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Zorba the Greek Paperback – December 20, 1996

by Nikos Kazantzakis (Author)

4.5 1,412 ratings

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The classic novel, international sensation, and inspiration for the film starring Anthony Quinn explores the struggle between the aesthetic and the rational, the inner life and the life of the mind.

The classic novel Zorba the Greek is the story of two men, their incredible friendship, and the importance of living life to the fullest. Zorba, a Greek working man, is a larger-than-life character, energetic and unpredictable. He accompanies the unnamed narrator to Crete to work in the narrator’s lignite mine, and the pair develops a singular relationship. The two men couldn’t be further apart: The narrator is cerebral, modest, and reserved; Zorba is unfettered, spirited, and beyond the reins of civility. Over the course of their journey, he becomes the narrator’s greatest friend and inspiration and helps him to appreciate the joy of living.

Zorba has been acclaimed as one of the most remarkable figures in literature; he is a character in the great tradition of Sinbad the Sailor, Falstaff, and Sancho Panza. He responds to all that life offers him with passion, whether he’s supervising laborers at a mine, confronting mad monks in a mountain monastery, embellishing the tales of his past adventures, or making love. Zorba the Greek explores the beauty and pain of existence, inviting readers to reevaluate the most important aspects of their lives and live to the fullest.

Print length

320 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Scribner
Publication date

December 20, 1996
Dimensions

5.25 x 0.7 x 8 inches
ISBN-10

0684825546
ISBN-13

978-0684825540
See all details

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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Nikos Kazantzakis was born in Crete in 1883. He studied literature and art in Germany and Italy, philosophy under Henri Bergson in Paris and received his law degree from the University of Athens. The Greek Minster of Education in 1945, Kazantzakis was also a dramatist, translator, poet, and travel writer. Among his most famous works are, The Odyssey: A Modern Sequel, The Last Temptation of Christ, and Saviors of God. He died in October 1957.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Scribner (December 20, 1996)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 320 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0684825546
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0684825540
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 11.4 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.25 x 0.7 x 8 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,728,687 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #2,985 in Classic American Literature
- #35,603 in Classic Literature & Fiction
- #70,538 in Literary Fiction (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.5 1,412 ratings

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Customer reviews

1,412 global ratings

How customer reviews and ratings work

Customers say

Customers find the characters rich, insightful, and wonderful. They also describe the story as great, musing, and hospitable. Readers praise the writing quality as wonderful and fascinating.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

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Readability Writing quality Story and values Characters Timelessness

41 customers mention "Readability"37 positive4 negative

Customers find the book amazing, interesting from a literary standpoint, and riveting entertainment. They also appreciate the good descriptions of a zen-like, live in the moment, free, and intense and brilliant conversations between two friends. Readers also mention that the book is in very good conditions, even though they bought it used.

"...This is a read that deserves deep attention, a sense of humor and a willingness to deal with everything life (and death) can throw at you...." Read more

"...He is a man’s man - muscular, musical, musing (but not too much) and a Lothario curls into a ball and snoozes at a moment’s notice...." Read more

"...A great novel." Read more

"...It's an excuse for the real marrow of the book: the intense and brilliant conversations between two friends as they wildly speculate on the meaning..." Read more

25 customers mention "Writing quality"18 positive7 negative

Customers find the writing quality wonderful, fascinating, and beautiful. They also say the translation is a delight.

"The book is written so you feel as you are part of the story and you are joined in their adventures...." Read more

"In this beautiful novel, who was later turned into an also beautiful film by Elia Kazan with Anthony Quinn, the narrator is a young, wealthy man who..." Read more

"...Wanted to try this well reviewed translation, but found the prose clunky and obtuse...." Read more

"...version for some fifteen years, so I won't compare, but this translation is a delight." Read more

24 customers mention "Story and values"24 positive0 negative

Customers find the story great, celebrating both the ups and downs of living. They also say it's exhilarating, provoking reflections on the way we live, and fills the reader with an incredibly indelible sense of place, culture, and character.

"...Life is beautiful." Read more

"...Was a moving story and gave me courage to start traveling more and enjoying life." Read more

"...It is wonderfully written, fascinating and explains life and choices made in a most non-judgmental way...." Read more

"...Yes, there are interesting moments here and there...." Read more

10 customers mention "Characters"10 positive0 negative

Customers find the characters in the book rich, insightful, and charming. They also say Zorba can be irritating and chivalrous.

"Kazentzakis is a master of character and archetype...." Read more

"...No matter how I came to it, Zorba is a wonderful, wonderful read with a story and characters which etch themselves into your soul...." Read more

"...Zorba is an unforgettable character, a great literary creation. His spirit is contagious and revealing of our own cowardness and pettiness...." Read more

"...Zorba is spirited and playful, yet the story rambles and meanders at times. The character Zorba reminds me of a Greek version of Neal Cassidy...." Read more

5 customers mention "Timelessness"5 positive0 negative

Customers find the book to be a timeless classic.

"I know, I know, I'm supposed to be in awe of this book. It's a classic! And there is a wonderful movie based on it, featuring Anthony Queen as Zorba!..." Read more

"Great old classic" Read more

"A timeless classic" Read more

"One of the greatest classics! Kazantzakis at his best!" Read more

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B. Webber

I could not put it down

Reviewed in the United States on July 21, 2024

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The book is written so you feel as you are part of the story and you are joined in their adventures. As I was getting to the end, I wished there to be more pages.

Helpful

Luis S.

Full of life, the journey.Crowned with death, the arrival.

Reviewed in the United States on March 28, 2020

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The journey and arrival tells the story of a man with passion for life and another with a passion to understand the life and does his best to record it

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Irving B. Goldberg

"Life is what you do while you are waiting to die...."

Reviewed in the United States on March 17, 2024

Verified Purchase

Kazentzakis is a master of character and archetype. Like "The Last Temptation of Christ" Zoba is populated with archetypal powerful characters- all engaged in life fully. Zorba is all heart, passion, and heat. Niko is thoughtful, logical, linear and reserved. Their challenge is to open a lignite mine on the island of Crete- and to learn what they can from each other. This is a read that deserves deep attention, a sense of humor and a willingness to deal with everything life (and death) can throw at you. Best quote from Zorba "God and the devil boss... God and the devil. They always travel together."

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Douglas Ferguson

Zorba - A Literary Life Force

Reviewed in the United States on September 28, 2014

Verified Purchase

Zorba is “The Most Interesting Man in the World” advertising campaign for Dos Equis beer reached back to Zorba for casting. He is a man’s man - muscular, musical, musing (but not too much) and a Lothario curls into a ball and snoozes at a moment’s notice. Rudyard Kipling’s “If” must have been echoing in Kazantzakis’ when creating his title character. Zorba certainly kept his head about him when others were losing theirs.

I approached this book from two wildly uninformed angles. The first was from either having seen, or believed I had seen, the Anthony Quinn version of Zorba the Greek in the 1960s movie. A swarthy, swashbuckling Mediterranean was what I remembered. In high school I struggled through another Nikos Kazantzakis novel but remembered it as “great literature”.

No matter how I came to it, Zorba is a wonderful, wonderful read with a story and characters which etch themselves into your soul. The narrator sets out on a journey to resurrect a mine on the island of Crete. Early on he picks up a companion- the older and far more experienced Zorba - to help run the mine. Sancho Panza step aside (check the reference).

Zorba invades the narrator’s physical and psychological space. In their first meeting Zorba suggests he can work at anything - after all he has arms, legs and a head. Oh, and he can also smell minerals in the earth. And, a good thing since the narrator is headed to Crete to hire a crew to mine lignite.

Zorba disrupts the narrator’s obsession with books. The spoken word, not just the written word, allow the writer/narrator to develop. Zorba’s lusts - food, work, sex - are as contagious as they can possibly be. The narrator doesn’t transform to become Zorba, he adapts to become a better, fuller version of himself.

Kazantzakis provides plot, characters, and Buddhist ruminations. Indeed, Zorba the Greek was written when existentialism was in full bloom. (The author came in second by one vote in Nobel Prize voting to Albert Camus in 1957). Most existential writing is anxious, verging on desperation and ennui. Zorba the Greek is life - some triumphs, more tragedies with a constant movement forward. Change happens.

27 people found this helpful

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Alexander V Marriott

Read while in Greece, the locals loved it

Reviewed in the United States on July 12, 2023

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One of the rare times when the movie comes close to eclipsing the book (and perhaps does). This, like Jack London's The Sea Wolf, sets to dramatize the conflict between Platonic idealism--here represented in a peculiar mid-20th century fascination with Eastern mysticism--and Epicurean materialism (represented, of course, by Zorba). Unlike London, the battle between the two is a bit more evenly handled here (and Zorba, unlike Wolf Larson, is extremely sympathetic and likeable in many ways). Even so, we end up with a similarly unsatisfying false dichotomy of human "extremes" with rather predictably unsatisfying outcomes. The portrait painted of traditional Greek culture here--Cretan in particular--is remorseless and damning in many ways. In that sense, both characters standing classically (sort of) athwart the Orthodox tradition are redeemed but largely ineffectually so--much as Plato, Epicurus (not to mention Zeno, Aristotle, etc.) are treated in Greek intellectual and cultural life even now.

One person found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

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Ozgur Atilla

In time as expected

Reviewed in Germany on July 20, 2024

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Delivered in time

Patricia

Perfecto

Reviewed in Spain on October 25, 2023

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Rápido y eficaz, libro estupendo

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Peter

Enjoyable Holiday Read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 14, 2023

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I enjoyed reading this and probably should have done so years ago. Not sure if would find a publisher these days without some significant changes for some modern sensibilities but as a piece of its times and and Zorba being a creature of his time and place a very good read!

Rodrigo Alves Vieira

Livro muito especial que me passou ideias positivas

Reviewed in Brazil on May 9, 2019

Verified Purchase

Esse livro tem no seu personagem central uma pessoa autêntica, estoica que vive a vida de maneira um tanto excêntrica e até rústica. Muito bom pra quem procura uma estória leve, mas não por isso rasa. Tem muita coisa no comportamento do Zorba que poderia deixar a todos nós nos sentindo mais realizados na vida.