Zorba The Greek.

KAZANTZAKIS, Nikos.

$2,800.00

Item Number: 143544

New York: Simon & Schuster, 1953.

First edition of Kazantzakis’ masterpiece, basis for the beloved Academy award-winning film. Octavo, bound in full morocco by the Harcourt Bindery, gilt titles and tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, gilt ruling to the front and rear panels, gilt inner dentelles stamp-signed by the Harcourt Bindery, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt. Signed by the translator of the most recent translation with the added words, “I first met him in Pireaus. Peter Bien.” Translated by Carl Wildman. An exceptional presentation.

Zorba the Greek is the epic tale of a young Greek intellectual who ventures to escape his bookish life with the aid of the boisterous and mysterious Alexis Zorba. Kazantzakis has made a work of stunning genius. The book is about life. How does one live it? How does one deal with the vicissitudes of it? The tragedies? The failures? Does one stand on the sidelines of life and never jump in? Does one fear getting married or fear having children or fear doing any activity that could fail or come to naught? Zorba tells us what to do. And in the end, when the whole bloody mess comes falling down around us, and all our plans and schemes are for naught, what do you do? Dance. Dance as hard and as wild as you can. Spit and fume and sing and smash your heels into the dirt. And laugh at it all. the absurdity of worry and wondering. Zorba shows us the joy of just "being" and "doing". The novel was adapted into a successful 1964 film of the same name as well as a 1968 musical, Zorba.