Nikos Kazantzakis' book

[dean]

Hello,Just saw the book by Kazantzakis advertised on this site and was wondering if anyone could tell me if it is worth looking out for. It doesn't seem to be in the top 10.Cheers
Dean

[marcus]

Hi Dean,I read this years ago.On the plus side, it was written by the chap who wrote "Zorba the Greek".On the down side, it's not really very good. It is, of course, incredibly pro-Alexander, very romantic ... and it suffers (probably) through being translated into English.It's a sort of "must-read" in some respects, although it's not really worth it.ATBMarcus

[jan]

I must disagree with Marcus about its worth. I liked this book and the accompanying illustrations, as it is primarily written for young readers, and not for the college set. It is a great intro to Alexander and should be read.

[yiannis]

Kazantzakis has a very discinct style and I consider him a marvellous writter. Sometimes he becomes very "esoteric" and can become even "difficult" to read, but this book is -as already mentioned- intended for younger readers and therefore "easier".It's definatelly a book worth reading, almost poetic at some points...

[marcus]

Hmm, you see, it might be poetic at times in the original, but I didn't get anything like that from the English translation. Which is, as I noted, the problem with reading something in translation.I accept that it was written for younger readers. I still didn't think it was very good! In Greek it is probably a whole lot better.ATBMarcus