“Life is trouble. Only death is not. To be alive is to undo your belt and look for a trouble.”
Let me tell you a story about one man. Even taught he exists as a fictional character, he is a real human been, a role model for all the people who wants to be free. His name is Alexis Zorbas and famous Greek writer Nikos Kazantzakis created him. But you know what... Zorba really existed. Kazantzakis meet him in Athens. He was thrilled with this old man who knew how to live. They became friends and one great book was born...
Let's go to Greece to find out the truth
I have always wanted to know what is that about Greece that make me feel so beautiful and fresh. Why the sound of that language I am trying to learn has something deep to say to me while I am whispering worlds of ancient gods? What is that about Greece? The movie "Zorba the Greek" (that you have probably seen) helped me understand that in a way. But, when I read book, I was almost sure I understand everything. Greece was my search for something beyond me that I just couldn't reach.
In Greece you found everything: blue sea and green field, high mountains, a lot of music and life joy, a lot of tragedy. You find everything you need for real life. And let me tell you: living is not perfect. It shouldn't be. It must not be. You need to learn to live with imperfections. That's what Zorba does.
Why you need to be crazy to survive?
There are plenty of ways to be alive. But not every is right. How do we know that we live in a right way? Maybe we should ask ourselves a question: "Am I on the place I want to be in?"; "Do I do things that I really want to do?"; "Am I living just a shadow of my life?"It looks like Zorba asked the same question. If you want to be free, like he says to the writer, you need to dare to cut the rope. You need to do it right away. For that kind of action you need a little bit madness.
Zorba knows that the writer will never cut the rope, that he will never be free. It is because he sees things with his mind, not with his heart. If you feel world with heart, you are, according to Zorba, on right path.
“No, you're not free," he said. "The string you're tied to is perhaps no longer than other people's. That's all. You're on a long piece of string, boss; you come and go, and think you're free, but you never cut the string in two. And when people don't cut that string . . ."
"I'll cut it some day!" I said defiantly, because Zorba's words had touched an open wound in me and hurt.
"It's difficult, boss, very difficult. You need a touch of folly to do that; folly, d'you see? You have to risk everything! But you've got such a strong head, it'll always get the better of you. A man's head is like a grocer; it keeps accounts: I've paid so much and earned so much and that means a profit of this much or a loss of that much! The head's a careful little shopkeeper; it never risks all it has, always keeps something in reserve. It never breaks the string. Ah no! It hangs on tight to it, the bastard! If the string slips out of its grasp, the head, poor devil, is lost, finished! But if a man doesn't break the string, tell me, what flavor is left in life? The flavor of camomile, weak camomile tea! Nothing like rum-that makes you see life inside out!”
Reading about life or living the life
“Tell me what you do with the food you eat, and I'll tell you who you are. Some turn their food into fat and manure, some into work and good humor, and others, I'm told, into God. So there must be three sorts of men. I'm not one of the worst, boss, nor yet one of the best. I'm somewhere in between the two. What I eat I turn into work and good humor. That's not too bad, after all!'
There are a few kind of people in this book. But the most important two types or person are "man of books" and the "man of action". Writer belongs to the first group. Everything he knows about life he knows from books. Books were his window to the world that he still haven't quite explored. Yes, books can give you some lesions about life, we learn from this book, but not the recipe how to live. Writer thinks that he knows everything he should about life, but when he meet Zorba he understands he still has a lot to learn.
Zorba, on the other hand, is man who survived almost everything. For him, living is always easy and always hard. It is a quite normal thing. He learned to accept things. To live, to dance, to cry, to listen to the music. He was in few wars and suffered a lot. He lost his loving ones and he killed others loving ones. Yes, Zorba says, living is nothing but easy, but that is why you have to find your own ways to survive this world.
Zorba and his dace: just a way to survive
We remember scenes from movie when Zorba is dancing. They are unforgettable. Zorba's dance is crazy and wild. He dance when he is happy and when he is sad. But why is that? Because there are certain things that you just can not express with the words. Dancing is more powerful that words. The first tome Zorba started to dance was when his son Dimitri that was only 2 years-old died. Everybody taught he was crazy. But he knew that was the only way to defeat his grief.
Zorba also danced in War. He was friend with one Russian soldier, and as he didn't know Russian, he would tell his stories to the soldier by dancing. Russian soldier did the same and strangely they understand each other very well. Dance for Zorba is way of living.
It was the dancing When my little boy Dimitri died…and everybody was crying… Me, I got up and I danced. They said, "Zorba is mad." But it was the dancing — only the dancing that stopped the pain.
Women: weak and fragile creature
“If a woman sleeps alone it puts a shame on all men. God has a very big heart, but there is one sin He will not forgive. If a woman calls a man to her bed and he will not go.”
There are two main female characters in this book. The first is old French lady Bouboulina who dedicated her life to passion and 4 admirals that she loved in the War. Bouboulina is tragic heroine. Together with her beauty she lost everything. Years have passes and she stayed completely alone in Crete, where she was a stranger. But to Zorba, Bouboulina was just another female, poor and weak creature, that man needs to protect. Zorba had many women in his life and yes, he loved in a way each one of them. It is because he lives only for today. Not yesterday. Not tomorrow. Today he loves Bouboulina and tomorrow he will love someone else.
In the tragic scene when Bouboulina dies, Zorba is aksing question: Why do people have to die? Even Zorba can not answer this question. The other female character in this book is beautiful widow. The real task for the writer would be to aproach the widow. That would be the first time he will actually start to live a real life. And real life brings a misery.
Widow is murdered because she was to proud. Because she decided to be free and does things in her way. Writer got his chance, but he lost it. That is what life offers. You have to be ready on everything.
“While experiencing happiness, we have difficulty in being conscious of it. Only when the happiness is past and we look back on it do we suddenly realize - sometimes with astonishment - how happy we had been.”
Living like you will never die
Zorba lives in his own way. But his biggest secret is this: "He is living like he is never going to die." That is way Zorba can handle the life.
“Look, one day I had gone to a little village. An old grandfather of ninety was busy planting an almond tree. ‘What, grandfather!’ I exclaimed. ‘Planting an almond tree?’ And he, bent as he was, turned around and said: ‘My son, I carry on as if I should never die.’ I replied: ‘And I carry on as if I was going to die any minute.’
Living every possible second on this earth like it is your last. Living life with full lungs. That is the most important lesion we have to learn from this book!
And still, when I am sad I always remember Zorba and his words. I remmeber how this book has changed my life.
“When everything goes wrong, what a joy to test your soul and see if it has endurance and courage! An invisible and all-powerful enemy—some call him God, others the Devil, seem to rush upon us to destroy us; but we are not destroyed.”
Until new reading, Zorba stays in my heart!
Zorba is one big, good, crazy fellow!
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