Introduction
.
At first glance it would be
easy to dismiss this book as
some kind of gimmick or the work
of a crank. Is it just cheap
attention grabbing? Is the author
some kind of madman? Scanning
the introduction in which there
are mentions of unbelievably
numerous sexual conquests and
bisexuality adds to the sense
of disquiet and unreality. Then
immediately below these 'disreputable'
claims he writes that 'God Himself
paid him several visits'. Well..
that got my attention.
The book itself is composed of letters to a variety of people connected to Overbeck. The first few are letters written to intellectually seduce his teenage boyfriend. These letters serve to set out the direction of the book and introduce the ideas that are developed throughout the rest of the text. At the core seems to be the idea of 'Deification' or said simply, becoming God. It is clear that Overbeck believes himself to have had the experience of the Vision of God and more than this he speaks about the 'Super-trinity'.
"Ah, I have stood with the Super-Trinity risen, every wound healed & laughing, in sweetest love, at Christ's table ...."
I must admit I couldn't really work out one question which is 'Does this guy actually think he's God Almighty?'. There are times when he talks about being some kind of theological trickster and others when it would seem that He has assumed the identity of God Almighty (or vice versa) and is writing as the supreme Deity. At times it is almost as if there are 'different voices' speaking through the text which is for me one of the really fascinating aspects of the book.
Overbeck's intellectual thought centres around philosophy and theology, although there are obvious signs of vast learning in other areas. Large parts of the book are dedicated to expressing and developing his ideas on these subjects. Although a background in these studies is helpful in getting the most you can from the book, there is much that is meant to be accessible to anyone with the determination to understand. I must confess that there were parts of the long letter dedicated to his wife Suze, in which he seeks to unravel the mathematical basis on which philosophy rests, that were beyond my grasp. However, even when the minutiae were not decipherable to me I could still follow the thrust of the argument. Obviously advanced mathematicians will have more to say and I look forward to seeing academic appraisals of some of the more advanced mathematics.
Likewise with idealist
philosophy.
There are sections of
the book that attack
the 'great' philosophers.
The particular focus
is on the Germans from
Kant to Nietzsche. The
book contains a powerful
attack on
these thinkers but it
is impossible to deconstruct
the thought of these
very influential men
without tackling the
difficult and subtle
ideas expressed in their
writings.
For my part I have never
read a more devastating
critique of idealist
philosophy and it is
worth the effort of taking
on new language and use
of terms to see a masterly
and brutal intellectual
attack on what the author
sees as the hollow deceit
of philosophers.
