Twilight of the Idols

Nietzsche had a brilliant mind, though his views were often controversial and, I believe, frequently misunderstood or misrepresented. His philosophy can be quite challenging, even for more advanced readers. Twilight of the Idols is a good starting point for understanding Nietzsche's broader body of work, as well as his perspective on the world.

It seems misguided to label Nietzsche as a fascist (a movement that didn't arise until 30 years after his death), anti-Semitic (unlike his sister, who edited his texts to align with her own beliefs), or even misogynistic (he had a close friendship with the writer Lou Andreas-Salomé). Nietzsche was indeed many things, but none of these. Yet, it is precisely on these issues that Nietzsche remains vilified and misunderstood by many to this day.

I mentioned earlier that Nietzsche possessed a brilliant mind—this also includes his use of irony and sarcasm, which isn't always immediately apparent in his writings. Once a reader becomes more familiar with Nietzsche, they may come to see him as quite the joker.