Zorba the Greek

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Summary: A More Critical Perspective
Review: I find myself in the minority opinion with regards to this classic of world literature, I found it neither a compelling portrait of a friendship nor an instructive primer on getting the most from life, and certainly not as one reviewer put it "a secular Bible for living." Being 1/4 Greek, I figured I owed it to myself to read one of Kazantzakis' works, but this almost plotless work, which aims to contrast two philosophies of living through Boss and Zorba failed to touch me in the way so many other readers seem affected. Women in particular may find this book offensive. The three women I know who've tried to read the book have all abandoned it halfway through because they found Zorba so distasteful a character.

The narrating "Boss" is a bookish Englishman who impulsively hires the older Zorba to be his chef, traveling companion, and foreman in a offhanded coal mining venture on Crete. The Macedonian Zorba bursts with life, and is a total hedonist, denying himself no pleasures when they are available, and scorning the existence of a God who would punish him for enjoying life. On the other hand the Boss prefers to experience life through observing the experiences of others such as Zorba. There is something of the voyeur about him, and his past friendships bear hints of homosexuality within them, The mining venture is clearly meant to represent the Boss' desire to tangibly connect with the physical world (as opposed to the world of books, where he feels comfortable), but notably, it is Zorba who really engaged with the mining operation-mirroring his connection to the physical senses and possibilities of life.

For a book which at times seems to be a Socratic dialogue on whether to live a free-spirited life or an introspective one, the debate is too one-sided to be truly provoking. Yes, the elderly Zorba does have a lust for life anyone would wish for (one can almost imagine the "Carpe Diem" tattooed across his broad chest), but his actions leave something to be desired. He admits to having killed and tortured Muslim men in the past (something he is ashamed of), and of abandoning his family. In the course of the book he incites an angry young man to try and burn down a monastery so that none of the monks could escape. He uses the Boss' money to finance a brief spree with a young woman, even though it would bring ruin to the mining operation. Most notable of course is his misogyny. For Zorba, women exist for momentary carnal appreciation and pleasure, and outside of that, solely as subjects for scorn ("women are stupid" and "women are greedy" are two sentiments that are often repeated). His attitude toward women may be rooted in time and culture, but that does not make it any more palatable. Indeed, before one gets all giddy about Zorba as model for living, one should consider that much of his pleasure comes at the cost of using other people. The Boss may not lead the most exciting life, but neither does he leave a swath of destruction and broken hearts behind him either.

Rating:
Summary: A book overflowing with important life wisdom
Review: I had the great fortune of bringing this with me to Crete (not noing it takes place/was filmed there) and it was a very good setting for enjoying it.

This books overflows with good reasons for living and it helps you understand that you should not postphone really living to later. It's full of wisdom (and not the cheape dime of dussin type either)! If everyone had the life philosophy of Zorbas the world would be a better place. If everyone in the world read this book it would improve this world. It is also a very fine piece of litterature and is therefor on my top 25 list!

Kazanzakis is a very good ambassador for the greek people, but he doesn't paint them all white. He paints them as they are a fantastic people, but three dimensional like all humans are.

I also loved the movie, Anthony Quin was a very good Zorbas.

For those who are depressed it will lift your spirits. For the rest of you it will make you smile and rethink your values and your own life!

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Summary: !cool book!
Review: I have just finished an independent study project on one of the significant themes of this book: the concepts of reason and passion. It was a most torturous research process. But i really enjoyed the book. It was very interesting, although at times the flowery language left me clueless and confused. I really love the book, because maybe it spoke to the depths of my heart. Personally, i feel that i am very much like ZOrba, or at least, i try to be like him: to live life to the fullest. Basically, my point of view is that reason and passion are inseparable. There is an element of each in everybody. And both reason and passion should be balanced out. Too much of either easily marks the route one takes in life: boring <-> too much a handful. Well, i encourage anybody who likes challenges and enjoys a thinking book to go right ahead and purchase this book. To some, it may be boring. But do not reject this offer before first previewing it. Cheers~!

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Summary: Zorba tells us what the life is !
Review: I have just finshed reading Zorba the Greek yesterday. I was just like the boss who always just thinking and asking what the life is. So I could do nothing. But Zorba told me " Do anything ! And then you may find out the answer" I really recommand that you should meet Zorba..

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Summary: The deepest valleys and highest peaks of man's soul...
Review: I pick up this book every now and then and reread some of my favorite parts...it's like being with old friends. It is so immersive that by the end, Zorba and his boss feel like they are your best friends, and then suddenly and cruelly, they are ripped away from you. I never reread the last chapter...it's too agonizingly painful.

Zorba and his boss tell some earthshattering tales throughout the book. My favorites include:

1) The state Jesus found Zeus in when he usurped the throne of God.

2) Zorba's grandfather's tale of how God created woman(Eve) after the Devil snatched Adam's rib from his hand.

3) Zorba's explanation of why he loves to hear Madame Hortense's parrot scream the name "Canavarro!"

4) Zorba's tale of his assassination of a Bulgar priest who killed Greeks at night and came back at dawn to conduct morning mass.

5) The monk's tale of the chapel named, "Our Lady of Revenge"

6) The boss's story of how he tried to help a butterfly emerge from it's cocoon

These are just a few gems...there are countless more in this sacred work of literature. Make no mistake...this is a book for free men(that love and lust after women)...for men who haven't been embalmed by this or that belief. If you are a staunch feminist,christian,jew,hindu,buddhist, taoist, shintoist, muslim,atheist,nihilist,capitalist, socialist, communist,or nationalist you will be offended. But if you are a free man who loves(and hates) women, this book will be sacred to you.

Rating:
Summary: A True Exploration Of Life
Review: I read the Arabic translation of this book, and I love it. I don't want to recite the novel here but rather would like to share what I grasped from it. It's a true exploration of life in multiple perspectives, through Zorba, the narrator, and the other characters. Regardless of the fact whether they are right or wrong but rather how they perceive, experienced, and live life, and the peace they feel with themselves due to their understanding in the domain of their thinking. For example the monk who shared his views of life and was waiting to know how the narrator feels about them. I believe that Kazantzaki wants the reader to draw his own conclusions about the meaning of life not through the actions and believes of Zorba alone but rather through a spectrum of beliefs. I felt that clearly in chapter 20 when Zorba himself explained that he have more to learn of life. Whenever he get lost clearing things up in his mind he mumbles, then he erases and start seeing things again for the first time. Zorba like any regular person lives in contradictions, and the writer clearly doesn't want to portray him as a perfect human. The reader of this book should try to go beyond the little things and get to the wisdom. A truly great book that explores the answers to the big questions of "What life really is?" "How you want to live it?"
The writing of Kazantzaki is spectacular, breathtaking, and truly marvelous. This a true master piece that philosophically teaches us to live life to the fullest by thinking simply, observing timelessly and dancing to the tones of nature endlessly.

Rating:
Summary: Where is the heart Mr. Zorba!!
Review: I read this book with great expectation. I first came across Zorba from Osho. I must say the book does not disappoint. The message of the book is quite clear "be a bit crazy, don't take life too seriously", And I agree with that completely. Drink, eat and be merry. But the problem with this approach start getting clear as you read, and it is here I think the book or the thought behind the book lacks.
How long one can avoid I the question of his own existence, his identity. In this regards I like Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse which I think is an extension of Zorba.
Be like Zorba, but be aware the life demands more than.
Just add enlightenment to Zorba and you will get what Osho once called "Zorba the Buddha". That could be the best possible synthesis of a human being. Remember Mr. Zorba we need to have a heart towards other as well. Highly recommended!!

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Summary: I publicly admit....
Review: I will make myself a fool in front of the public and admit that I , a grown up man, cried at the end of the book.

That is the strength of Kazantakis, his humanism, his pure and honest writting and his wisdom. He is one of the most important writters-philosophers-humanists-intellectuals of history and he was denied the Nobel Prize only because of his political beliefs.

This book will make you wiser and it will teach you lessons that you will carry along your entire life. This is Kazantzakis.

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Summary: Exuberance versus Withdrawal
Review: I would like to touch on a different aspect of this prolific book. Sadly we have been bombarded by the film carrying the same name but which fails to carry the struggle to the viewer. Readers focus on this rebelious, should we baptise it as 'Dionysiac' approach, this mysterious dream we call life, however one should proceed a little bit further. What is not mentioned or hinted in the film is the philosophical approach of the Boss (i.e. Kazantzakis), this the point of the enormous struggle of the spirit against the sensual, to honour the great Cavafy, tendencies of the body. "You think too much" Zorba tells him so often, but who can remove the Bhuddhistic poems from the Boss and expect him to carry on breathing? How can one alter the path of self emancipation when the path is already set, how, is an interesting though long question... "It was too late, too late to change my life..." Kazantzakis reflects, but this is where the truth is somewhat relatively shadowed, who would believe that such a brilliance par excellance was struck by the apparition of a Zorba at such late a time, no, no his path was set, this one may see when he refers to the Great Martyr (Nietzsche) in his Report to Greco; how different their opinions but what respect and emotion for the philosopher, why? For they both represent the same flame in some different manifestation. His love, attraction and withdrawal from Zorba (think of his relationship to the Eagle, Sikelianos) is the bond to the opposite edge, the respect and disguised love for the true enemy.

Dedicate time and thoughts to it, as always the Teacher will take you afar...

Rating:
Summary: Tragedy and beauty: our short time on earth
Review: In approximately 1914, before World War I, the narrator, a young cerebral writer who wants to become rooted in the earth and physical labor, rents a lignite mine on the beautiful island of Crete. As he is about to depart, he meets a much older, experienced, and very earthy Alexis Zorba, whom he hires to be his foreman and cook. What he learns, and we through him, may change your life. First, a warning: to appreciate this amazing book, one must be able to look past the misogyny and sexism of life on Crete in 1914, and focus on the love and relationship of two men. Zorba plays the santuri, has had a family and many lovers, has fought in the Balkan Wars, has lived and loved-his knowledge is rooted in love, suffering, sweat, and blood. He is a simple but deep man who lives life without shame, bares himself, has no guile or guise, and lives every moment fully--not only his joy, but his tears, his compassion, his anger, his hunger, his thoughts and his questions. His character is perceptively portrayed by the first person narrator who is a contemplative who gradually comes to see the poverty of a life always filtered through philosophical, religious, or cultural judgments. He immediately appreciates Zorba's wonder at life, Zorba's music and dance, and the way Zorba sees the same old things every day as if new. Zorba is life itself, a fleeting moment with a discrete beginning and final end. The narrator especially learns that by holding on to his safety and security he has sacrificed much by failing to live to the fullest like Zorba. The book is absolutely beautifully written, makes you cry at the beauty and wonder of being alive, makes you ache for loved ones who are gone, and cry at our ultimate fate, death, in the face of which we must live with ever more Zorba-like zest.