Customer Reviews

Greek Passion

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4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
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Kazantzakis masterfully transcribes the many trials and tribulations of a Greek Mountain Village. He definitely digs deep into the contradiction that is religion and life. While many have been turned off by Kazantzakis' realism(commotion raised by "The Last Temptation of Christ" being turned into a movie), it would most certainly be to their advantage to read Kazantzakis for the characters which he creates. To this end Kazantzakis is unparalelled(If you haven't already, score yourself a copy of "Zorba the Greek" to see what I mean. His concentration on the evils that guide men through their actions really makes this novel move. In the end we are left to ask ourselves if these characters, and this mountain village really exist or not. The answer--You tell me.

_The Greek Passion_ is a work of art written by a genius who undeniably knew his own people. Nikos Kazantzakis transports the story of the passion of Jesus Christ to a Greek village that is under the control of the Turks during the final years of the Ottoman Empire. This version of the passion is one of great beauty and is told with tremendous fervor and emotion. Here, a simple, innocent shepard receives blame for, then accepts personal responsibility for the sins of his neighbors so that their lives may be spared. The shepard and his followers are called bolsheviks and worse because they believe that a band of starving refugees from another village, which includes children with distended bellies, should be fed and clothed from the storehouses and the homes of some of the wealthy community elders. Two aspects of religion are shown:
a hypocritical priest who is so concerned with protecting his power and authority that he panders to the enemy, a Turkish Agha, over the welfare of the Greek people; and, a saintly priest, who acts in the true spirit of Christianity by endeavoring to relieve his peoples' suffering. The forces of these two disparate priests eventually clash and the results are both tragic and heartbreaking. It is apparent that very little has changed since the time of Jesus. Special interests are still putting up road blocks to prevent the meek from inheriting the earth. _The Greek Passion_ is a novel that the admirers of Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, and perhaps even Jesus Christ, himself, would love.

....seeking out his own unique spirituality, and creating a spell-binding tale of redemption, justice, humor and humanity in a small Greek village. I disagree with the reviews that state that this isn't Kazantzakis's finest novel: it is. It may not be as accessible or commercial as ZORBA THE GREEK, but Kazantzakis's musical writing brings to life characters bigger than Zorba. As the villagers prepare their annual presentation of Christ's miracle at Easter, various characters are already at work to put forth their own agendas. The hypocritcal village elders, the town prostitute with a heart of gold, and finally the very christ-like Manolis, who is willing to sacrifice his life for the good of his people. Set during the time when Greece was undergoing an occupation by neighboring Turkey, the novel explores subjugation from the eyes of both the Turks and the Greeks. While willing to shed blood if necessary in order to free Greece from Turkish oppression, the villagers plots do occasionally backfire. Kazantzakis's treatment of these various plots and plans is quite humorous for such a dramatic novel. Highly, completely recommended.....

I think there is no doubt that in this book the writer tells the story for the whole world not just for Greece.The story happens in a little village that is a sign of the whole world. Kazantzakis tells us a story of a cruel man who just likes to kill people.We can clearly see the scream of the author for liberity.He tells us that living like Jesus has it's own way which is fighting for truth and against the lies.
I think that by reading this book we can not stay silence anymore against the lies in our world.

The Greek Passion covers a lot of the same themes in Kazantzakis' classic, "Zorba the Greek"---the hypocrisy and corruption of the Church; the mindless, infantile and equally hypocritical and corrupt tendencies of the common masses; the "holy hooker" archetype, etc. It also contains a character who, much like Kazantzakis' Jesus in "The Last Temptation of Christ," is basically a simpleton who's clearly been "chosen" by God to become a spiritual leader and eventual martyr.

Except here the characters are drawn a bit more crudely, more like caricatures, for the most part. And Kazantzakis does reveal his own admiration and reverence for those rare AUTHENTIC Christians whom he portrays as being routinely ostracized and oppressed by the Church and the common mob.

The book is quite absorbing after the first twenty pages or so, steadily building narrative tension and suspense. You'll enjoy it, but keep your expectations modest.

As with all his books, rich imagery. Not as good as "last temptation of Christ" I was stuck by the cruelty that the hero Manolios did to the woman who sacrifice her life for him. He is all politically correct and lukewarm to her. Even when she died he didnot feel slightest trace of sadness but went around saying that he envied her because she is in heaven. If that is what follow Christ lead to I want no part of Christianity!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!