Stock image for illustration purposes only - book cover, edition or condition may vary.
Kazantzakis, Volume 1: Politics of the Spirit
Peter Bien
€ 122.88
FREE Delivery in Ireland
Description for Kazantzakis, Volume 1: Politics of the Spirit
Hardback. Putting Greek writer Nikos Kazantzakis's (1883-1957) vast output into the context of his lifelong spiritual quest and the turbulent politics of twentieth-century Greece, this title argues that Kazantzakis was a deeply flawed genius. It covers his life after 1938, the period in which he wrote "Zorba the Greek" and "The Last Temptation of Christ". Series: Princeton Modern Greek Studies. Num Pages: 640 pages, 3 line illus. BIC Classification: 2AHM; BGL; DSBH; DSK. Category: (P) Professional & Vocational; (U) Tertiary Education (US: College). Dimension: 229 x 152 x 39. Weight in Grams: 999.
Putting Greek writer Nikos Kazantzakis's vast output into the context of his lifelong spiritual quest and the turbulent politics of twentieth-century Greece, Peter Bien argues that Kazantzakis was a deeply flawed genius--not always artistically successful, but a remarkable figure by any standard. This is the second and final volume of Bien's definitive and monumental biography of Kazantzakis (1883-1957). It covers his life after 1938, the period in which he wrote Zorba the Greek and The Last Temptation of Christ, the novels that brought him his greatest fame. A demonically productive novelist, poet, playwright, travel writer, autobiographer, and translator, Kazantzakis was one of the most important Greek writers of the twentieth century and the only one to achieve international recognition as a novelist. But Kazantzakis's writings were just one aspect of an obsessive struggle with religious, political, and intellectual problems. In the 1940s and 1950s, a period that included the Greek civil war and its aftermath, Kazantzakis continued this engagement with undiminished energy, despite every obstacle, producing in his final years novels that have become world classics.
Product Details
Publisher
Princeton University Press
Number of pages
640
Format
Hardback
Publication date
2007
Series
Princeton Modern Greek Studies
Condition
New
Weight
999g
Number of Pages
640
Place of Publication
New Jersey, United States
ISBN
9780691128139
SKU
V9780691128139
Shipping Time
Usually ships in 15 to 20 working days
Ref
99-15
About Peter Bien
Peter Bien is Professor Emeritus of English and Comparative Literature at Dartmouth College. His Kazantzakis: Politics of the Spirit, Volume 1 was first published by Princeton in 1989 and was translated into Greek in 2001. It will be published in paperback by Princeton in February 2007. Bien has translated Kazantzakis's books The Last Temptation of Christ, Saint Francis , and Report to Greco into English, and is the author of Kazantzakis and the Linguistic Revolution in Greek Literature (Princeton).
Reviews for Kazantzakis, Volume 1: Politics of the Spirit
Although others have tried to account for Kanzantzakis's life and literary art, no other book so comprehensively and insightfully captures it like Politics of the Spirit. Readers will marvel at Bien's tirelessly attentive approach to historical detail and acclaim his adroit description of Kazantzakis's ironic soul. A sympathetic though not uncritical account of a flawed genius, this book is a towering achievement. Every reader of modern literature can learn from it.
Darren J. N. Middleton, Modernimsm/modernity The sequel to Bien's very successful Kazantzakis: Politics of the Spirit consolidates our impressions of the first volume, creates an elaborate, almost complete picture of the Cretan author, and spreads the interest in Kazantzakis to a far greater audience.
Lena Arampatzidou, Hellenic Review Bien is fair and balanced, and he avoids black-and-white simplifications. In a masterly manner, he sorts out the good from the bad, sensing what Kazantzakis was trying to achieve and seeing where he went wrong and where he got it right. Bien brilliantly shows how Kazantzakis progressed from his concern with politics, sensuality and ethics to a love of art.
Peter Mackridge, Journal of Hellenic Studies
Darren J. N. Middleton, Modernimsm/modernity The sequel to Bien's very successful Kazantzakis: Politics of the Spirit consolidates our impressions of the first volume, creates an elaborate, almost complete picture of the Cretan author, and spreads the interest in Kazantzakis to a far greater audience.
Lena Arampatzidou, Hellenic Review Bien is fair and balanced, and he avoids black-and-white simplifications. In a masterly manner, he sorts out the good from the bad, sensing what Kazantzakis was trying to achieve and seeing where he went wrong and where he got it right. Bien brilliantly shows how Kazantzakis progressed from his concern with politics, sensuality and ethics to a love of art.
Peter Mackridge, Journal of Hellenic Studies