Napoleon, Nietzsche, Bacon: 3 novels to delve into the intimacy of illustrious figures of History

Nietzsche and his sister, toxic love

It is well known: behind every great man there is a woman. For the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, she was his sister. It is this unique relationship, made of admiration, well-understood interests and low blows that the novelist Guy Boley is interested in. In a classic, ample language, which draws on a poetic sap, he retraces the journey of the child of Naumberg, son of a pastor, fervent Christian losing his faith at the end of adolescence to the point of declaring that “God is dead “. There is the tormented mustache, the hospitalizations in psychiatry, the little success he encountered during his lifetime… But here, the reader travels above all through a gallery of colorful characters, from Wagner to Elisabeth, his beloved sister who ended up despoiling and betraying him to the point of making him appear anti-Semitic, the exact opposite of what he was. These complex relationships allow us to better measure the real strangeness of Nietzsche which makes him so endearing. The story is rhythmic and lively, despite some length at the end.

To my and only sister, Guy Boley, Grasset; 480 pages; €22.

Our opinion: PP