Zorba the Greek

Rating:
Summary: The serious hedonism of Alexis Zorba
Review: 'Zorba the Greek' is a highly philosophical novel with very little plot. The narrative voice is that of an unnamed, bookish man of 35, and it is mainly engaged in contrasting his contemplative and introspective inner life with the worldview of his older friend Alexis Zorba. Zorba's motto could very well be the Latin dictum 'carpe diem' (seize the day) with a strong hedonistic component, but it goes beyond that because he is also concerned about ultimate causes and the nature of God and the presence of evil in the world. As a result of the contrasting views, the novel has a meditative and somewhat slow rhythym to it, but at the same time it is engaging and enjoyable.

Certainly since Kazantzakis wrote 'Zorba the Greek' many attitudes have changed, and some readers might find the novel out of date and even reactionary in some regards. This is especially true of how women are portrayed in the novel. However, there is also the element of cultural gaps that are not easily bridged. Greek culture has always had a strong patriarchal component, and most probably Kazantzakis was trying to provide as accurate a picture as possible of a simple man with a lust for life within the context of that culture. What in the end emerges is a very Greek novel that captures interesting cultural and societal nuances at the beginning of the Twentieth Century.

I don't know any Greek, but it seems to me that Carl Wildman's translation of the novel flows effortlessly and doesn't seem contrived. Wildman also provides footnotes in certain occasions, thus clarifying terms that might be obscure to Western readers.

Rating:
Summary: Few words on the grave of Nikos.
Review: A fighter, who desperately waving against the flow to the stiff fall, finally broke out the paddle and throw it away. and sung.

"Ah, let this song to be my life! I hope for nothing! I fear nothing! I am free!"

Nikos's tomb got last lines of the fable above. what a man he was... who ever you are, may zorba with you.

from a student in Korea, place of morning calm.

Rating:
Summary: Against moral accountability
Review: Although this is a review to the book it is also a response to the review of besario. Kazanzakis as I mentioned in my review to "Report to Greco" spend all his life trying to understand the role of humans on this earth and our struggle with spirituality. Zorbas comes in as a character that is the complete opposite to the character of Kazantzakis in "Report to Greco". He is the portrayal of a man that is morally accountable to no-one but himself. This is along the lines of existentialism (as in "Caligula" by Albert Camus). It is up to the reader to understand what Kazantzakis wants to convey in this book, but the reader must be familiar with the author and also to have the ability to think beyond the surface. Our behavior depends on whether we believe that at the end we will have to account for our actions or just disappear. This is a choice that centers on idividual humans as we are the sole judges. We can either follow Kazantzakis' character in "Report to Greco" or his character in "Zorba the Greek" or just a happy medium. Zorba the Greek is not a celebration of the Greek spirit and it is not how the majority of Greeks are. The books is not meant to be a travel guide to Greece but rather an outline of human behavior when it has no moral boundaries. This book is not light reading, as you have to be the judge of Zorbas' actions and it is for an audience that is capable of higher level thought.

Rating:
Summary: Against moral accountability
Review: Although this is a review to the book it is also a response to the review of besario. Kazanzakis as I mentioned in my review to "Report to Greco" spend all his life trying to understand the role of humans on this earth and our struggle with spirituality. Zorbas comes in as a character that is the complete opposite to the character of Kazantzakis in "Report to Greco". He is the portrayal of a man that is morally accountable to no-one but himself. This is along the lines of existentialism (as in "Caligula" by Albert Camus). It is up to the reader to understand what Kazantzakis wants to convey in this book, but the reader must be familiar with the author and also to have the ability to think beyond the surface. Our behavior depends on whether we believe that at the end we will have to account for our actions or just disappear. This is a choice that centers on idividual humans as we are the sole judges. We can either follow Kazantzakis' character in "Report to Greco" or his character in "Zorba the Greek" or just a happy medium. Zorba the Greek is not a celebration of the Greek spirit and it is not how the majority of Greeks are. The books is not meant to be a travel guide to Greece but rather an outline of human behavior when it has no moral boundaries. This book is not light reading, as you have to be the judge of Zorbas' actions and it is for an audience that is capable of higher level thought.

Rating:
Summary: Friendship as constellation
Review: Aman! Yia sou! Poli oraia!

Right. This book possesses the finest qualities of _Ulysses_ (the haphazardly beautiful friendship of Stephen/bloom), the wildly earnest metaphysical meandering of Kerouac (Japhy/Ray) and the Buddha drunk on pine-tar wine.

IMO (insert self-effacing smiling face and other phases of internet talk BS) this book accomplishes the greatest navigation of human friendships as of any book ever written. It's breathless in its interiority, wild in its judgements, ecstatic in its ODE TO JOY! Even Beethoven would smile. It's pure.

I make no apologies as is expected of Post-modern (pomo promo insert academic jargon here) as others do. Yes, there's a thoroughly male component: women, why do men cry for them? why do people believe in love? why is beauty something talk of? why do men prowl? why do people say they want kindness but choose sexual aggresion instead? why do women prowl? what is a broken heart?) Zorba is unabashedly the believer of physical experience with the body, no shame or capital P Poetry along the way. *which is why he gets the most sex in the book, as opposed to the studious and gentle anonymity of the narrator*.

The opinions of love are cruel, mysterious, and humbling. If you ever spent a lonely night reading a book rather than enraptured in a flurry of arms, you'll know what the narrator is on about. I can only acknowledge the deafining, if not discomforting, truth of Zorba's opinions of the flesh. Yes, it cheeses people off. (Probably because he's right most of the time.)

I hardly ever write reviews: they tend to be psuedo-philosophical blether. This book is cruel and enraptured. It's one of the finest stories of friendship ever written. if God exists, he/she wrote this book. Humanity, in its use of cluster bombs and tax-supported violence, owes its continued survival to men like Kazantzakis. Otherwise, the world's cheap condoms, mobile phones, and the men/women who thinks a four-button suit and swishy pleated skirts equates salvation.

Thank you, Nikos. You did the work others only lie about.

See you on Athos~!!

Rating:
Summary: See the film .... but ALSO: read the book !
Review: Definitely one of the few books that give you the feeling that life is just worth living. Once you realize what is 'ultimate catastrophe' or 'the one unforgivable sin', you will see life differently. If you have seen the film and listened to the music, go forward and read the book

Rating:
Summary: A cure and a guide for our dis-oriented soul
Review: For a world that is dominated by materialistic goods and where hearts of people have green colour it is the book that will make us think. How can it be that an illiterate person has reached the meaning of life more than an educated one? How a disaster, at the end, and a lost of money, can cause laughs to the English man because it actually meant the recovery of his soul? How can a dance under the sun or the stars cure peoples' souls and bring serenity in their minds? If you care for your soul if you want answers to the above questions, that may look absurd now, this is the right book to read.

Rating:
Summary: A timeless work of art
Review: From start to finish this book held my undivided attention and left me speechless. Kazantzakis has created one of the most beautiful, poetic works of fiction since The Brothers Karamazov. Every page is filled with vibrant verse and stunning detail. It is a true testament to the human spirit and it will have you looking at things in everyday life in a whole new light.

Rating:
Summary: Classic contemporary novel
Review: I came across this book in class thinking it would suck. The Zorba character, although vivacious & funny, was at the same time sexist and machoistic. However, part of the greatness of Nazantzakis' novel is how it threads two very different characters together & unites them in one of the most beautiful portraits of friendship in modern literature. With its slips of exquisite descriptions & its above par characterizations, 'Zorba' is one of the most compelling books I've ever read.

Rating:
Summary: The passion and pain of life in Zorba's tale.
Review: I celebrate the passionate character of Zorba and the full, rich life he leads. I also feel the great pain Kazantzakis is showing us through the tragic characters of Bouboulina and the widow. The second time I read Zorba the Greek, I was living in a Greek village maybe in many ways the same as those in Kazantzakis' story. In Zorba the Greek, Kazantzakis presents us with timeless issues that interfere in relationships between men and women.