Rating: 
Summary: A big disappointment
Review: In preparing for a trip to Greece, I decided to read some novels
of Greek origin. I think perhaps this book is too dated to
get the feel of present day Greece, at least for those areas where I will be going, but that was not the big problem. The book is about a self-absorbed lecherous hedonist (am I being redundant here?) that for the most part is utterly boring. One of Zorba's oft repeated ideas is that, while he didn't believe in God, if such an entity did exist the only reason why he would condemn a man to hell was if the man did not bed all the women
who wanted bedding. And of course, there was the assumption (repeated ad nauseum) that woman's primary source of joy and
solace is to be bedded. I don't know about God, but this woman would be more likely to condemn a man to hell if he didn't help out around the house. Self-proclaimed "God's gifts to women" are nearly as boring in literature as they are in real life. The advantage of
the literary type is that you can get rid of them in a moment's notice by just closing the book.The reason for the 2nd star is for the fact that the author does
have some literary talent.
Rating:
Summary: A big disappointment
Review: In preparing for a trip to Greece, I decided to read some novels
of Greek origin. I think perhaps this book is too dated to
get the feel of present day Greece, at least for those areas where I will be going, but that was not the big problem. The book is about a self-absorbed lecherous hedonist (am I being redundant here?) that for the most part is utterly boring. One of Zorba's oft repeated ideas is that, while he didn't believe in God, if such an entity did exist the only reason why he would condemn a man to hell was if the man did not bed all the women
who wanted bedding. And of course, there was the assumption (repeated ad nauseum) that woman's primary source of joy and
solace is to be bedded. I don't know about God, but this woman would be more likely to condemn a man to hell if he didn't help out around the house. Self-proclaimed "God's gifts to women" are nearly as boring in literature as they are in real life. The advantage of
the literary type is that you can get rid of them in a moment's notice by just closing the book. The reason for the 2nd star is for the fact that the author does
have some literary talent.
Rating: 
Summary: Is Zorba admirable?
Review: In some books the question of whether we should admire the characters is irrelevant. The author can stand back and say "these are fictional characters and whether they are good people or bad people is of no concern." This book, however, is very much a novel of ideas. The conflict is between the earthy hedonism of Zorba and the metaphysical philosophizing of the narrator. Zorba converts him to his way of thinking. We are invited to admire Zorba. Yet Zorba's actions have included killing and torturing men who have a different religion ("Turks" although Cretan Moslems were indigenous Greek speakers). He now says he is ashamed but does that make him admirable? He has apparently deserted his family (although towards the end of the book he is described as a widower and remarries).
Rating:
Summary: Excellent book to appreciate life fully
Review: Life must be lived with some folly, but reason will always prevent us from being completely free. The important things in life are simple: wine, food, dance, women and we should stay simple. This book is a wake up call for people that are too much into a life that is just work work work: there is more out there and we need to start enjoying it.
Rating:
Summary: perhaps the least read, truly great book of our time
Review: perhaps one of the least read and most underrated novels which remains as one of the all time greats in our era. The novel follows the life of Zorba the greek after he meets the author, recalling his life. The writing is superb, the imagery wonderful, and the entire story enchanting and so full of life and spirit, like the main character, that one cannot help reading it over and over again.
Rating:
Summary: Modern spirituality at its finest.
Review: Perhaps the finest spiritual book in print, Kazantzakis' _Zorba_the_Greek_ simultaneously praises the spirit and the body, affirming human existence like no other tale around.
Alexis Zorba is a hero the likes of which haven't been seen since Odysseus or Sinbad the Sailor. He combines gruff physicality with love of life without falling into the selfish hedonism one might expect. Zorba is indulgent, but never in such a way that his character is destroyed.
Zorba incarnates the soul, both for himself and for the reader. The "Zorbatic" theology provides for the world a God and a belief in that God that refuses to deny life, never turning against what it is to live.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best books ever written
Review: Read it for its spirituality, read it for its thought-provocation, but most of all, read it for its joy. "Zorba the Greek" is an inherently and unendingly positive book that will make any reader want to reap all the rewards of one's life. Mandatory for beatniks and hipsters, intellectuals and philosophers, drop-outs and junkies, professionals and brokers alike.
Rating: 
Summary: Translation Trouble
Review: Really, this is a wonderful novel. The only reason why I give it three stars is that the translation is awful. Clearly the translator either cannot appreciate the wonderful langauge of the author, or he has no appreciation for the possbilities of English prose, or both. A new translation is sorely needed for this title.
Rating:
Summary: The "Biggest" book ever
Review: The author has captured all of us into his character.Not what we are, but what we might and should be. I was 17 when i read it first, and i can say it created me as a character - the person i'm today. I love Zorbas for what he taught me then, and still today, most of my actions in life are seen through his eyes.I never go ahead without asking myself: "what will Zorbas do now?". Everybody must read this book.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Story for All Seasons
Review: The classic movie starring Anthony Quinn was based upon this book.
As the story goes, Alexis Zorba is an old Greek workman who accompanies the narrator, a bookish philosopher, to Crete to exploit a mine he owns there. Zorba is a figure created on a huge scale: his years have not dimmed the flame by which he lives, the gusto with which he responds to all that life offers him, whether he is organizing the work at the mine, coping with mad monks in a mountain monastery, embellishing the endless tale of his past adventures, or making love to Dame Hortense. Nikos Kazantzakis is one of the most distinguished and individual of modern Greek writers, and in Zorba the Greek he has written a book that lives by a vitality and rhythm that seems to owe little or nothing to the comtemporary traditions of the Western novel. It is bursting with wit, fantasy, and enjoyment of life, and at the same time has a continual undertone of serious philosophical reflection. Zorba the Greek is Rabelaisian, a Don Quixote in which the role of the knight and Sancho Panza are reversed, plus a distinct Arabian Nights touch. About the Author
Nikos Kazantzakis was born in Crete in 1885. He studied at the University of Athens where he received his Doctor of Laws degree, later in Paris under the philosopher Henri Bergson, and completed his studies in literature and art during four other years spent in Germany and Italy. Also author of The Last Temptation of Christ and Saint Francis, not to mention one of the best spiritual autobiographies I have ever read, Report to Greco.
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