Chronicle of Nietzsche 's Life 369decided to tackle the psychological problem of Kierkegaard during my
trip to Germany" (February 19).Turin from April 5 to June 5. "I like this city in a way that defies descrip-
tion" (April 10). Works on The Case of Wagner while continuing work on
The Will to Power. "After I have been devaluating values' day after day and
having had reason to be very serious, there is a certain disastrous
inevitability to cheerfulness" (May 17). Reads the Laws of Manu.
Last summer in Sils-Maria. "I am not speaking to anyone, although I
would like to, because I am less and less willing to let anyone see the
problems of my existence. It has really gotten quite empty around me"
(late July). Intense work on The Will to Power. On August 29, N. opts to
divide up his material for The Will to Power into Twilight of the Idols and The
Antichrist. September 9: Twilight of the Idols goes to the printer.
Final stay in Turin, from September 21 to January 9, 1889. The Case of
Wagner is published in late September. The Wagner community is furi-
ous. Vitriolic reviews. August Strindberg reads The Case of Wagner and
sends an enthusiastic letter to N. N. begins work on Ecce Homo (late
October). N. wants to introduce himself as an individual to his reader-
ship "before undertaking the unnervingly solitary act of revaluation
I have no desire to present myself to people as a prophet, a savage
beast, or a moral monstrosity" (October 30). Malwida von Meysenbug
criticizes The Case of Wagner: "I believe that you cannot treat an old
flame as badly as you have treated Wagner, even if the spark is gone." N.
breaks off his friendship with Malwida "because you are an 'idealist'...
every page of my writings reveals my contempt for idealism" (October
22). N. feels that people on the street, in cafés, in theaters, and every-
where else are treating him with great respect. "I would be absolutely
incapable of reporting anything bad about myself, my old friend
Overbeck. Things are progressing on and on in a tempofortissimo of work
and good spirits" (November 13).
Draft of a letter to N.'s sister, reporting his desire to break off all con-
tact with her: "You do not have the foggiest notion of what it means to