Nikos Kazantzakis
Toda Raba
Published 1931
English Translation, 1964
Amy Mims, trans.
The focal point of this tale is the Soviet Union's celebration of the Tenth Anniversary of the October Revolution in 1928. Nikos Kazantzakis received an invitation from the Soviet government to attend a general meeting being held at that time. Although Kazantzakis never became a member of the Communist Party, he apparently saw them at that time as the best hope to improve the condition of the mass of humanity and to fight the ever increasing threat of fascism. Like many others during the 20s, he seemed, to me at least, to be more of an admirer of the Ideal Communism. He attended the meeting and traveled once again extensively throughout the Soviet Union in 1928. Toda Raba was written in 1929 and first published in 1931. According to what I have read, he later witnessed the rise of Stalin and became disillusioned by communism as practiced in Russia.
The narrative is split, for it follows the travels of six or seven people who were invited to attend that Tenth Anniversary meeting in Moscow. The travelers are varied: there is Rahel, a Polish-Jewish young woman who is a member of the Cheka (Soviet secret police): Azad, a ex-member of the Cheka and a murderer; Geranos, who, like Kazantzakis, is from Crete; Sou-ki, a Chinese living in California; Amita, a Japanese writer; Amanda, a monk from India; and Toda Raba, a black African.
The characters are forcefully drawn and come alive. This is one of Kazantzakis' strengths--his ability to make his characters come off the page, even minor characters who only appear briefly for a page or two, and are never seen again. For example:
Geranos turned around. . . He saw a man dressed very soberly and elegantly, who moved with short, fiery movements. His eyes were exalted and cold. Only his smile, broad and controlled and showing beautiful carnivorous teeth, betrayed the hungry sensuality in this disciplined man.
Some parts of the novel might be mistaken for a travelogue for Kazantzakis provides us with beautiful descriptions of the Russian countryside and the varied cities and towns and the many nationalities along with their native dress and customs as the travelers take different routes to reach Moscow.
But, above all, Kazantzakis gives us the varying political and ideological flavors of the travelers, from idealistic believers to those who see various problems arising within the system to those who see Communism as the wave of the future and wish to be part of it. Azad, at one point, says:
"But are you blind? Don't you see? There's something not right in our Russia! What it is I don't know . . . . There's a stream of mire . . . . of red mire . . . . Let's get together, we old fighters, we honest men, the ones with fire. Let's create a different stream, even if we have to make it out of blood. Let's climb the hill again. Let's purge the earth once more! Can't this little band sign the death warrant any more . . ."
Azad sees what he considers flaws in the system. He is not blinded by his faith in this way. However, he believes that the flaws are the result of those in power and that the solution is to remove them and put in better people. He doesn't realize that all human created systems are flawed, that there really is no such thing as the perfect system.
As you can see, Kazantzakis' travelers are anything but a monolithic bloc of true believers as they debate and argue about the state of communism in the Soviet Union. The flyleaf to the novel suggests that the characters all represent Kazantzakis' own deeply conflicting views of the Revolution. If so, it is easy to see why he never have joined the Communist Party.
I have read many of Kazantzakis' works over the years, but I had never heard of this work until last year, and I was curious about it. I had to find out why it had been so neglected and ignored by the scholars and critics I had read over the years and I wanted, naturally to read it. I haven't read much actually of the scholarship, to be honest, but I would have thought this one would have mentioned by at least one or two. Perhaps it is Kazantzakis' communist leanings that scholars wished to ignore, to pretend it never happened. But, to me anyway, the book shows Kazantzakis to be in no way a true believer, but a one who feels that communism, at least in 1929, is the best hope for humanity, even though very skeptical as to the direction it seemed to be taking. And history has shown that his skepticism was justified.
Showing posts with label KAZANTZAKIS Nikos. Show all posts
Showing posts with label KAZANTZAKIS Nikos. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 11, 2017
Tuesday, March 7, 2017
Favorite Fiction--2016
Some favorite works of fiction I read during 2016,
FIRST READS
Sarah
Orne Jewett:
The Country of Pointed Firs
--my first reading of her masterpiece. Why did I take so long to get to it?
--this is on my must reread list.
FIRST READS
The Country of Pointed Firs
--my first reading of her masterpiece. Why did I take so long to get to it?
--this is on my must reread list.
A Country Doctor
--this one is a bit weaker than the first, but still an excellent read. and better
than 90% of the other works I've read this year.
Joseph Conrad: Suspense
--an unfinished novel set in the Napoleonic era.
--a traveler gets involved with a plot of Napoleon's escape from Elba.
--the sequel to Dandelion Wine. The tone is different in this one. The boy resists growing up.
Graham Greene: The Human Factor
--a spy novel. The unmasking of a mole in the British secret service, told from the mole's point of view.
Nathaniel Hawthorne:: The Celestial Railroad and Other Stories
--a collection of some of Hawthorne's most well-known short works.
--decided to leave this in the First Reads grouping as there were several short stories that I hadn't read before.
Kazuo Ishiguro: The Remains of the Day
--this one is a bit weaker than the first, but still an excellent read. and better
than 90% of the other works I've read this year.
Joseph Conrad: Suspense
--an unfinished novel set in the Napoleonic era.
--a traveler gets involved with a plot of Napoleon's escape from Elba.
Ray
Bradbury: Farewell Summer
Graham Greene: The Human Factor
--a spy novel. The unmasking of a mole in the British secret service, told from the mole's point of view.
Nathaniel Hawthorne:: The Celestial Railroad and Other Stories
--a collection of some of Hawthorne's most well-known short works.
--decided to leave this in the First Reads grouping as there were several short stories that I hadn't read before.
Kazuo Ishiguro: The Remains of the Day
--his master is a Nazi sympathizer and the butler refuses to go against his master for he is the master.
REREADS:
Jane Austen:
Lady Susan/The Watsons/Sanditon
Northanger Abbey
Mansfield Park
Emma
Sense and Sensibility
Persuasion
Pride and Prejudice
--as always, great reading. This was my fifth? sixth? who knows how many readings I've had of her works over the years. They are just as good, if not better, the fifth? time around as the first.
A. Solzhenitsyn: One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
--the title says it all--one day in a Soviet Union era gulag in Siberia, based loosely on his time there. I like to pair this one with Dostoyevsky's The House of the Dead, his experiences in a Siberian prison camp during the reign of the Tsars. Forced to make a choice, I would choose life there under the Tsars. The treatment was cruel but much more humane than under the commissars.
Dostoyevsky: "The Gambler"
--Dostoyevsky's great novella depicting the downfall of an gambling addict.
--great character study of numerous Russians traveling abroad. sometimes just for travel and sometimes to avoid debt collectors back home. Comic figures trapped within a tragic story.
Evelyn Waugh: Brideshead Revisited
--Flashback: an English army officer finds his unit stationed on one of the grand
estates and recognizes it as the one that had a great influence on him, beginning with
his stay at Oxford.
--there's a great BBC TV adaptation of the book. After watching it, I went out and
got the book.
Herman Melville: “Benito Cereno”
--Melville's great novella regarding the slave trade and a very naive American ship captain.Herman Melville: “Benito Cereno”
Nikos Kazantzakis: Freedom or Death
--his powerful novel set in Greece during the time of the Greek war for independence.
--as usual his characters come off the page at you.
Oscar Wilde: The Uncensored Picture of Dorian Gray
--This is the first and censored version of Gray's novel. To be honest, I can not see anything that
would be more offensive than anything in the published version. A classic example of changing
tastes, I will includ this among the rereads for I have read this several times.
There were a number of enjoyable works that I read during the past year, but these are the ones that stand out. While there appears to be a large number of first reads, equal to the rereads, one should note that Bradbury, Greene, Hawthorne, and Conrad are all favorites of mine from way back when. These are works by them that I've never read before.
Only two of the authors in the First Reads Section are new to me: Kazuo Ishiguro and Sarah Orne Jewett and are now on my reread list. Coincidentally, I read two books by both. The other book by by Ishiguro will appear on my Favorite SF novels of 2016 list.
P.S.
Forgot to mention, but if you have questions about any of the authors or books, please ask. I may not know the answer, but it's worth trying anyway.
Wednesday, May 14, 2014
Some novels, stories, and poems that I revisit regularly, Pt. 2
These are stories and authors who popped up after I began the first post on works I regularly reread. And, as I think about what I'm going to write about them, the urge to jump up, hustle over to the bookcase, and dust them off for another reread is ever present. Oh well, it's that old "too few hours or years and too many books" problem as usual.
Herman Melville
Mardi
I have a theory that every writer has a wild book tucked down deep inside somewhere. Some manage to get it out, while others either repress it or aren't aware of it. If it does get out, then readers and critics are confused and generally don't like it, for it's not what they want or expect from the writer. I think Melville's wild book is Mardi. And, in my usual contrary way, I consider it a favorite. Mardi is satire, rather like Gulliver's Travels which was published in 1726 and revised in 1735, whereas Melville's work was published in 1849. Melville may have been influenced by Jonathan Swift, but I haven't read any scholarly commentary that suggests that.
In Mardi, Taji, the narrator, is in pursuit of his lost love, Yillah, a Polynesian woman whom he had rescued from native priests who were going to sacrifice her to their gods. She was once again kidnapped, and Taji, in a small boat, went off in search of her once again. He is accompanied on his mission byKing Media, who was bored with his duties and looked for adventure; Babbalanja, a philosopher; Mohi, an historian; and Yoomy, a poet. As you can imagine, with such a crew representing the political, the philosophical, the historical, and the poetic viewpoints, there are long and sometimes confusing discussions about the universe and everything else as they traverse the South Seas in search of Yillah. During their journey they visit various islands, each of which exhibits some facet of human cruelty or weakness or folly. One of the islands is obviously Europe and another is the US in the late 1840s.
Some contemporary critics have called it an allegory and others "a mess." Some have called it both an allegory and a mess. It's one of those books that the reader has to go along with Melville (or Taji) and enjoy the ride and not insist on a tightly woven consistent narrative with no loose ends at the end.
Read it for fun, and whatever else you can get out of it.
Herman Melville
The Confidence Man: This is a short allegorical novel set on a Mississippi riverboat, the Fidele, Fidelity or Faith in English, if I'm not mistaken. It consists of a series of encounters that passengers have with various confidence men (or perhaps really only one in disguise), all "representing" various charitable organizations. Perhaps what fascinates me the most is that I'm never quite sure what underlies the various encounters.
Herman Melville
Moby Dick is probably considered his greatest work, if not one of the greatest novels written in the US during the nineteenth century, if not also the twentieth century. It's too early to say anything definite about the twenty-first century, but so far I haven't seen anything to compare to it. It's a comedy, a tragedy, a revenge play, a travelogue, a history of whaling, and a scientific treatise on cetology. Enough said.
Greg Benford:
The Galactic Center Series
Six novels. The first is In the Ocean of Night which was published in 1977. It is set in the late 1990s on Earth and near-Earth space and features the adventures of Nigel Walmsley, a Brit who somehow got himself a position as an astronaut in the NASA Space Program. He wanted to go into space and England didn't have a space program. The sixth novel is Sailing Bright Eternity, published in 1996 and is set some 30,000+ years in the future in the vicinity of the black hole at the center of our galaxy.
In between are some of the most spectacular science fiction adventures I've ever read and that covers 60+ years of reading SF. In volume three, Great Sky River, published in 1987, we jump ahead some 30,000 years and meet Kileen Bishop and his group of friends and relatives on the run from the mech civilization, AIs and robots who are determined to wipe out all organic life. Bishop and the other humans are closer to being cybernetic hybrids than 100% human with their metal and plastic reinforced exoskeletons and electronically enhanced senses. Volumes Four, Five, and Six are mostly concerned with the activities of the Bishop clan and their struggle to avoid destruction by the mechs. However, there a few surprises in store for the reader.
Dashiell Hammett
The Maltese Falcon
It's one of the great mystery novels, at least to my way of thinking. Part of its attraction may be that when I read the novel, I always see the actors from the film playing their respective roles. I must also admit that I've seen the film more often than I've read the novel. Actually I saw the film first, actually long before I read the novel. It features a tough, cynical detective, a femme fatale, sleezy villains, and, of course, the Falcon! Great stuff.
Nikos Kazantzakis
Zorba the Greek
This is another example of having seen the film first and then reading the novel, primarily because of the film. A young bookish intellectual attempts to escape his cloistered life by reopening a lignite mine on Crete which he has inherited. He is aided and abetted and confused by Zorba, an adventurer, miner, soldier, and survivor. Zorba is the exact opposite of the intellectual--earthy, practical, exuberant, almost a life force in himself. The book is ironic in that it encourages the reader to put down the book and go out and do something in the real world. After reading Zorba, I got so entranced by Kazantzakis' works, that I went out and read everything of his that I could find. I think that by now I've read almost everything he's written that's been translated.
George R. Stewart
Earth Abides
This is another of my favorite SF post-holocaust novels. It's what I call a quiet novel in that it depicts the quiet day-by-day struggles of the survivors of a war that killed most of the humans on Earth. There are no mutant, slavering monsters, semi-human or otherwise. The threats are the typical ones of providing food and shelter, and dealing accidents and disease in a world without ERs and vaccines. And, of course, there are some who figure taking food, etc. is easier than working. It's also the story of how myths about the survivors or first families begin in a society that is largely illiterate and how those survivors might be viewed in the future. One other element is that of the making of a sacred symbol purely by accident.
Lawrence Durrell
The Alexandria Quartet
I was hooked from the first pages of Justine, the first novel in the series. It was on the reading list of a class I took, and I immediately went out and got the next three. I've read it at least 3 or 4 times now and had to search for the hardbound copies as the paperback ones were disintegrating.
Justine: LGD's accounting of events of past year spent in Alexandria just before outbreak of WWII--primarily of his relationship with several women, one of whom is the enigmatic Justine.
Balthazar: LGD sent his manuscript to Balthazar, one of his friends in Alexandria who also appears in the manuscript. Balthzar then returns the novel with his version of those same events as seen from his perspective. We now have two versions of what happened.
Mountolive: a third version of that same period by Mountolive (who is mentioned in the first two books) of the same events, giving a third and completely different version of LGD's relationship with Justine.
Clea: this is an accounting of the events that take place when LGD returns to Alexandria in the midst of WWII, about a year or so after the events told in the first three novels.
The series really asks us if we really ever know the full story of our own history.
Durrell's second series, The Avignon Quintet--he sometimes referred to it as The Quincunx and consists of the following five novels: Monsieur, Livia, Constance, Sebastian, and Quinx.
This is a strange series of novels in which Durrell creates an Author who creates a character who writes a novel in which the Author includes a number of his friends and acquaintances, but takes "poetic" license in his creation. This is the first novel in the series--Monsieur.
The remaining four novels are about the Author and his experiences in Egypt and France during WWII. What is bizarre is that "fictional" characters from the first novel appear in other later four novels and interact with the Author and his friends. In addition, several characters from "The Alexandria Quartet" also briefly appear. It's all rather confusing at times, and I had to create a diagram to keep the characters separate as many of the characters from the first novel are actually created from different friends and acquaintances of the Author.
One of these days I will go back and reread both series for a third? fourth? time.
Ursula Le Guin
The Left Hand of Darkness
This novel is one of my top ten SF novels. If anyone ever asks me to recommend an SF novel for someone who has never read SF, I always mention this one. It is well-written and has an engaging main character, action, and an idea to explore. The idea is simple. Humans do not have sexually active periods like so many of our fellow residents here on earth. Humans are sexually active all the time. Moreover, humans like most of our neighbors here have two genders, male and female. Le Guin in this novel asks the question: What if humans had specific periods in which they were sexually active and in between those periods, they were sexually neuter?
Winter or Gethen, as the inhabitants call it, is a planet in which someone has apparently modified humans. Humans on this planet become sexually active every three weeks and remain so for several days. At this point they develop sexual characteristics, typically at random, so that humans on this planet can become either male or female. If a Gethen is paired with someone It (they are genderless during this period--what pronoun would you use?) likes, then the first one to go into kemmer (their term for the sexually active period) becomes by chance either male or female. The other one then becomes the other sex. If the one who becomes a female at that point gets pregnant, then that person will remain female and nurse the child until it is weaned. At which point, that person then reverts to the sexually neutral state. So, in a family pair with two children, each of the two adults could have been the mother of one of the two children. As you can see, this upsets all of our ideas about what males and females are like. In fact, that's the issue Le Guin explores in this work: what are the real characteristics that belong exclusively to males and females. If you haven't read this one yet, I strongly recommend you do so.
Kim Stanley Robinson
Three Californias: Wild Shore, The Gold Coast, and Pacific Edge
When first published, they were known as the Orange County Trilogy, but the series title was changed when the trade paperback edition was issued. My own name for these three is The California Troika. A troika is a Russian horse-drawn vehicle in which the three horses are side-by-side, so there is no lead horse. The three novels in this series all take place in the Orange County area at approximately the same time, some years in the future. But, this is an alternate universe series like no other I have read. I have made several posts on these works, and clicking on the label Three Californias or The California Trioka will take you to them. If you decide to read them, it makes no difference with which one you start.
The Wild Shore is set some half century or so after the US was destroyed by a sneak nuclear attack. It is the story of a young male, late teens, and his experiences during one year in a small village that has grown up after the bombing. In that respect, it is somewhat similar to another of my favorite post-holocaust novels, Earth Abides by George Stewart.
The Gold Coast is set some years in the future and is an extrapolation of what life would be like if there were no dramatic changes. The main character, again, is a young male, whose father is an engineer in the military-industrial complex--he works for a company that strives to get contracts to build hardware for the US military. Like most of his friends, our hero is mildly opposed to what his father does for a living, and he is mostly concerned about the latest designer drugs, sex, and the contemporary music scene. The novel is the story of events in this person's life that change him.
If the others can be classified as SF, then Pacific Edge is clearly a fantasy. It is set some years in the future, again in Orange County, in a world that has gone green. Large corporations and nation states have been broken up all over the world. Small is beautiful. Recycling has become an important activity. Cars are a rarity and most people get around a bicycles. The main character is a young man, possibly in his early20s who has become the local expert in remodeling and fixing up abandoned houses. Local politics features strongly in the novel.
Fyodor Dostoyevsky
"Notes from the Underground"
This is almost impossible for me to describe. The first part is a philosophical rant against those who think that human behavior will eventually be completely predictable and explainable by the immutable laws of science. In addition the narrator contends that there are two types of people: the doers and the thinkers or the intellectuals. Everything that is accomplished is done only by the doers, because the thinkers are paralyzed when they attempt to handle all the ramifications of acting.
The second part shows our reclusive narrator in action and supports both of the arguments put forth in the first part. In one sense, the work is an essay and an example of many of Dostoyevsky's themes that he depicts in his novels.
There are others, of course, but I have resolutely refused to think about them for fear that what was supposed to be one post will expand to a trilogy, or even worse. Some may find it hard to believe that I actually do so much rereading, but I do and this explains why I really am decades behind in my knowledge of contemporary literature. But, that's a decision I made long ago. I'm sure you made your own and very likely it's not the one I made. Be that as it may, there's room for both of us, isn't there?
I just realized that the title of the posts includes poems, and I haven't mentioned any at all. Oh well, maybe some time in the not too distant future. . .
I hope you consider reading some of these.
Herman Melville
Mardi
I have a theory that every writer has a wild book tucked down deep inside somewhere. Some manage to get it out, while others either repress it or aren't aware of it. If it does get out, then readers and critics are confused and generally don't like it, for it's not what they want or expect from the writer. I think Melville's wild book is Mardi. And, in my usual contrary way, I consider it a favorite. Mardi is satire, rather like Gulliver's Travels which was published in 1726 and revised in 1735, whereas Melville's work was published in 1849. Melville may have been influenced by Jonathan Swift, but I haven't read any scholarly commentary that suggests that.
In Mardi, Taji, the narrator, is in pursuit of his lost love, Yillah, a Polynesian woman whom he had rescued from native priests who were going to sacrifice her to their gods. She was once again kidnapped, and Taji, in a small boat, went off in search of her once again. He is accompanied on his mission byKing Media, who was bored with his duties and looked for adventure; Babbalanja, a philosopher; Mohi, an historian; and Yoomy, a poet. As you can imagine, with such a crew representing the political, the philosophical, the historical, and the poetic viewpoints, there are long and sometimes confusing discussions about the universe and everything else as they traverse the South Seas in search of Yillah. During their journey they visit various islands, each of which exhibits some facet of human cruelty or weakness or folly. One of the islands is obviously Europe and another is the US in the late 1840s.
Some contemporary critics have called it an allegory and others "a mess." Some have called it both an allegory and a mess. It's one of those books that the reader has to go along with Melville (or Taji) and enjoy the ride and not insist on a tightly woven consistent narrative with no loose ends at the end.
Read it for fun, and whatever else you can get out of it.
Herman Melville
The Confidence Man: This is a short allegorical novel set on a Mississippi riverboat, the Fidele, Fidelity or Faith in English, if I'm not mistaken. It consists of a series of encounters that passengers have with various confidence men (or perhaps really only one in disguise), all "representing" various charitable organizations. Perhaps what fascinates me the most is that I'm never quite sure what underlies the various encounters.
Herman Melville
Moby Dick is probably considered his greatest work, if not one of the greatest novels written in the US during the nineteenth century, if not also the twentieth century. It's too early to say anything definite about the twenty-first century, but so far I haven't seen anything to compare to it. It's a comedy, a tragedy, a revenge play, a travelogue, a history of whaling, and a scientific treatise on cetology. Enough said.
Greg Benford:
The Galactic Center Series
Six novels. The first is In the Ocean of Night which was published in 1977. It is set in the late 1990s on Earth and near-Earth space and features the adventures of Nigel Walmsley, a Brit who somehow got himself a position as an astronaut in the NASA Space Program. He wanted to go into space and England didn't have a space program. The sixth novel is Sailing Bright Eternity, published in 1996 and is set some 30,000+ years in the future in the vicinity of the black hole at the center of our galaxy.
In between are some of the most spectacular science fiction adventures I've ever read and that covers 60+ years of reading SF. In volume three, Great Sky River, published in 1987, we jump ahead some 30,000 years and meet Kileen Bishop and his group of friends and relatives on the run from the mech civilization, AIs and robots who are determined to wipe out all organic life. Bishop and the other humans are closer to being cybernetic hybrids than 100% human with their metal and plastic reinforced exoskeletons and electronically enhanced senses. Volumes Four, Five, and Six are mostly concerned with the activities of the Bishop clan and their struggle to avoid destruction by the mechs. However, there a few surprises in store for the reader.
Dashiell Hammett
The Maltese Falcon
It's one of the great mystery novels, at least to my way of thinking. Part of its attraction may be that when I read the novel, I always see the actors from the film playing their respective roles. I must also admit that I've seen the film more often than I've read the novel. Actually I saw the film first, actually long before I read the novel. It features a tough, cynical detective, a femme fatale, sleezy villains, and, of course, the Falcon! Great stuff.
Nikos Kazantzakis
Zorba the Greek
This is another example of having seen the film first and then reading the novel, primarily because of the film. A young bookish intellectual attempts to escape his cloistered life by reopening a lignite mine on Crete which he has inherited. He is aided and abetted and confused by Zorba, an adventurer, miner, soldier, and survivor. Zorba is the exact opposite of the intellectual--earthy, practical, exuberant, almost a life force in himself. The book is ironic in that it encourages the reader to put down the book and go out and do something in the real world. After reading Zorba, I got so entranced by Kazantzakis' works, that I went out and read everything of his that I could find. I think that by now I've read almost everything he's written that's been translated.
George R. Stewart
Earth Abides
This is another of my favorite SF post-holocaust novels. It's what I call a quiet novel in that it depicts the quiet day-by-day struggles of the survivors of a war that killed most of the humans on Earth. There are no mutant, slavering monsters, semi-human or otherwise. The threats are the typical ones of providing food and shelter, and dealing accidents and disease in a world without ERs and vaccines. And, of course, there are some who figure taking food, etc. is easier than working. It's also the story of how myths about the survivors or first families begin in a society that is largely illiterate and how those survivors might be viewed in the future. One other element is that of the making of a sacred symbol purely by accident.
Lawrence Durrell
The Alexandria Quartet
I was hooked from the first pages of Justine, the first novel in the series. It was on the reading list of a class I took, and I immediately went out and got the next three. I've read it at least 3 or 4 times now and had to search for the hardbound copies as the paperback ones were disintegrating.
Justine: LGD's accounting of events of past year spent in Alexandria just before outbreak of WWII--primarily of his relationship with several women, one of whom is the enigmatic Justine.
Balthazar: LGD sent his manuscript to Balthazar, one of his friends in Alexandria who also appears in the manuscript. Balthzar then returns the novel with his version of those same events as seen from his perspective. We now have two versions of what happened.
Mountolive: a third version of that same period by Mountolive (who is mentioned in the first two books) of the same events, giving a third and completely different version of LGD's relationship with Justine.
Clea: this is an accounting of the events that take place when LGD returns to Alexandria in the midst of WWII, about a year or so after the events told in the first three novels.
The series really asks us if we really ever know the full story of our own history.
Durrell's second series, The Avignon Quintet--he sometimes referred to it as The Quincunx and consists of the following five novels: Monsieur, Livia, Constance, Sebastian, and Quinx.
This is a strange series of novels in which Durrell creates an Author who creates a character who writes a novel in which the Author includes a number of his friends and acquaintances, but takes "poetic" license in his creation. This is the first novel in the series--Monsieur.
The remaining four novels are about the Author and his experiences in Egypt and France during WWII. What is bizarre is that "fictional" characters from the first novel appear in other later four novels and interact with the Author and his friends. In addition, several characters from "The Alexandria Quartet" also briefly appear. It's all rather confusing at times, and I had to create a diagram to keep the characters separate as many of the characters from the first novel are actually created from different friends and acquaintances of the Author.
One of these days I will go back and reread both series for a third? fourth? time.
Ursula Le Guin
The Left Hand of Darkness
This novel is one of my top ten SF novels. If anyone ever asks me to recommend an SF novel for someone who has never read SF, I always mention this one. It is well-written and has an engaging main character, action, and an idea to explore. The idea is simple. Humans do not have sexually active periods like so many of our fellow residents here on earth. Humans are sexually active all the time. Moreover, humans like most of our neighbors here have two genders, male and female. Le Guin in this novel asks the question: What if humans had specific periods in which they were sexually active and in between those periods, they were sexually neuter?
Winter or Gethen, as the inhabitants call it, is a planet in which someone has apparently modified humans. Humans on this planet become sexually active every three weeks and remain so for several days. At this point they develop sexual characteristics, typically at random, so that humans on this planet can become either male or female. If a Gethen is paired with someone It (they are genderless during this period--what pronoun would you use?) likes, then the first one to go into kemmer (their term for the sexually active period) becomes by chance either male or female. The other one then becomes the other sex. If the one who becomes a female at that point gets pregnant, then that person will remain female and nurse the child until it is weaned. At which point, that person then reverts to the sexually neutral state. So, in a family pair with two children, each of the two adults could have been the mother of one of the two children. As you can see, this upsets all of our ideas about what males and females are like. In fact, that's the issue Le Guin explores in this work: what are the real characteristics that belong exclusively to males and females. If you haven't read this one yet, I strongly recommend you do so.
Kim Stanley Robinson
Three Californias: Wild Shore, The Gold Coast, and Pacific Edge
When first published, they were known as the Orange County Trilogy, but the series title was changed when the trade paperback edition was issued. My own name for these three is The California Troika. A troika is a Russian horse-drawn vehicle in which the three horses are side-by-side, so there is no lead horse. The three novels in this series all take place in the Orange County area at approximately the same time, some years in the future. But, this is an alternate universe series like no other I have read. I have made several posts on these works, and clicking on the label Three Californias or The California Trioka will take you to them. If you decide to read them, it makes no difference with which one you start.
The Wild Shore is set some half century or so after the US was destroyed by a sneak nuclear attack. It is the story of a young male, late teens, and his experiences during one year in a small village that has grown up after the bombing. In that respect, it is somewhat similar to another of my favorite post-holocaust novels, Earth Abides by George Stewart.
The Gold Coast is set some years in the future and is an extrapolation of what life would be like if there were no dramatic changes. The main character, again, is a young male, whose father is an engineer in the military-industrial complex--he works for a company that strives to get contracts to build hardware for the US military. Like most of his friends, our hero is mildly opposed to what his father does for a living, and he is mostly concerned about the latest designer drugs, sex, and the contemporary music scene. The novel is the story of events in this person's life that change him.
If the others can be classified as SF, then Pacific Edge is clearly a fantasy. It is set some years in the future, again in Orange County, in a world that has gone green. Large corporations and nation states have been broken up all over the world. Small is beautiful. Recycling has become an important activity. Cars are a rarity and most people get around a bicycles. The main character is a young man, possibly in his early20s who has become the local expert in remodeling and fixing up abandoned houses. Local politics features strongly in the novel.
Fyodor Dostoyevsky
"Notes from the Underground"
This is almost impossible for me to describe. The first part is a philosophical rant against those who think that human behavior will eventually be completely predictable and explainable by the immutable laws of science. In addition the narrator contends that there are two types of people: the doers and the thinkers or the intellectuals. Everything that is accomplished is done only by the doers, because the thinkers are paralyzed when they attempt to handle all the ramifications of acting.
The second part shows our reclusive narrator in action and supports both of the arguments put forth in the first part. In one sense, the work is an essay and an example of many of Dostoyevsky's themes that he depicts in his novels.
There are others, of course, but I have resolutely refused to think about them for fear that what was supposed to be one post will expand to a trilogy, or even worse. Some may find it hard to believe that I actually do so much rereading, but I do and this explains why I really am decades behind in my knowledge of contemporary literature. But, that's a decision I made long ago. I'm sure you made your own and very likely it's not the one I made. Be that as it may, there's room for both of us, isn't there?
I just realized that the title of the posts includes poems, and I haven't mentioned any at all. Oh well, maybe some time in the not too distant future. . .
I hope you consider reading some of these.
Thursday, October 17, 2013
Nikos Kazantzakis: The Greek Passion
Nikos Kazantzakis: The Greek Passion
Simon and Schuster
Trans. by Jonathan Griffen
Lycovrissi is a small Greek village that is under Turkish control. Every seven years, the villagers put on the Passion Play, the story of the last days of Christ. Six villagers are selected by the village Elders to play the parts of Christ, Mary Magdalen, the Apostles Peter, John, James, and Judas in next year's Play. The story, then, depicts the changes undergone by these six villagers in the ensuing year, as a result of being chosen for a part in the Passion Play. And, they change in surprising, unpredictable, and disturbing ways.
The characters in the novel are numerous and come from all the various social and economic classes in the village. They range from the Agha, the Turkish ruler of the small village, and his household, to the village Elders to the small shopkeepers and farmers. Also present, a thorn in the side of the Elders, are the Wanderers, the survivors of a small village destroyed in the ongoing conflict between the Turkish overlords and Greek freedom fighters. They have been searching for some place to stay. But, led by Gregoris, the village priest, the Elders attempt to force the Wanderers to move on, in spite of their obvious physical weaknesses caused by months of wandering the countryside.
However, three of the villagers selected for the Passion Play--Manolios, Yannakos, and Kostandis, who play Christ, Peter, and James--defy Grigoris and direct the wanderers to a place where they may at least rest for awhile, and perhaps attempt to rebuild their lives. Other villagers give food and clothing. This is the first of numerous incidents in which Manolios, Yannakos, and Kostandis openly challenge the village priest and the Elders as they attempt to act in accordance with the teachings of Christ. In other words, they ask themselves, "What would Christ do in this situation?"
The roles that the six villagers are to play in the Passion Play begin to affect them as they attempt to become worthy of the roles they were selected to play. Unfortunately this also includes Panayotaros. who was chosen to be Judas because of his wild and uncontrolled behavior. Irate, he decides that if they want a Judas, he will be one. Actually he's closer to Satan as he goes about the village, spreading lies, creating dissension, and betraying confidences where and when it will do the most harm.
This novel may be disturbing to some readers. At one point, one of the villagers chosen to be an Apostle, who is the son of one of the richest (and stingiest) men in the village, decides to take some of his father's surplus food and give it to the wanderers. This suggests a frightening idea--those who have more than they need should share it with those who have less than they need. The suggestion that Christ and the Apostles should think this way would seem to be heretical to many.
Part way into the novel, it became clear that this was going to end tragically. This is not a comfortable novel to read.
Overall Rating: Highly recommended.
Simon and Schuster
Trans. by Jonathan Griffen
Lycovrissi is a small Greek village that is under Turkish control. Every seven years, the villagers put on the Passion Play, the story of the last days of Christ. Six villagers are selected by the village Elders to play the parts of Christ, Mary Magdalen, the Apostles Peter, John, James, and Judas in next year's Play. The story, then, depicts the changes undergone by these six villagers in the ensuing year, as a result of being chosen for a part in the Passion Play. And, they change in surprising, unpredictable, and disturbing ways.
The characters in the novel are numerous and come from all the various social and economic classes in the village. They range from the Agha, the Turkish ruler of the small village, and his household, to the village Elders to the small shopkeepers and farmers. Also present, a thorn in the side of the Elders, are the Wanderers, the survivors of a small village destroyed in the ongoing conflict between the Turkish overlords and Greek freedom fighters. They have been searching for some place to stay. But, led by Gregoris, the village priest, the Elders attempt to force the Wanderers to move on, in spite of their obvious physical weaknesses caused by months of wandering the countryside.
However, three of the villagers selected for the Passion Play--Manolios, Yannakos, and Kostandis, who play Christ, Peter, and James--defy Grigoris and direct the wanderers to a place where they may at least rest for awhile, and perhaps attempt to rebuild their lives. Other villagers give food and clothing. This is the first of numerous incidents in which Manolios, Yannakos, and Kostandis openly challenge the village priest and the Elders as they attempt to act in accordance with the teachings of Christ. In other words, they ask themselves, "What would Christ do in this situation?"
The roles that the six villagers are to play in the Passion Play begin to affect them as they attempt to become worthy of the roles they were selected to play. Unfortunately this also includes Panayotaros. who was chosen to be Judas because of his wild and uncontrolled behavior. Irate, he decides that if they want a Judas, he will be one. Actually he's closer to Satan as he goes about the village, spreading lies, creating dissension, and betraying confidences where and when it will do the most harm.
This novel may be disturbing to some readers. At one point, one of the villagers chosen to be an Apostle, who is the son of one of the richest (and stingiest) men in the village, decides to take some of his father's surplus food and give it to the wanderers. This suggests a frightening idea--those who have more than they need should share it with those who have less than they need. The suggestion that Christ and the Apostles should think this way would seem to be heretical to many.
Part way into the novel, it became clear that this was going to end tragically. This is not a comfortable novel to read.
Overall Rating: Highly recommended.
Saturday, August 11, 2012
Nikos Kazantzakis: The Fratricides
Nikos Kazantzakis' novel, The Fratricides, is aptly named for it is set during the late 1940s when Greece was in the midst of a civil war. "Fratricides" are brother killers, the first crime that occurs in the Old Testament. A civil war is also the bloodiest war imaginable, as those who are familiar with the US Civil War know so well.
The novel takes place in the small village of Castello, unfortunately placed between the rebels up in the hills and the government forces camped just outside the village. Kazantzakis tells us very early in the novel of the horrors brought about by this conflict. He says this of the villagers:
"Their life is an unceasing battle with God, with the winds, with the snow, with death. For this reason the Castellians were not surprised when the killing began, brother against brother. There were not afraid; they did not change their way of life. But what had been simmering slowly within them, mute and unrevealed, now burst out, insolent and free. The primeval passion of man to kill poured from within them. Each had a neighbor, or a friend, or a brother, whom he had hated for years, without reason, often without realizing it. The hatred simmered there, unable to find an outlet. And now, suddenly, they were given rifles and hand grenades; noble flags waved above their heads. The clergy, the army, the press urged them on--to kill their neighbor, their friend, their brother. Only in this manner, they shouted to them, can faith and country be saved! Murder, that most ancient need of man, took on a high mystic meaning,. And the chase began --brother hunting brother.
Some of the men put on red hoods and took to the hills. Others barricaded themselves in the village, their eyes glued to the top of Mount Etoraki across the way, where the guerrillas were hiding. With whooping cries the red-hooded ones would storm down the hill, or the black tops would attack from below. And they would pounce on each other, flesh against flesh. And the sweet fratricide would begin. Women with tousled hair dashed form the courtyards and climbed onto the terraces, shouting, to goad the men on. The dogs of the village howled; they ran panting behind their masters, their tongues hanging out as they joined in the hunt; until night came and swallowed up the people."
Some historians consider the Greek civil war to be the first "battle" of the Cold War, with neighboring Communist governments supplying the rebels and the British and US assisting the government forces. Kazantzakis, however, does not bring this element in the novel. He restricts it to the government "fascist" forces and the communist guerrillas. Since Kazantzakis was on the left side of the political divide, one might see this designation of the.government as being a bit biased. However, as you can see from the two paragraphs quoted above, the novel is not a portrayal of the noble aspirations and dreams of the guerrillas or the government forces. Both are shown to be equally brutal.
Yet, there are incidents in which those on both sides and the villagers themselves show mercy and compassion for the fighters on the other side, but this happens only when the individual is alone. It never happens when others are about. Is it that compassion and mercy are possible only in the individual but seemingly never found in groups?
The village of Castello has suffered from both sides, primarily because it hasn't declared which side it supports. Therefore, it is trusted by neither the government troops nor the guerrillas. Father Yarnaros is the village priest, and so far he has been able to keep the village from choosing sides. But he is under considerable pressure to come out for one side or the other. Because he has not chosen, he is distrusted by both sides, even though the leader of the guerrillas is his son.
Father Yanaros is a God-obsessed man, and his relationship to God is not that of pious humility. At times he scolds God for allowing the killing to continue. He waits for God to give him a sign as to which side he should choose, but God is silent, which is an answer, though not the one Father Yanaros looks for. I think Kazantzakis got the pattern for Father Yanaros from the Old Testament, for he sounds much like a prophet to me--telling unpleasant truths that no one wants to hear, even though it is dangerous, as well as unwanted. A brutal ideological civil war is not a healthy situation for an outspoken, honest individual to be in. And Father Yanaros is outspoken, and he will be heard, something both sides realize and fear.
Father Yanaros struggles throughout to minimize the killing and to bring an unwanted (by both sides) truce. At the end, he makes his decision, but promises are not kept. It makes no difference which side he chose, for he would have been betrayed by either.
One last point: Kazantzakis gives us some insight into the psyches of the leaders of the government forces and of the guerrillas. Both are driven and both are trapped by their situation. Kazantzakis plays no favorites here.
Overall Reaction: a very strong powerful novel of a time of conflict and the effects it has on the people involved, whether they take an active role in the fighting or try to remain neutral.
Highly Recommended
The novel takes place in the small village of Castello, unfortunately placed between the rebels up in the hills and the government forces camped just outside the village. Kazantzakis tells us very early in the novel of the horrors brought about by this conflict. He says this of the villagers:
"Their life is an unceasing battle with God, with the winds, with the snow, with death. For this reason the Castellians were not surprised when the killing began, brother against brother. There were not afraid; they did not change their way of life. But what had been simmering slowly within them, mute and unrevealed, now burst out, insolent and free. The primeval passion of man to kill poured from within them. Each had a neighbor, or a friend, or a brother, whom he had hated for years, without reason, often without realizing it. The hatred simmered there, unable to find an outlet. And now, suddenly, they were given rifles and hand grenades; noble flags waved above their heads. The clergy, the army, the press urged them on--to kill their neighbor, their friend, their brother. Only in this manner, they shouted to them, can faith and country be saved! Murder, that most ancient need of man, took on a high mystic meaning,. And the chase began --brother hunting brother.
Some of the men put on red hoods and took to the hills. Others barricaded themselves in the village, their eyes glued to the top of Mount Etoraki across the way, where the guerrillas were hiding. With whooping cries the red-hooded ones would storm down the hill, or the black tops would attack from below. And they would pounce on each other, flesh against flesh. And the sweet fratricide would begin. Women with tousled hair dashed form the courtyards and climbed onto the terraces, shouting, to goad the men on. The dogs of the village howled; they ran panting behind their masters, their tongues hanging out as they joined in the hunt; until night came and swallowed up the people."
Some historians consider the Greek civil war to be the first "battle" of the Cold War, with neighboring Communist governments supplying the rebels and the British and US assisting the government forces. Kazantzakis, however, does not bring this element in the novel. He restricts it to the government "fascist" forces and the communist guerrillas. Since Kazantzakis was on the left side of the political divide, one might see this designation of the.government as being a bit biased. However, as you can see from the two paragraphs quoted above, the novel is not a portrayal of the noble aspirations and dreams of the guerrillas or the government forces. Both are shown to be equally brutal.
Yet, there are incidents in which those on both sides and the villagers themselves show mercy and compassion for the fighters on the other side, but this happens only when the individual is alone. It never happens when others are about. Is it that compassion and mercy are possible only in the individual but seemingly never found in groups?
The village of Castello has suffered from both sides, primarily because it hasn't declared which side it supports. Therefore, it is trusted by neither the government troops nor the guerrillas. Father Yarnaros is the village priest, and so far he has been able to keep the village from choosing sides. But he is under considerable pressure to come out for one side or the other. Because he has not chosen, he is distrusted by both sides, even though the leader of the guerrillas is his son.
Father Yanaros is a God-obsessed man, and his relationship to God is not that of pious humility. At times he scolds God for allowing the killing to continue. He waits for God to give him a sign as to which side he should choose, but God is silent, which is an answer, though not the one Father Yanaros looks for. I think Kazantzakis got the pattern for Father Yanaros from the Old Testament, for he sounds much like a prophet to me--telling unpleasant truths that no one wants to hear, even though it is dangerous, as well as unwanted. A brutal ideological civil war is not a healthy situation for an outspoken, honest individual to be in. And Father Yanaros is outspoken, and he will be heard, something both sides realize and fear.
Father Yanaros struggles throughout to minimize the killing and to bring an unwanted (by both sides) truce. At the end, he makes his decision, but promises are not kept. It makes no difference which side he chose, for he would have been betrayed by either.
One last point: Kazantzakis gives us some insight into the psyches of the leaders of the government forces and of the guerrillas. Both are driven and both are trapped by their situation. Kazantzakis plays no favorites here.
Overall Reaction: a very strong powerful novel of a time of conflict and the effects it has on the people involved, whether they take an active role in the fighting or try to remain neutral.
Highly Recommended
Friday, February 18, 2011
Nikos Kazantzakis: Feb. 18, 1885--Oct. 26, 1957
Unlike some, Kazantzakis tells the reader from the beginning that his biography of Saint Francis is partly a creative or imaginative work.
From Kazantzakis' Preface to Saint Francis:
Prologue
"If I have omitted many of Francis' sayings and and deeds and
if I have altered others, and added still others which did not take
place but which might have taken place, I have done so not out of
ignorance or impudence or irreverence, but from a need to match
the Saint's life with his myth, bringing that life as fully into accord
with its essence as possible.
Art has this right, and not only the right but the duty to subject
everything to the essence. It feeds upon the story, then assimilates it
slowly, cunningly, and turns it into a legend.
While writing this legend which is truer than truth itself, I was overwhelmed by love, reverence, and admiration fro Francis, the hero and great martyr. Often large teardrops smeared the manuscript; often a hand hovered before me in the air, a hand with an eternally renewed wound: someone seemed to have driven a nail through it, seemed to be driving a nail through it for all eternity.
Everywhere about me, as I wrote, I sensed the Saint's invisible presence; because for me Saint Francis is he model of the dutiful man, the man who by means of ceaseless, supremely cruel struggle succeeds in fulfilling our highest obligation, something higher even than morality or truth or beauty: the obligation to transubstantiate the matter which God entrusted to us, and turn it into spirit."
Nikos Kazantzakis
I think Ford Madox Ford expressed a somewhat similar opinion when several friends and acquaintances suggested that a number of his reminiscences and stories didn't happen the way he said that they did. Ford responded that he was a writer, not an historian.
From Kazantzakis' Preface to Saint Francis:
Prologue
"If I have omitted many of Francis' sayings and and deeds and
if I have altered others, and added still others which did not take
place but which might have taken place, I have done so not out of
ignorance or impudence or irreverence, but from a need to match
the Saint's life with his myth, bringing that life as fully into accord
with its essence as possible.
Art has this right, and not only the right but the duty to subject
everything to the essence. It feeds upon the story, then assimilates it
slowly, cunningly, and turns it into a legend.
While writing this legend which is truer than truth itself, I was overwhelmed by love, reverence, and admiration fro Francis, the hero and great martyr. Often large teardrops smeared the manuscript; often a hand hovered before me in the air, a hand with an eternally renewed wound: someone seemed to have driven a nail through it, seemed to be driving a nail through it for all eternity.
Everywhere about me, as I wrote, I sensed the Saint's invisible presence; because for me Saint Francis is he model of the dutiful man, the man who by means of ceaseless, supremely cruel struggle succeeds in fulfilling our highest obligation, something higher even than morality or truth or beauty: the obligation to transubstantiate the matter which God entrusted to us, and turn it into spirit."
Nikos Kazantzakis
I think Ford Madox Ford expressed a somewhat similar opinion when several friends and acquaintances suggested that a number of his reminiscences and stories didn't happen the way he said that they did. Ford responded that he was a writer, not an historian.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Nikos Kazantzakis: Feb. 18, 1883--Oct. 26, 1957
I first discovered Nikos Kazantzakis, not through his writings but through a film. I was so fascinated by the film Zorba the Greek that I went out and found the novel. After that, I searched for everything I could find by him. I now have around ten novels and several prose works--travel writings and some of his philosophical and autobiographical works. My favorite is, though, Zorba the Greek.
Zorba: on freedom
The Englishman, who in a way has been adopted by Zorba, is getting ready to leave. The Englishman says:
" 'Perhaps I'll stay here with you . . . I'm free.'
Zorba shook his head.
'No, you're not free,' he said. 'The string you're tied to is perhaps no longer than other people's. That's all. You're on a long piece of string, boss; you come and go, and think you're free, but you never cut the string in two. And when people don't cut that string . . .'
'I'll cut it some day!' I said defiantly, because Zorba's words had touched an open wound in me and hurt.
'It's difficult, boss, very difficult. You need a touch of folly to do that; folly, d'you see? You have to risk everything! But you've got such a strong head, it'll always get the better of you. A man's head is like a grocer; it keeps accounts: I've paid so much and earned so much and that means a profit of this much or a loss of that much! The head's a careful little shopkeeper; it never risks all it has, always keeps something in reserve. It never breaks the string. Ah no! It hangs on tight to it, the bastard! If the string slips out of its grasp, the head, poor devil, is lost, finished! But if a man doesn't break the string, tell me, what flavor is left in life? The flavor of camomile, weak camomile tea! Nothing like rum--makes you see life inside and out.' "
Zorba's santuri (a stringed instrument)
"He placed the santuri on his lap, bent over it, lightly touched the strings--as if he were consulting it to see what tune they should sing, as if he were begging it to wake, as if he were trying to coax it into keeping company with his wandering spirit which was tired of solitude. He tried a song. It somehow would not come out right; he abandoned it and began another; the strings grated as if in pain, as if they did not want to sing. Zorba leaned against the wall, mopped his brow, which had suddenly started to perspire.
'It doesn't want to. . . .,' he muttered, looking with awe at the santuri, 'it doesn't want to!'
He wrapped it up again with care, as if it were a wild animal and he was afraid it might bite. He rose slowly and hung it on the wall.
'It doesn't want to. . . .' he muttered again, 'it doesn't' want to . . . we mustn't force it!'
He sat down once more on the ground, poked some chestnuts amongst the embers and filled the glasses with wine. He drank, drank again, shelled a chestnut and gave it to me.
'Can you make it out, Boss?' he asked me. 'It's beyond me. Everything seems to have a soul--wood, stones, the wine we drink and the earth we tread on. Everything, boss, absolutely everything!' '
Zorba on dance:
" 'Why don't you laugh? Why d'you look at me like that? That's how I am. There is a devil in me who shouts, and I do what he says. Whenever I feel I'm choking with some emotion, he says: 'Dance!' and I dance. And I feel better! Once, when my little Dimitraki died, in Chalcidice, I got up as I did a moment ago and I danced. The relations and friends who saw me dancing in front of the body rushed up to stop me. 'Zorba has gone mad!' But if at that moment I had not danced, I should really have gone mad--from grief. Because it was my first son and he was three years old and I could not bear to lose him. You understand what I'm saying, boss, don't you--or am I talking to myself?' "
Zorba on getting old:
" 'I'm white on top already, boss, and my teeth are getting loose. I've no time to lose. You're young, you can still afford to be patient. I can't. But I do declare, the older I get the wilder I become! Don't let anyone tell me old age steadies a man! Not that when he sees death coming he stretches out his neck and says: Cut off my head, please, so that I can go to heaven! The longer I live, the more I rebel. I'm not going to give in; I want to conquer the world!' "
Zorba: the past, present, and future--
" 'I've stopped thinking all the time of what happened yesterday. And stopped asking myself what's going to happen tomorrow. What's happening today, this minute, that's what I care about. I say: 'What are you doing at this moment, Zorba? 'I'm sleeping.' 'Well, sleep well.' 'What are you doing at this moment, Zorba?' 'I'm working.' 'Well, work well.' 'What are you doing at this moment, Zorba?' 'I'm kissing a woman.' 'Well, kiss her well, Zorba! And forget all the rest while you're doing it: there's nothing else on earth, only you and her! Get on with it!' "
If you haven't read anything by Nikos Kazantzakis, then I would strongly recommend doing so, and Zorba the Greek is a good place to start. Perhaps you might want to try the film first; it's what ensnared me.
A link to the Cretan Museum Web page on Nikos Kazantzakis.
http://tinyurl.com/ycj8y9j
Zorba: on freedom
The Englishman, who in a way has been adopted by Zorba, is getting ready to leave. The Englishman says:
" 'Perhaps I'll stay here with you . . . I'm free.'
Zorba shook his head.
'No, you're not free,' he said. 'The string you're tied to is perhaps no longer than other people's. That's all. You're on a long piece of string, boss; you come and go, and think you're free, but you never cut the string in two. And when people don't cut that string . . .'
'I'll cut it some day!' I said defiantly, because Zorba's words had touched an open wound in me and hurt.
'It's difficult, boss, very difficult. You need a touch of folly to do that; folly, d'you see? You have to risk everything! But you've got such a strong head, it'll always get the better of you. A man's head is like a grocer; it keeps accounts: I've paid so much and earned so much and that means a profit of this much or a loss of that much! The head's a careful little shopkeeper; it never risks all it has, always keeps something in reserve. It never breaks the string. Ah no! It hangs on tight to it, the bastard! If the string slips out of its grasp, the head, poor devil, is lost, finished! But if a man doesn't break the string, tell me, what flavor is left in life? The flavor of camomile, weak camomile tea! Nothing like rum--makes you see life inside and out.' "
Zorba's santuri (a stringed instrument)
"He placed the santuri on his lap, bent over it, lightly touched the strings--as if he were consulting it to see what tune they should sing, as if he were begging it to wake, as if he were trying to coax it into keeping company with his wandering spirit which was tired of solitude. He tried a song. It somehow would not come out right; he abandoned it and began another; the strings grated as if in pain, as if they did not want to sing. Zorba leaned against the wall, mopped his brow, which had suddenly started to perspire.
'It doesn't want to. . . .,' he muttered, looking with awe at the santuri, 'it doesn't want to!'
He wrapped it up again with care, as if it were a wild animal and he was afraid it might bite. He rose slowly and hung it on the wall.
'It doesn't want to. . . .' he muttered again, 'it doesn't' want to . . . we mustn't force it!'
He sat down once more on the ground, poked some chestnuts amongst the embers and filled the glasses with wine. He drank, drank again, shelled a chestnut and gave it to me.
'Can you make it out, Boss?' he asked me. 'It's beyond me. Everything seems to have a soul--wood, stones, the wine we drink and the earth we tread on. Everything, boss, absolutely everything!' '
Zorba on dance:
" 'Why don't you laugh? Why d'you look at me like that? That's how I am. There is a devil in me who shouts, and I do what he says. Whenever I feel I'm choking with some emotion, he says: 'Dance!' and I dance. And I feel better! Once, when my little Dimitraki died, in Chalcidice, I got up as I did a moment ago and I danced. The relations and friends who saw me dancing in front of the body rushed up to stop me. 'Zorba has gone mad!' But if at that moment I had not danced, I should really have gone mad--from grief. Because it was my first son and he was three years old and I could not bear to lose him. You understand what I'm saying, boss, don't you--or am I talking to myself?' "
Zorba on getting old:
" 'I'm white on top already, boss, and my teeth are getting loose. I've no time to lose. You're young, you can still afford to be patient. I can't. But I do declare, the older I get the wilder I become! Don't let anyone tell me old age steadies a man! Not that when he sees death coming he stretches out his neck and says: Cut off my head, please, so that I can go to heaven! The longer I live, the more I rebel. I'm not going to give in; I want to conquer the world!' "
Zorba: the past, present, and future--
" 'I've stopped thinking all the time of what happened yesterday. And stopped asking myself what's going to happen tomorrow. What's happening today, this minute, that's what I care about. I say: 'What are you doing at this moment, Zorba? 'I'm sleeping.' 'Well, sleep well.' 'What are you doing at this moment, Zorba?' 'I'm working.' 'Well, work well.' 'What are you doing at this moment, Zorba?' 'I'm kissing a woman.' 'Well, kiss her well, Zorba! And forget all the rest while you're doing it: there's nothing else on earth, only you and her! Get on with it!' "
If you haven't read anything by Nikos Kazantzakis, then I would strongly recommend doing so, and Zorba the Greek is a good place to start. Perhaps you might want to try the film first; it's what ensnared me.
A link to the Cretan Museum Web page on Nikos Kazantzakis.
http://tinyurl.com/ycj8y9j
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