Background
Nikos Kazantzakis was born on February 18, 1883 on Herakleion, Crete.
His father was a primitive peasant, unsociable and uncommunicative, and his mother a sweet, submissive, and saintly woman.
(Hailed as a masterpiece by critics worldwide, "The Last T...)
Hailed as a masterpiece by critics worldwide, "The Last Temptation of Christ" is a monumental reinterpretation of the Gospels by one of the giants of modern literature. Nikos Kazantzakis, renowned author of "Zorba the Greek, " brilliantly fleshes out the story of Christ's Passion, giving it a dynamic spiritual freshness. Kazantzakis's Jesus is gloriously divine, yet earthy and human, as he travels among peasants and is tempted by their comfortable life. Provocatively illuminating ever dimension of the Gospels, "The Last Temptation of Christ" is an exhilarating modern classic.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/068485256X/?tag=2022091-20
(A stunning new translation of the classic bookand basis ...)
A stunning new translation of the classic bookand basis for the beloved Oscar-winning filmbrings the clarity and beauty of Kazantzakiss language and story alive. First published in 1946, Zorba the Greek, is, on one hand, the story of a Greek working man named Zorba, a passionate lover of life, the unnamed narrator who he accompanies to Crete to work in a lignite mine, and the men and women of the town where they settle. On the other hand it is the story of God and man, The Devil and the Saints; the struggle of men to find their souls and purpose in life and it is about love, courage and faith. Zorba has been acclaimed as one of the truly memorable creations of literaturea character created on a huge scale in the tradition of Falstaff and Sancho Panza. His years have not dimmed the gusto and amazement with which he responds to all life offers him, whether he is working in the mine, confronting mad monks in a mountain monastery, embellishing the tales of his life or making love to avoid sin. Zorbas life is rich with all the joys and sorrows that living brings and his example awakens in the narrator an understanding of the true meaning of humanity. This is one of the greatest life-affirming novels of our time. Part of the modern literary canon, Zorba the Greek, has achieved widespread international acclaim and recognition. This new edition translated, directly from Kazantzakiss Greek original, is a more faithful rendition of his original language, ideas, and story, and presents Zorba as the author meant him to be.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1476782814/?tag=2022091-20
( The Francis of Assisi in these pages is a man of strugg...)
The Francis of Assisi in these pages is a man of struggle and suffering, a man God-possessed.Saturday Review The writing . . . is direct and vigorous.Commonweal The novel is strong, deep, and moving. . . . a penetration into the mystery and wonder of life.San Francisco Chronicle The protean Greek author Nikos Kazantzakis retells the story of the most beloved of saintsFrancis of Assisi, who permanently changed the way people think about following God. Drawing on the traditional stories of the saints life, Kazantzakis infuses the tale with a fervent vision that is uniquely his own, highlighting the saints heroic single-mindedness in the face of extreme physical and spiritual suffering. He portrays the saint as a great lover and inspiring leader who embraced radical poverty in the face of many obstacles and temptations while achieving a way of life marked by epic generosity.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0829421297/?tag=2022091-20
(The Saviors of God is the spiritual testament of Nikos Ka...)
The Saviors of God is the spiritual testament of Nikos Kazantzakis, author of The Odyssey: A Modern Sequel, Zorba the Greek, The Last Temptation of Christ, and Report to Greco. Containing the core of his philosophy, it is, in the legacy of his work, the equivalent of Nietzsche's Thus Spake Zarathustra. The Saviors of God provides a key to all of Kazantzakis' work even as it stands on its own as a passionate and systematic view of the relationship between Man and God.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0671202324/?tag=2022091-20
(Freedom and Death is Kazantzakis's modern Iliad. The cont...)
Freedom and Death is Kazantzakis's modern Iliad. The context is Crete in the late nineteenth century, the epic struggle between Greeks and Turks, between Christianity and Islam. A new uprising takes place to rival those of 1854, 1866 and 1878, and the island is thrown into confusion yet again. In the village of Megalokastro a Cretan resistance fighter, Captain Michales, is matched by the Turkish bey, his blood-brother. The life of the local community continues shakily, but is disrupted by explosions of violence.
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Nikos Kazantzakis was born on February 18, 1883 on Herakleion, Crete.
His father was a primitive peasant, unsociable and uncommunicative, and his mother a sweet, submissive, and saintly woman.
After completing his law studies at the University of Athens, he went to Paris, where he fell under the influence of Henri Bergson's philosophy of the élanelan vital.
His first work, an essay entitled "The Disease of the Century, " was published by Picture Gallery Magazine and was followed by his first novel, The Serpent and the Lily (both 1906).
Both works were under the pseudonym Carma Nirvani, one of the many he used the first years of his writing.
His first play, Daybreak, was staged several months later at the Athenian Theater in Athens.
While in Paris, Kazantzakis served as journalist for various Greek magazines.
By 1910 he had completed a trilogy—Broken Souls, The Empress Zoe, and God-Man; a drama, The Master Mason (which won an award); and another play, The Comedy.
The last two were published under the pseudonym Petros Psiloritis.
By 1916 he had written two more plays, Hercules and Theofano (he later developed the latter into Nikiforos Phocas), and mapped out three more.
By now his interest in Friedrich Nietzsche was at its peak, and he set off on a pilgrimage to Switzerland, visiting and studying the places associated with this philosopher.
By 1920 Kazantzakis, now 37 years of age, was still undecided about his destiny.
He felt he was an Odysseus who would never reach his Ithaca. The years 1922-1924 were critical for Kazantzakis.
He carried his inner struggles to Vienna and later Berlin.
In Vienna he began to write the theatrical work Buddha (which after many revisions and additions was published in Athens in 1956) and completed the final draft of his romantic novel A Year of Loneliness (unpublished).
In Berlin he drafted Saviours of God, a philosophic work into which he poured his longing for immortality and his belief that man's dedication to creative activity alone can save God. In 1924 Kazantzakis completed Buddha and began Odyssey: A Modern Sequel.
Here he was greatly influenced by the new Russian movement.
He then undertook new journeys—to Palestine and Cyprus (April-May 1926); Spain (August-September 1926); Italy (October 1926); where he had an audience with Mussolini; Egypt and Sinai (December 1926 - January 1927).
In 1927 he settled for a short while on the island of Aegina to arrange selections from his travelogs into volumes that were later to appear as Travels— Spain, Italy, and so on. In April 1928 Kazantzakis left again for the Soviet Union, where he wrote a screenplay for a Russian film entitled The Red Kerchief.
(Its theme was the Greek Revolution of 1821. )
Helen Samiou joined him, and together they toured the northern Soviet Union.
Kazantzakis claimed that he owed his happiness to Helen and that without her he would have died many years sooner.
In 1930 he worked on his History of Russian Literature.
By 1932 he completed the manuscripts of Buddha, Don Quixote, Muhammed, The Ten Days, and the first draft of his Greek translation of Dante's Divine Comedy.
In 1936 Kazantzakis wrote two novels in French: The Rock Gardenand Mon Père.
By 1937 he had completed the seventh rewrite of his Odyssey; a new play, Melissa; and three cantas: Alexander the Great Christ, and Grandfather-Father-Grandson.
He spent all of 1938 working on the final draft of the Odyssey, and in December of that year it was finally published in Athens.
In 1941 he began his famous novel Zorba the Greek.
In 1943 he completed Zorba and three plays, the Prometheus Trilogy: Prometheus the Firebearer, Prometheus Bound, and Prometheus Freed.
Despite the hardships of the German occupation of Greece, his writing was not affected.
He and Helen spent the occupation years on the island of Aegina, where he wrote feverishly.
He completed a modern translation of Homer's Iliad and began his modern Greek translation of Homer's Odyssey.
He brought all his manuscripts up to date and in 1944 he wrote the plays Kapodistria and Constantine Paleologos.
A few months later he was appointed a minister in the Sofouli government of Greece and served until his resignation in 1946.
Soon afterward, he and his wife took up residence in Paris.
In July he began his famous novel Christ Recrucified, titled The Greek Passion in the English translation.
In 1949 he wrote The Fratricides.
In April he wrote the play Theseus, which was published as Kouros From May to July he wrote the play Christopher Columbus, and the next 2 months were spent rewriting Constantine Paleologos.
In December he began Freedom or Death and completed the second rewrite by July 1950.
He completed The Last Temptation of Christ by July 1951.
The Vatican issued an edict against The Last Temptation of Christ in April 1954.
Among his last works was his spiritual semiautobiography, Report to Greco (1955).
Kazantzakis died on October 26, 1957.
He was buried in the town of his birth.
A plain wooden cross marks his grave with the epitaph he had requested: "I have nothing … I fear nothing … I am free. "
His output included numerous plays; a volume of tercets dedicated to figures he admired; treatises on Nietzsche and Bergson; The Saviors of God, which is a lyrical statement of his own philosophical position; a history of Russian literature; film scenarios; encyclopedia articles; children's stories; several early novels written in French; a series of travel books; and translations into modern Greek of Faust, the Divine Comedy, the Iliad, the Odyssey, and many other works.
(The Saviors of God is the spiritual testament of Nikos Ka...)
(Hailed as a masterpiece by critics worldwide, "The Last T...)
(A stunning new translation of the classic bookand basis ...)
( The Francis of Assisi in these pages is a man of strugg...)
(Freedom and Death is Kazantzakis's modern Iliad. The cont...)
As early as 1930 his countrymen had threatened to prosecute him for atheism; in 1945 he had been denied admission to the Academy of Athens; in 1953 the Orthodox Church attempted to excommunicate him because of The Last Temptation of Christ, which was subsequently placed on the Roman Catholic Index as well.
In 1911, after a stormy relationship, he married Galatea Alexiou, a writer, and together they continued their writing in a small apartment in Athens. During the Balkan Wars (1912 - 1913) Kazantzakis volunteered but served noncombatively with Special Services in the Premier's office.
From then on the couple were never separated except for short periods.
She dedicated her life to him, acting as wife, secretary, nurse, companion, friend.
Later he met Helen Samiou, a young Greek journalist, who in future became his second wife.