Masters in the Realm of Spirits

In the autumn of 2003 Christian Winther returns to Tromsø after several years in Bergen, and he has a plan. After his master’s degree he will, as the first Norwegian, write about Friedrich Nietzsche in his doctorate thesis in philosophy.

The same autumn the so-called “Quality Reform” is introduced at Norwegian universities, and Nietzsche’s fundamental critique no longer has a place in the sun. Christian believes that politics should be based on philosophy, not the other way around. He tries to mobilise the students, who in his imagination are Masters in the Realm of Spirits, to a battle against the growing bureaucracy threatening academic freedom. But as a self-proclaimed Nietzschean, Christian has many a battle to fight, also outside of the university. He realises that his nihilism and self-content is threatening his relationship with everyone around him, not least with his younger brother.

Conflicts escalate, everything builds up to disaster, and Christian is forced to ask himself: Is it possible to become a Overman and still hold on to your humanity?

For German text, click here

First published: 2006, Aschehoug Fiction

Stian M. Landgaard: Bibliography and biography