Description
Book SynopsisA biography of Nikos Kazantzakis. It describes his struggle with political questions that were in reality aspects of a fervent religious search. It features his experiments with communism in turbulent Greece, his visits to Soviet Russia, and the publication of his epic "Odyssey" in 1938.
Trade Review"Bien is arguably the best, and beyond a doubt most learned, exponent of modern Greek literature writing in English today."--Peter Green, New Republic "Splendidly produced, properly documented, with a rich international bibliography and an index of names and titles plus a detailed chronology, Kazantzakis: Politics of the Spirit vindicates the claim made in its title and impresses scholars and admirers of the phenomenon called Nikos Kazantzakis."--M. Byron Raizis, World Literature Today
Table of Contents*Frontmatter, pg. i*Contents, pg. v*Preface to the paperback edition, pg. vii*Preface, pg. ix*A note on documentation and transliteration, pg. xiii*List of works, pg. xv*Chronology, pg. xix*Chapter One. Why Kazantzakis is not a political writer, pg. 1*Chapter Two. Philosophical studies in Paris, pg. 23*Chapter Three. Development of Kazantzakis's (meta-)communism, pg. 55*Chapter Four. The Iraklion incident and the Odyssey's first draft, pg. 79*Chapter Five. Russia, pg. 99*Chapter Six. Toda-Raba and the waning of Kazantzakis's communism, pg. 157*Chapter Seven. Aesthetic freedom, pg. 185*Chapter Eight. Odyssey, pg. 191*Notes, pg. 241*References, pg. 287*Index, pg. 311
