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A review by sidharthvardhan
Zorba the Greek by Nikos Kazantzakis
3.0
Nikolas Kazantzakis lost Nobel Prize to Albert Camus in 1957 by one vote. The later was of opinion that NK deserved it ‘a hundred times more than himself’. In all he was nominated for prize for nine years. Zorba the Greek is his magnum opus.
The narrator is an intellectual who happens to meet ‘Alexis Zorba’, a miner, is fascinated by his ideas and they end up becoming friends. Most of the book is composed of dialogues between two. From the little I have read about NK, the narrator is much like him. Both had actually spent time in monasteries and were always troubled with great religious curiosities. Moreover, Zorba’s character is based on a real person author met.
Zorba the sensualist
Zorba is a sensualist – no, correction, he is supposed to be that person whose image is to be found under the word ‘sensualist’ in dictionaries as visual representation of the meaning of the word. He often sees things and reacts as if he is seeing them for first time He loves playing santuri, dancing whenever and wherever he wishes to and is a womanizer. The fact that he can derive similar pleasure from hard work is what keeps him from becoming useless.
He fails to understand anything which doesn’t add to his pleasure. Besides religion, he is critical on nationalism (not because he is a coward, he was a soldier once); marriage or any such commitments (he was thrice – once merely not to break heart of a women) and books (he often frown at narrator for wasting time on them)
Zorba and church
The central debate is between religious abstinence and Zorba’s philosophy of actively pursuing sensual pleasures. His idea is that only way to deal with lust for taste of a particular food is to keep stuffing yourself with it until you realize you will never eat it anymore. Sounds like something Oscar Wilde would say, doesn’t it?
However Zorba managed to be taken seriously - the author kept running into troubles with church. The monks and priests (of Christianity and Budhism) are shown as hypocrites; calling all their needs for sensual pleasure ‘demons’. Narrator is shown struggling with his voice of Budha – which is always asking him to inhibit pursuit of sensual pleasures. The effect was hilarious.
Zorba argues only way to fight demons is to feed them and so they can be satisfied and go away. Also, and more importantly, he says he can’t tell which is God and which is devil. He is not even sure if they are same. This is not to say he is a atheist or there-abouts, no, he thinks of God like being kind father. When you go to him after death and he asks ‘what did you do?’ if you replied with all the commandments you break, he would laugh wholeheartedly and tell you to enter paradise. Also, he is fascinated by idea of roman God Zeus who was constantly having sex with women.
Misogyny
There is a lot in it that can be taken as misogyny. Word ‘wretch’ is more commonly used than 'women'. One woman was figuratively stoned to death for being witch. And Zorba thinks that women are weak creatures whom it is your duty to console by having sex with them. In one scene, he grabs breast of a woman he has just seen for first time and …
Age doesn’t bother him - too old or too young both would do; and widows are sure deal.
So, there is a lot to ignore. The rough language might be in keeping with reality of villagers NK is writing about. Zorba, despite using abusive language, is highly appreciative of women in his own weird way. Women might be asking for sex but so are men. Similarly abusive language is used indiscriminately for all including gods. Still, there is no defending against how quickly Zorba and more importantly narrator come to peace with the stoning and death of Zorba’s wife.
The annoying narrator
Yet, my biggest problem was the narrator. He has to be too big a navel-gazer to need Zorba for realizing some of most of obvious truths in life. He can get excited by literally anything that villagers or Zorba do or say; and consider the thing a marvel of the world. Everything he eats is most delicious in the world, every sight he sees is nature’s best work and so on. Some of his descriptions of environment are beautiful but after some time, it gets annoying. His constant ramblings about how awed he felt made me like hitting him with something. I mean actually said the following words without intending any humour:
(I’m pretty sure no one else felt such desire.)
The beauty and sorrows
The kind of atmosphere he builds (I don’t know how to put it more precisely) is unique in all fiction I read – and is reason behind the third star. There are some big questions discussed – although you have to overlook all the misogyny and the tickling desire to punch the narrator to get to them. For example, towards the end the narrator is critical of Zorba for talking about beauty with all this pain in this world. Yet, he too feels same need. Even if people are dying in some part of the world – the mere sight of a thing of beauty – a flower, a kitten, a kid; is enough to fill us with joy. Should we feel guilty about this tranquility beauty brings given our awareness of the sorrow other people are feeling?
The narrator is an intellectual who happens to meet ‘Alexis Zorba’, a miner, is fascinated by his ideas and they end up becoming friends. Most of the book is composed of dialogues between two. From the little I have read about NK, the narrator is much like him. Both had actually spent time in monasteries and were always troubled with great religious curiosities. Moreover, Zorba’s character is based on a real person author met.
Zorba the sensualist
Zorba is a sensualist – no, correction, he is supposed to be that person whose image is to be found under the word ‘sensualist’ in dictionaries as visual representation of the meaning of the word. He often sees things and reacts as if he is seeing them for first time He loves playing santuri, dancing whenever and wherever he wishes to and is a womanizer. The fact that he can derive similar pleasure from hard work is what keeps him from becoming useless.
He fails to understand anything which doesn’t add to his pleasure. Besides religion, he is critical on nationalism (not because he is a coward, he was a soldier once); marriage or any such commitments (he was thrice – once merely not to break heart of a women) and books (he often frown at narrator for wasting time on them)
“I've got a thick skull, boss, I don't grasp these things easily. ... Ah, if only you could dance all that you've just said, then I'd understand.”
Zorba and church
The central debate is between religious abstinence and Zorba’s philosophy of actively pursuing sensual pleasures. His idea is that only way to deal with lust for taste of a particular food is to keep stuffing yourself with it until you realize you will never eat it anymore. Sounds like something Oscar Wilde would say, doesn’t it?
However Zorba managed to be taken seriously - the author kept running into troubles with church. The monks and priests (of Christianity and Budhism) are shown as hypocrites; calling all their needs for sensual pleasure ‘demons’. Narrator is shown struggling with his voice of Budha – which is always asking him to inhibit pursuit of sensual pleasures. The effect was hilarious.
Zorba argues only way to fight demons is to feed them and so they can be satisfied and go away. Also, and more importantly, he says he can’t tell which is God and which is devil. He is not even sure if they are same. This is not to say he is a atheist or there-abouts, no, he thinks of God like being kind father. When you go to him after death and he asks ‘what did you do?’ if you replied with all the commandments you break, he would laugh wholeheartedly and tell you to enter paradise. Also, he is fascinated by idea of roman God Zeus who was constantly having sex with women.
Misogyny
There is a lot in it that can be taken as misogyny. Word ‘wretch’ is more commonly used than 'women'. One woman was figuratively stoned to death for being witch. And Zorba thinks that women are weak creatures whom it is your duty to console by having sex with them. In one scene, he grabs breast of a woman he has just seen for first time and …
Age doesn’t bother him - too old or too young both would do; and widows are sure deal.
So, there is a lot to ignore. The rough language might be in keeping with reality of villagers NK is writing about. Zorba, despite using abusive language, is highly appreciative of women in his own weird way. Women might be asking for sex but so are men. Similarly abusive language is used indiscriminately for all including gods. Still, there is no defending against how quickly Zorba and more importantly narrator come to peace with the stoning and death of Zorba’s wife.
“I think only people who want to be free are human beings. Women don't want to be free. Well, is woman a human being?”
The annoying narrator
Yet, my biggest problem was the narrator. He has to be too big a navel-gazer to need Zorba for realizing some of most of obvious truths in life. He can get excited by literally anything that villagers or Zorba do or say; and consider the thing a marvel of the world. Everything he eats is most delicious in the world, every sight he sees is nature’s best work and so on. Some of his descriptions of environment are beautiful but after some time, it gets annoying. His constant ramblings about how awed he felt made me like hitting him with something. I mean actually said the following words without intending any humour:
“We were walking along briskly, in silence. Intoxicated by the moonlight as well as by the wine, we hardly felt our feet touch the ground. Behind us, in the sleeping village, the dogs had got up on the roofs and were howling at the moon. And we, for no reason at all, also felt a desire to stretch our necks towards the moon and begin to howl...
(I’m pretty sure no one else felt such desire.)
The beauty and sorrows
The kind of atmosphere he builds (I don’t know how to put it more precisely) is unique in all fiction I read – and is reason behind the third star. There are some big questions discussed – although you have to overlook all the misogyny and the tickling desire to punch the narrator to get to them. For example, towards the end the narrator is critical of Zorba for talking about beauty with all this pain in this world. Yet, he too feels same need. Even if people are dying in some part of the world – the mere sight of a thing of beauty – a flower, a kitten, a kid; is enough to fill us with joy. Should we feel guilty about this tranquility beauty brings given our awareness of the sorrow other people are feeling?