This book was scandalous when it was published by Kazantzakis in 1955 and the reason that he - despite being a fervent Orthodox Christian - was refused an Orthodox burial. It was of course the source of the similarly scandalous movie of 1988 with Willem Dafoe as Jesus. Why the scandal? Well, like when Rushdie imagined in The Satanic Verses that perhaps Satan sat on Mohammed's shoulder and dictated parts of the Qu'ran, Kazantzakis looks at the human side of Christ (as depicted in the Gospel of Mark where his is more of a man than a man-god), he allows Jesus to have sexual fantasies about Mary Magdalene and he experiences the guilt of these fantasies and works through them. I found the plot quite plausible and challenging to my imagination and my belief system - but in a positive way. I read it after the Christians went ape-shit crazy in 1988 when the film came out and I can say that the book is far better than the film. I ended up breaking with my belief system - not because of the book but more because of what I perceived as the hypocrisy of a religion that calls Islam closed minded but that could not accept the slightest interrogation into the psyche of its founding figure. Perhaps you should read it and judge for yourselves.

تحفة أخري من تحف نيكوس كازانتزاكيس المبهرة وابداعه الذي لا ينتهي
فلم يصل أي كاتب إلي التأثير في النفس بهذا العمق كما يفعل

The Human Christ
13 March 2021

tOne of the trickiest things about rating this book is that if I rate it too low then people will assume that I’m just another one of those extremist Christians, and if I rate it too high then I’m not being true to myself. I guess the choice really does come down to whether I am going to let myself be swayed by the opinions of other people, or whether I am going to write what I truly believe about this book, and let myself be true to myself.

tI guess I will take the second position.

tOne of the reasons that I read this book was because I absolutely adore the film. Sure, there are aspects of the film that I believe is wrong, but these aspects are not so much because of the film, but rather the underlying text, which is this book. The film is beautifully crafted, but then again you generally can’t expect much less from Scorsese. In fact, one of the comments that he made about the film is that the biggest problem with writing a film about spirituality is that religion gets in the way. Well, he knows first hand because the Christian right pretty much made sure that they weren’t impressed.

tYeah, the book is heretical, but not in the sense that many people claim that it is. Like, they got up in arms over the idea that Jesus got married (to two women at the same time), and had a family. That’s not the issue I have with it, especially since it was a vision as to what might be. No, that isn’t the problem, rather it is that Jesus is portrayed as being human, but a special human who has been selected by God to perform a certain task, and that is to die for humanity's sins. Further, the resurrection is downplayed incredibly, and the suggestion is that it never occurred in a physical sense but rather in a spiritual sense – namely Jesus descended into Hell and then took all of those suffering down there back up to heaven with him.

tThe biggest problem that I have with this interpretation is that without a physical resurrection there is no evidence that Jesus’ death meant anything. In fact, if it wasn’t for the resurrection, Jesus would have just been another prophet that went around telling everybody that they should stop doing bad things to each other and start being respectful to each other, and honestly, there have been plenty of those types of people around the place. That was the gut feeling that I got as I was reading the book, and that was that his life really didn’t mean anything.

tYet for some reason he has become the foundation of one of the major world religions. Mind you, the argument that this is the reason as to why he said who he said he was sort of ignores the fact that he wasn’t the only person to start a major religion – there are plenty of them as well. However, the problem with what I am doing here is that I am taking this one piece of evidence outside of all of the other pieces of evidence that support his claims. It is the same thing with courts – evidence isn’t taken in isolation, it is taken in conjunction with all of the other pieces of evidence that go to support a conclusion.t

tYet I can sort of see why the vision section of the book upset people because the thing that stood out with this section was that I felt as if Jesus had a choice as to whether to go down that road or not. It wasn’t that Jesus was shown the road, and was then tempted to make the choice as to go down that road or not, but rather it felt as if he was making decisions, and not only that, but that he was being deceived as well. This is the thing, I don’t feel that Jesus could have been that easily deceived. In fact, I don’t think that he could have been deceived at all.

tHowever, the issue here is that Jesus was more man than God, as opposed to equally God and equally man (the opposite heresy is where Jesus’ humanity was just an illusion). The thing is that for Jesus’ task to work, not only is the resurrection important (which goes to demonstrate his part of the Godhead), but to also be fully God. If he wasn’t fully God, he couldn’t offer himself as a sacrifice for humanity’s sins, that is his sacrifice couldn’t have restored our relationship with God.

tLook, the book was okay (though the movie was much better). I did find that it really did drag a lot in the middle, and of course, with his reworking of the miracles and the parables. However, the idea that comes out really does make Jesus more human than not, however, I have already explored that. However, along with that, he does give us a much more grounded feel to the times in which Jesus was living. Some of the things in the book would have been really good if he hadn’t decided to ground Jesus as a human. Personally, I would just recommend watching the film – it is absolutely gorgeous.

tMind you, there is a lot more that I could write about this book, but I’ll leave it at that, and hopefully get around to writing a blog post when I get around to watching the film.

وقتی دنیا را آفرید حتم دارم که خود را توی هچل انداخت. ماهی فریاد می زند : ای خدا مرا کور نکن . نگذار وارد تور شوم . ماهیگیر داد می زند : خدایا ماهی را کور کن . وادارش کن وارد تور شود . خدا به کدامش گوش کند ؟گاهی حرف ماهی را گوش می کند و گاهی حرف ماهی گیر را . و این جوریست که دنیا می چرخد .

This book is a scream. Pure scream made out of love and pain. And it will sound until the end of time. That is all I can say.
Maybe because of this book Nikos Kazantzakis is buried on the wall surrounding the city of Heraklion near the Chania Gate, because the Orthodox Church ruled out his being buried in a cemetery.

His epitaph reads "I hope for nothing. I fear nothing. I am free."

أقف حائراً متردداً في تقييم هذه الرواية وبعد تفكير قررت أن أقيمها على هذا النحو.. دعني أقول لك أنها وعرة قاسية ومؤلمة في نفس الوقت جزء منها عاطفي شجي حماسي يلهب القلوب ،أما الجزء الآخر فأشبه بدوامة فاغرة فاها لتلتهم كل الصفحات السابقة والقادمة ربما..

عند التحدث عن الجانب الأدبي نلاحظ تلك البراعة والأتقان والسحر وتحويل المشاهد الى صور واقعية ومشاهد خلابة من خلال الجمل والكلمات وربط المواقف مع بعضها وإندماجها مع محيطها تجد نفسك داخل الرواية تلامس شخصياتها وتعايشها حتى أنك تتنبأ بحزنها وغضبها ويأسها وربما أكثر المشاهد المؤثرة هي عندما كان يهوذا الأسخريوطي يغضب ويعض على شفته لكي لا يتكلم ويضرب الأرض بعصاه ويمزق ثيابه ويبصق في الهواء.. يجتاحك ذلك الشعور بالألم وانت أمام بعض من تلك المواقف الشديدة الحساسية المتناقضة..
هذا الاسلوب محبب جداً لدي فيه أشعر بالرواية من داخلها وأسال نفسي ما هو السرد.. أنه ليس موجوداً أنك تعيش في كنف الرواية لا حاجة لمن يتحدث نيابة عن الوقائع التي تجري أمامك وتشاهدها وتتفاعل معها..
بكل بساطة عندما تقرأ هذه الرواية تشعر أنك الجزء الخفي فيها ،ذلك الجزء الذي لم يُكتب لم ينتبه إليه أحد، ولكنك كنت موجوداً طوال أحداث الرواية وكنت شاهداً على ما يجري ..

لم أشعر بوخزة ملل وأنا أقرأ الرواية.. لم يتح لي ذلك في الحقيقة كنت متسمراً أشاهد مايجري..

نيكوس كازانتزاكيس هو معجزة أدبية بحد ذاته يكتب لا يقنع أحد بل يكتب لذاته، لقلبه .. ليس لديه ميزان محدد يقيس به روايته.. يكتب يكتب ثم يكتب،، يجن أحياناً ويصبح تارة أخرى قديساً يذكرك بالرب ويضيء مثل القديسين ويتحدث بإسم المسيح نفسه..

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تبدأ الرواية بالحلم الذي يراه اليسوع وهو نائم في ورشته يصنع الصليب حيث يرى الملائكة والشياطين تتصارع وتبشر بقدومه ملكاً لبني إسرائيل، ثم في الاجزاء التالية ينطلق نحو الصحراء ليعتزل البشر ويقيم في محراب عتيق لعبادة الرب ثم يرجع الى قريته ليبشر بالدعوة ويلاقي معاندة ومكابرة من بني قومه ولا يتبعه الا بعض الحواريين.. ينطلق بعدها الى الصحراء من بعد لقائه بـ يوحنا المعمداني (وهو يحيى-عليه السلام) من جديد ليكلم الرب كما يزعم الكاتب ويرجع بعد ذلك وهو ليس إبن الانسان بل إبن الرب كما يزعمون..

ينطلق بعدها ليبشر وينذر وتظهر معجزاته في بني إسرائيل فتقوم طائفة منهم بتسليمه الى بيلاطس لكي يقوم بصلبه ..

وهذا المشهد معروف ،العشاء الاخير ثم آخذه للصلب وتعليقه على الصليب ووضع اكليل الشوك على رأسه وغرز المسامير في يده..

في هذه النقطة تختلف الرواية عن ماهو مدون في الإنجيل، حيث حسب رواية نيكوس، يأتي الملاك الحارس الى الصليب وينقذه ويذهب به تحت جناحيه فيبدأ حياة جديدة حيث يتزوج إمرأتين وينجب ويسمي نفسه اليعازر ويعمل نجاراً كما كان في السابق حتى يأتي اليه تلاميذه السابقون ويتحدثون اليه أنه قد خذلهم وفرط بهم وتنازل عن الصلب لأنقاذ البشرية وعاش حياة بعيدة عن آلامهم وطموحاتهم.. بعد ذلك تراه يندم ويبكي فيجد نفسه معلقاً بالصليب وهو على حاله ويفيق من حلمه وإغواءه..

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طبعاً كما قلت الرواية من الجانب الأدبي رائعة وأسطورية تستحق التقدير أما من الناحية الدينية سواء المسيحية والاسلامية فهي بعيدة عن الصواب وتفاصيلها لا تليق بحياة المسيح ذلك النبي التقي النقي الطاهر الذي لم يقترف في حياته خطيئة قط.. لم يعجبني تصوير المسيح بهذا الشكل بالرغم أنه قريب من الانسان ولكن ليس بهذا الشكل المفرط والمتطرف أحياناً.. وغيرها كثير من هذا النوع تجاه الرب والمسيح والحواريين لم أجدها وصفاً مناسباً وحتى ومتناقضة داخل الرواية نفسها.. وهذه مادفعني لهذه التقييم الذي يجده الكثيرون غير مبرر ولا يتناسب مع جمال الرواية الأدبي..

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وأعتذر بشدة عن هذه المراجعة المفككة والضعيفة ولكن بعد هذه الرواية القاسية والمرهقة ربما لم أجد شيئاً أفضل لأكتبه..

So many reviews of this book are in English, Arabic, and many other languages, only 2-3 are in Greek, so this review will be in Greek since it's a Greek book (even though I read it in English.) A note before I switch to Greek. One of the best books I've ever read. 5 stars.
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Μέγα Καζαντζάκη, ελπίζω να με συγχωρήσεις που διάβασα το αριστούργημα τούτο στ' Αγλλικά, αλλά υπάρχει λόγος. Η ιστορία που ακολουθεί είναι αληθινή.
Ήταν Φλεβάρης 2011 κι ήμουν τεταρτοετής φοιτητής Αγγλικής Γλώσσας και φιλολογίας. Επέλεξα το μάθημα Μεγάλα Ευρωπαϊκά Μυθιστορήματα του 20ου αιώνα, Κάναμε τα ακόλουθα:
«A Room of One's Own»
«The Metamorphosis and Other Stories»
«The Lover»
«Animal Farm»
«Nights at the Circus»
και φυσικά τον «The Last Temptation of Christ»
Μια συμφοιτήτριά μου θεούσα, κάτι σαν Ελένη Λουκά αλλά στο πιο ήρεμο, εντόπισε το βιβλίο του Καζαντζάκη στη βιβλιοθήκη μου και μου είπε:
Έχεις αυτό το βιβλίο;
Ναι. της είπα Ο κύριος Σ. το επέλεξε
Ε, τι περιμένει κανείς από έναν γκέι άθεο. είπε, φράση που μετάνιωσε ξεστομίζοντας την το ίδιο λεπτό, τότε της είπα:
Θες να το φυλλομετρήσεις;
ΟΧΙ, μόνο και μόνο που το βλέπω θέλω να βάλω τον σταυρό μου. Η βιβλιοθήκη σου έχει σπιλωθεί μ' αυτό το αισχρό βιβλίο.
Δε συνέχισα την κουβέντα γιατί δεν είχε νόημα. Επίσης δεν συνέχισα το βιβλίο γιατί ήρθε ο καιρός που θα διαβάζαμε το Nights at the Circus έτσι αναγκάστηκα να παρατήσω στη μέση τον Καζαντζάκη. Και τώρα 5 χρόνια μετά επέστρεψα δυναμικά διαβάζοντάς το βιβλίο μέσα στην εβδομάδα πριν την Αγία Εβδομάδα όπως και μέσα την Αγία Εβδομάδα, παράλληλα με την Καινή Διαθήκη, έκδοση της Εκκλησίας της Κύπρου.
Ο Χριστός του Καζαντζάκη είναι πιο αληθινός, τα γεγονότα περιγράφονται με περισσότερη γλαφυρότητα, οι Άγιοι Τόποι είναι και Άγριοι Τόποι γεμάτοι φανατισμό, μισαλλοδοξία, μισογυνισμό και αίμα.
Με τόσο σάλο που προκάλεσε και το βιβλίο και η ταινία νόμιζα θα διάβαζα κάτι αισχρό για τον Χριστό. Να κάνει το τέρας με τις δύο πλάτες με πόρνες, να αυνανίζεται σαν άνθρωπος, να σκοτώνει, αλλά τίποτα απ' αυτά δεν συνάντησα. Ο Τελευταίος Πειρασμός είναι ουσιαστικά οι τελευταίες 50 σελίδες του βιβλίου και λαμβάνει χώρα στο μυαλό του Χριστού σε κλάσματα δευτερολέπτων. Και τι είναι αυτός ο τελευταίος πειρασμός; Είναι τα οράματα που του έδειξε ο Σατανάς, οράματα / ψευδαισθήσεις μιας ζωής με χαρές, γάμους, παιδιά, γέρους να του φωνάζουν δειλέ, λιποτάκτη, προδότη, όλα ψευδαισθήσεις ενώ ήτανε πάνω στον σταυρό και τελικά φωνάζει με μια θριαμβευτική φωνή ΤΕΤΕΛΕΣΤΑΙ και όλα εκεί ξεκινούν.
Και τι μας λέει αυτό; Ότι ο Καζαντζάκης δεν έφτιαξε μια φανταστική βιογραφία αλλά μια ομολογία του ίδιου για την αγάπη που έτρεφε για τον Χριστό, και για κάθε άνθρωπο πικραμένο από τη ζωή και που είχε πολλές ελπίδες γι' αυτή. Όσοι κατηγορούν αυτό το βιβλίο φυσικά και δεν το διάβασαν, τυφλωμένοι από φανατισμό, όσοι όμως δεν το διάβασαν λόγω του ότι δεν βρήκαν καιρό να το κάνουν, το συνιστώ ανεπιφύλακτα. Από τα καλύτερα βιβλία που διάβασα φέτος. Καζαντζάκη είσαι μεγάλος, σίγουρα θα διαβάσω κι άλλα βιβλία σου. Με κέρδισες. (5) ✮✮✮✮✮ αστέρια. Ένα της Βηθλεέμ, ένα της Ναζαρέτ, ένα της Ιερουσαλήμ, ένα της Κρήτης, και ένα της Κύπρου.

I finished this book in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was the summer I joined the Traveling Sacred Bums, an anarchist collective devoted to spiritual enlightenment and voluntary poverty. Our mission was to go completely off the grid. We never spent money—we bartered—and to feed ourselves we opted for dumpster diving and eating fresh roadkill.

Each summer we visited the homeland of noted spiritual leaders like Gandhi, Buddha, and Lil' Nas X. That summer, we selected Nazareth in honor of Jesus but one of our tribe, Chuck, was allergic to cat dander and Israeli cucumbers so we did the next best thing: we visited the homeland of Dan McCafferty the founder of the band Nazareth. Love hurts, my chickadees, love hurts.

We had a good time that summer. We had a good collective. We brought something special to the ancient land of William Wallace and Ivanhoe. The problem was Fern. No amount of traveling sacred bummery could disguise the fact that she was beautiful like a sunrise or a good steak. On top of that, she was the only woman in our collective. We, on the hand, were a sorry lot, with our raggedy clothes, matted hair and body lice. We thirsted for enlightenment but we were starved for love.

Love tore us apart faster than you can say Joy Division. Chuck first fell for Fern, but it wasn’t long before Gilbert and Timmy did, too. They were all moon-eyed and tongue-tied. One traveling sacred bum would give her first dibs on the dumpster scones and the other would sneak her the choicest cuts of roadkill Haggis. We had a strict anti-fraternizing policy (thanks HR!) so this kind of thing was forbidden, but spiritual enlightenment is no match for the heart.

Eventually, I, too, fell for Fern.

One night, while the group was asleep in a Tesco parking lot, Fern and I found ourselves alone. She noticed my copy of Kazantzakis' novel poking out of my plastic satchel. "Cool title; any good?" Yes, I said, it was good. I told her the novel had a mysterious pull on me, as if it were channeling the same pentecostal spirit that flowed through apostles. The novel seemed to pulsate and breathe. It was so real, it resurrected the passion of Christ.

We paused for second while the Tesco customers finished loading up groceries in the boot of their car. Normal folks, people with families and friends and good jeans. We exchanged pleasantries with them—people were always keen to exchange pleasantries with the Sacred Bums, mostly to see if they could sniff out our intentions. Once they were gone, Fern confessed that she was tired of bumming around, that she missed her childhood home in Liberty Springs, Arkansas. She grew up in a double-wide trailer with a kitchen nook and two bedrooms. She missed her cat Doodles. There was more to be said, I'm sure, and the night could have ended with a tender kiss, but we'll never know because I got bashed in the head by a runaway grocery cart.

When I woke up, everyone was sleeping. Immediately, I was hit with a thunderbolt of certainty. And a thunderbolt of electricity. Up I got and home did trot as fast I could caper. I found my most valuable possession: a Topps Bill Buckner rookie card worth hundreds of dollars. With my windfall I bought a double-wide trailer home in Liberty Springs, Arkansas. Fern's childhood home. Her parents were kind enough to move into a nursing home at my lawyer’s request. With a little help from the internet I located the Traveling Sacred Bums in Glasgow, Scotland. I brought Fern back with me to Liberty Springs. Fern and I got hitched; we had two kids, Chip and Betty, and two chocolate labs named Hershey and Squirt.

It's a good life, I know. Sometimes it feels like a dream, or a dream within a dream. I wonder if I'm awake or if somehow I'm asleep and dreaming my life. We'll never know, will we?

ძალიან ლამაზი ტექსტია. ბოლოს კითხვის პროცესისგან ამხელა სიამოვნება მაშინ მივიღე, როდესაც სულების სახლს ვკითხულობდი.
პროლოგი, რომელიც უფრო წინასიტყვაობაა ვიდრე პროლოგი, შემდეგი სიტყვებით სრულდება „დარწმუნებული ვარ, ყოველი თავისუფალი ადამიანი, ვინც კი ამ, სიყვარულით აღსავსე წიგნს წაიკითხავს, უფრო მეტად, ვიდრე ოდესმე და უფრო უკეთ ვიდრე ოდესმე, შეიყვარებს ქრისტეს.“ ჩემს შემთხვევაში ასე იყო, ასეთი სიყვარული დიდი ხანია არ მიგვრძნია. მთელი პროცესი სიამოვნებას მანიჭებდა, გვერდიდან გვერდამდე გვერდიდან არ ვშორდებოდი ქრისტეს და მასთან ერთად განვლე გზა გოლგოთამდე. მასთან ერთად ვიწვნიე ბოლო ცდუნებაც.
სიუჟეტი არის ადამიანზე და არა ღმერთზე და ეს მგონია წიგნის ამომავალი წერტილი. იდეა იესოს არსბეობისა. რომ ჩვენც, მომაკვდავებს, შეგვიძლიათ ვიყოთ უფრო მეტნი ვიდრე ხორცი. მიუხედავად იმისა, რომ ის ცდუნებები, რასაც იესო ებრძოდა, ცდუნებად არ მიმაჩნია, სიამოვნებით დავიკავებდი მის ადგილს (რომ შემეძლოს).
წარმოდგენა არ მაქვს რატომ აკრძალა ეს წიგნი ვატიკანმა.. ამაზე მეტად რამ შეიძლება გაგრძძნობინოს იესოს სიყვარული არც კი ვიცი.
და კიდევ ერთხელ გავმეორდები, ასეთი ლამაზი ტექსტი დიდი ხანია არ წამიკითხავს.
და ერთსაც ვიტყვი, ბოლოს წინა თავში როდესაც სავლე/პავლე ღმერთის იდეაზე საუბრობს, აბსოლიტურად ვეთახნმები და ვიზიარებ მის დამოკიდებულებას.
„არ მაინტერესებს, რა არის სიმართლე და რა ტყუილი, არ მადარდებს ჩემი თვალით ვნახე თუ არა მისი ჯვარცმა! მე ჩემი დაჟინებით, ჩემი მისწრაფებით, ჩემივე რწმენით ვქმნი ჭეშმარიტებას! მას აქეთ-იქით კი არ დავეძებ, თავადვე ვქმნი! ადამიანზე დიდ ჭეშმარიტებას ვქმნი და და ამით ვზრდი ადამიანის მნიშვნელობას. “... „კარგად იცოდე, რომ დამჭირდეს, ჰაერს ვაიძულებ შენი ფორმა მიიღოს, შენი სხეული შეიმოსოს, ეკლის გვირგვინი დაიდგას, სამსჭვალები და სისხლი დაითმინოს.“
ჩვენ უფრო გვჭირდება იესოს არსებობა, ვიდრე თვითონ.
- ლამა საბქთანი
- აღსრულებულ არს
და სულ საბოლოოდ წიგნში იუდა ყველაზე ახლოს დგას იესოს იდეალთან და ძალიან ძლიერ პერსონაჟად გვევლინება.

După o perioadă de vreo trei luni fără să citesc mai nimic, am reluat „Ultima ispită a lui Hristos” de la ultimele o sută de pagini, dar nu oricum, ci recitind și ce am însemnat de la început și pot să mă felicit pentru asta pentru că am privit-o cu alți ochi, niște ochi mai miloși și mai atenți la toate replicile personajelor, replici care la mine au cântărit mai mult decât ideea generală a cărții, perspectiva lumească a vieții și trăirilor interioare ale lui Iisus.

„-Nu te-ngrijora; deschide-ți gura; nimic altceva nu cere Dumnezeu de la tine. Iubești oamenii?
-Nu știu; îi văd și sufăr, nimic altceva.
-Ajunge asta, copilul meu, ajunge; ridică-te și vorbește-le. Atunci poate la tine suferința se va înmulți, dar suferința lor se va ușura; poate de aceea te-a trimis Dumnezeu în lume; o să vedem.!”

„S-au clătinat temeliile lumii, pentru că s-a clătinat inima omului.”

„Iuda lăsă capul în jos, iar peste puțin:
-Dacă ar fi ca tu pe învățătorul tău, ai face-o?
Mult timp Iisus rămase gânditor; în cele din urmă:
-Nu, spuse el, mă tem că n-aș putea; de aceea și lui Dumnezeu i-a fost milă de mine și mi-a dat datoria cea mai ușoară: să mă răstignesc.”

„-Vine, vine, vine regele iudeilor, huideo!
Ucenicii se vârâră iarăși în dosul butoaielor; Simon se întoarse:
-Măi ticăloșilor, strigă el, nu ieșiți afară să-l vedeți? Să vă vadă și el, să se mângâie sărmanul?
Ei, așadar, o să ies eu și-o să-i fac semn, aici sunt; Simon din Cirene, prezent. [...]
În urma lui alergau șchiopii, chiorii, schilozii înfuriați pentru că nu-i însănătoșise, și-l blestemau și-l loveau cu cârjele și toiegile lor. Din când în când, privea în jurul său; nu se va arăta vreun prieten? Ce s-au făcut cei iubiți?”

I read this book at a very interesting time: In 1967 I was working in Jeddah, about 600 hundred miles south of Judea, training Saudi soldiers on the Raytheon Hawk Missile program. I had just visited Greece the month before with a Greek-American colleague where we had to be discreet in discussing politics. Subsequently, on April 21st the Greek military staged a coup. Two months later, June 1967, Nasser of Egypt would attack Israel which caused his defeat and reversals all over the Middle East. In 1965-66 I had visited Nazareth, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Tiberias, and Eilat, among other villages and cities in Jordan and Israel mostly by bus and hitchhiking night and day.

When you read this book, especially having seen the cities and land, you see Jesus's life much more clearly, and you get a better understanding of the Apostles, especially and essentially Judas Iscariot, Jesus's family, and how Jesus became who he was. This wonderful historical novel along with my esoteric travels had a profound effect on me and blew away some of the fluff in my head about the version of Christianity that I was brought up on.

An essential book for anyone who is from the Christian tradition and who loves superb historical fiction. (Kazantzakis also wrote Zorba--another classic which exemplifies parts of the Greek soul.)

The Last Temptation is my very favorite book of all time.

I believe this is my edition, translated by P.A. Bien.

Although not particularly religious, I was so moved by this book that I seriously looked into trying to learn Greek so that I could see if I had lost anything in the translation.

There was a passage early in the book, a series of three or four paragraphs only, where Kazantzakis, (through a translator) was able to evoke the perfume of a garden with only a handful of typed words in a musty old book.

It was an epiphanous moment in my life.