has thoughts that very few people are interested in talking about and some are even afraid to think about. And if I cry, who cares? So, why should I be moved by the tears of another "average person?" Nietzsche is not Jesus.
In fact, the title of the book takes much away from what I suspect was supposed to be a powerful ending. After about 280 pages, I started to ask myself... when is the man going to start crying? Damn it! Cry already!
When he finally did start crying I said to myself... is that it?
Please, don't misunderstand me. The book was as good or better than most that I have read. But I hope that the company (above) that makes this book into a movie... no... a film will choose a different title... a title that does not spoil the ending.
I also hope that the screenwriter eliminates much of the redundancy that Yalom created by writing about Nietzsche's and Josef's conversations. Between telling us what they talked about he also told us what they were thinking while talking. Then as if we still couldn't comprehend what was going on, he includes each of their journals right after each conversation. Not only was that redundant, it was insulting to this reader's intelligence. At the very least it was very irritating.
As I read the book I thought to myself... why do I like this book? Well, I enjoyed psychology as a student in college. I am fascinated by Sigmund Freud and psychoanalysis. I was also impressed by the way Nietzsche or Yalom made my secret thoughts seem so interesting. The story has interesting, well-developed characters. Except for the redundancy, mentioned above, the story is very well written.
However, I believe the company (above) that makes this book into a movie faces a great challenge in making this movie appeal to the masses. If on the other hand, the company's goal is to make a great film that few people watch instead of a movie that is attended by many, they will be successful. After all, they have a good story to work with and the writing is the foundation of any great film.
I believe this movie will get the kind of audience that goes to watch movies like Much Ado About Nothing, and Interview With The Vampire. The audience attended those movies more so for the big name stars and not so much for the story. It will take big name stars to attract a similarly sized audience to a film about midlife crisis hidden between conversations about philosophy and examples of psychoanalysis.
4 Stars (4 out of 5 stars) |
