God is dead...and we have killed him - Friedrich Nietzsche, 1883
These are the memoirs of Paul Eisler, one of Nietzsche's earliest students and closest friend at the University of Basel. They chart the origins of Nietzsche's early philosophy of pessimism and its development into nihilism, and the way in which Eisler and Nietzsche influenced one another.
In truth the memoirs are less about philosophy and more about a thirst for one's ideals. Eisler must kill God to remain friends with Nietzsche, but Eisler does not have the courage to do it. He must have something to believe in, and that belief rests with Ninette de Volais, one of the first women to attend Basel University. Eisler tries to use her to replace his idea of a perfect God and yet, in the final moments, he cannot kill God as Nietzsche wanted.
There begins the jealous hatred between Eisler and Koseltiz, the latter who encourages Nietzsche to go and develop a philosophy of nihilism while Eisler begs him to stay with pessimism. The friendships all become strained and Nietzsche eventually turns insane sparking the writing of the memoirs.