ISBN: 0-571-05265-7
What a man! If the world could be lived according to Zorba,
then what a better place it would be...I think.
Written in the middle of the forties, but set in the
Thirties, we are transported to the island of Crete, where our hero has
travelled with his new found companion and employer, our narrator. Over the
period of the novel, we are regaled with the philosophies and ideals of this
well travelled Macedonian; he has been a fighter for causes, a lover of women,
a callous handed worker and an international drifter. But he exudes confidence
and trust wherever he goes. His ability to compartmentalise the various parts
of his history, as well as his present day affairs makes him somebody that you
could confide your innermost thoughts to.
The story is based around the opening of a disused mine on
the island by our narrator, which will give our narrator, an intellectual, a
chance to get amongst the working classes and the peasants. Zorba becomes his
manager of the mine, working alongside and leading the workforce, spending the
evenings in the same accommodation as his new found Bhudda studying owner. It
is during the evenings, over simple foods that they discuss the philosophies of
the world at large, people in general and the two of them in particular. As the
story advances, they discover that although their lives have been lived in
totally different ways; with different upbringings, ideals and beliefs, they
are not so far apart after all. All this, and set against the coastline of the
island, facing south.
In the writing of this work, Kazantzakis has split the text
into two at many levels. He has two conflicting outlooks that come together,
realising that the Bhuddist way of seeing the world is not that far different
from the coarse but honest way of Zorba. There are the social differences
between our two protagonists that eventually meet in the middle, the immediacy
of Zorba as opposed to the considered approach from the owner of the mine. Finally,
and with equal importance, there is a different approach to love, with Zorba
becoming emotionally attached to a lady with a colourful past that included
many gentlemen of military standing and the owner becoming attracted to a local
widow in a much more genteel way. Both relationships will end in the same way,
but by totally different routes.
The final parting of company by these two men comes across
as inevitable, but is quite sudden and final when it does come. They both will
take a little of each other’s outlooks, views and teachings with them, and although
they will never meet again, there is a small twist at the end. As with the rest
of the text, two conflicting approaches to the same subject; the end is both
bitter and sweet.
It is, then, a fine tale of companionship,
honour, belief and manliness. Clearly there are indications that date the work,
but the ideals, ethos and ultimate message from Kazantzakis remains as true
today as it did when it was written some 70 years ago. Well worth seeking out
and reviewing your lifestyle to see if you can be a little bit more like Zorba.
I will!
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