Greek oddity Zorba

Author: (Greek) Kazantzakis / Wang Zhenji / Fan Zhongliang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-10-01
Features: This is a legendary story about the elderly Greek worker Alexis Zorba. Zorba met the author on the island of Crete and worked together there digging brown coal. However, both were eager to wait for the sun to set and the workers to go off the job, so they could drink and chat by the coast. The author listened as Zorba told stories about his past—about the rural life of Olympus, Bulgarian guerrillas, the Hagia Sophia, brown coal, marble, women, God, patriotic actions, and death. Zorba's experiences and thoughts deeply shook the author, shattering all conventional moral, religious, and patriotic boundaries. The author considered Zorba to be "a great soul, a solid body, and a voice of freedom" that he had encountered in his lifetime.