GREECE: Nikos Kazantzakis

Sent: Thursday, July 15, 2004 12:29 AM From Athens, Harry Papasotiriou writes: "I have not seen the film Zorba the Greek, but I have read the book. It is an exuberant celebration of the street-smart common folk, who through Zorba are portrayed as having a folksy wisdom and a care-free zest for life that eludes the educated strata. This can be placed in a tradition going back to Tolstoy: In War and Peace, for example, during his captivity by the French the aristocratic Pierre meets a wise Russian peasant and finds his remarks on various aspects of life very illuminating; the aristocratic Moscovite Natasha is particularly charming when she dances a traditional Russian folk dance in a house out in the country. Zorba the Greek must have been written at a time when Kazantzakis was disillusioned by his philosophical quests. Other works by Kazantzakis reflect different aspects of his thought, making him an author who has touched on many subjects troubling humanity, or at least Europe, in the grips of 20th century modernity".