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Jan 09, 2008

Phil rated it:

It has been almost 25 years since I read this and I really ought to re-read it, for I SO loved it the first time encountered it. Two stories... I recommended it to a friend of long standing who is a devout Orthodox Christian, thinking he might enjoy the "mind-game" Kazantzakis played. But he declined because his priest disapproved of the author and because of the brouhaha in Kazantzakis' native Greece involving the Orthodox clergy. Pity - My friend's loss. Just after I finished reading More...

0 comments like (6 people liked it)

Jun 11, 2011

K.D. rated it:

According to the imagination of this Greek writer who was 1 vote away to grab the 1952 Nobel Prize for Literature, Nikos Kazantzakis, the last temptation of Christ happened while he was hanging on the cross. In the book, at that point that he was about to be nailed, the sunny heaven suddenly turned dark, the earth shook and Simon of Cyrene (the innkeeper) saw angels coming down from heaven, were the ones who nailed Jesus to the cross and took him away upon his death.

This book regula More...

1 comment like (4 people liked it)

Jun 23, 2008

Jeffrey rated it:

This is not your grandparent’s gospel. That’s the first thing you must accept if you are going to make it through this novel.

Nikos Kazantzakis states in the introduction to The Last Temptation of Christ, “This book is not a biography; it is the confession of every man who struggles.” He explains that the book explores the “dual substance of Christ,” the struggle between his flesh and spirit - the stronger the struggle the richer the final harmony, a union with God. A struggle More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Feb 13, 2008

Clark rated it:

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 onl More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Jun 12, 2011

Moon 佛月球 Будда Луны rated it:

THE POWER OF SUFFERING

As the wheel of life turns, sometimes one finds oneself at the very bottom. These are moments in one's life when emptiness engulfs it. As it devours the flesh, it plunges one's existence into an abysmal darkness, weakening the already wounded BODY thereby propelling the SPIRIT to awaken from its deep slumber...

Usually prompted by such inevitable events in life like an incurable disease, an excruciating physical or emotional pain, an utter loneliness More...

8 comments like (3 people liked it)

May 02, 2011

Dayes rated it:

يبدو المسيح في هذه الرواية فكرة مطاطية جدا ً بشكل ٍ غريب ، فهو ابن الله الذي يرغب بالتضحية في نفسه ، و هو نفسه الإنسان الذي يرغب بالحياة كما يشاء ، و كأنه يعترض على إرادة الله ، من أجل خلاص روحه هو فقط ، المسيح هنا خليط ٌ عجيب من الإنسانية و الألوهية و الرسالة و النبوة ، فكرة الصلب و تخليص العالم من آثامه ليست مجرد حلم فقط ، بل فكرة جميلة قادرة على تخدير الإنسانية بأن هناك من كفّر غنها خطاياها ، فكرة الصلب ما كانت لتكون هذه المسيحية من دونها ، هذه الفكرة التي ألهبت قلب الإنسان من خلال مفهوم التض More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Sep 09, 2008

Erinn rated it:

Banned by the Church? It's got to be good. AMAZING! Explores what would have happened if Christ had taken the temptation to end the crucifixion. It also gave an incredible perspective on Judas and his motivation to betray Christ. Fascinating.

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Feb 08, 2012

ChRis.t.OS rated it:

KAZANTZAKI'S CHRIST IS A CHRIST I AM NOT FOND OF!!!I DONT EVEN WANNA REVIEW IT ALL BEEN SAID BEFORE,man what a waste of time.I dont feel less christian for reading it either way u can believe in whatever u want to.The issue with this book wasn't blasphemy it was stupidity.Anyway besides the retailing of the new testament it is not smthng special except Christ's final vision which i found extremely interesting.kazantzakis is a great writer his whole work is magnificent but u know what? whoever wr More...

47 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jan 08, 2009

Andrés rated it:

Kazantzakis at his best! This book is simply a master class of storytelling that shows why this author is one of the very few true masters of narrative.

This book has raised great controversy among the Christian and particularly the Catholic Church and devotees. However the way faith driven men and women interpret this book's message is a good indicator of those who read the scriptures and those who study the scriptures. The book frightens the God-fearing people who are intimidated by More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Apr 05, 2010

Paul rated it:

I re read this book for Easter this year, why I am not sure. I have had wanted to re read for quite some time. Well I did. I can see the influence of Nietzche all over it. Jesus of this book is definatly not of the weak. There is, I have noticed in Kazantzakis work an envy of the strong, the macho. Here that strong character is Judas and Jesus envies him through out the book. Judas isn't the theif from the Gospels, but the man of strength who shepards Jesus. His act of betrayel then is h More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 13, 2008

Smarti rated it:

This was a difficult book for me to tackle - I finally finished it yesterday and I am glad I stuck with it. In essence, this is a retelling of the life of Jesus Christ and of the ultimate necessity of his death. For me, for the most part of the book, Kazantzakis wrote a very spiritual novel, faithful to the gospels. As I am not really religious, some parts were really hard to get through, hence, I had to stop several times in order to read something in between. In the end, though, Kazantzakis do More...

4 comments like (3 people liked it)

Mar 15, 2007

Kathryn rated it:

This book singlehandedly restored my faith in the historical Jesus and is absolutely the most spiritually affirming novel I have ever read. What better figure to explore the theme of sacrifice with other than Jesus? By the end of the book, you truly empathize with the burden this man carried as "God's chosen," frought with self-doubt and at times feeling like he was losing his mind; wanting desparately to live the "normal" life of a husband and father. A very sophisticated More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Jun 25, 2008

Kevin rated it:

This book supposes that Christ, as a human being, was subject to the same emotions as every other being such as rage, lust, joy, doubt, etc. It follows the formative years of Christ up until he is crucified. The most interesting part I thought was at the end while dying on the cross, an angel comes to Christ and shows him the other "life" he could have chose to live. One where he marries and raises children and lives to a very old age in a warm community as a carpenter. I found it very More...

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 14, 2008

Kate rated it:

This book is brilliant. The theology isn't quite mine--indeed, I wouldn't call it orthodox--but the story is fascinating and, I think, a worthy read for any Christian or non-Christian. It is similar to Anita Diamant's The Red Tent in that it takes a set of well-known stories from the Bible and retells them from perspective(s) that are not present in Scripture. For many readers, this will bring new life into an old story; for others, it will raise new questions; for still others, it will allow th More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 19, 2007

Logan rated it:

Beautiful book. I grew up Catholic and Jesus is always hitting me in the back of the head, but this book is good for all non-religious types (of which I definitely am despite the upbringing). I'm not sure how many translations into English are out there of this, or which one I read, but this book reads a lot of the time like prose poetry. Seriously beautiful. I remember wishing the Jesus in this book was the Jesus I was brought up with. That sort of response is why he got booted from the Orthodo More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Aug 17, 2007

Nicole rated it:

this is a fantastic book! if you haven't concieved that the Gospels within the Bible and the stories taught in Sunday schools are just that--stories told & retold by humans, just as The Last Temptation of Christ is a story--this book will open your eyes to the idea that history and religion are not facts but interpretations of experience retold by human. The Last Temptation of Christ is more fictional than historical, but it forces you to question your paradigm through which you see and what yo More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 09, 2011

Gordon added it

This book came to me strongly recommended by a good friend, so I was predisposed to like it. It turned out to be something of a disappointment. Not because it is scandalous as some would have you believe - it isn't. Some of the thoughts and actions attributed to Jesus strike me as plausible, some not. But that isn't the point: the book is intended to be an exploration of personal struggle, not a true-to-life biography. On that level, in places it is beautiful despite the somewhat awkward (to my More...

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Dec 13, 2008

Jeff rated it:

Much like the book, the basic meat of the story lies at the end...the last 100 or so pages here. You might even sense Kazantzakis' desire to get to the "last temptation" in that he rushes through the Passion...condemnation by Pilate, being denied by the people,and the Crucifixion lasting all of about one and a half pages. But the real reason for this is that Kazantzakis is saying that Christ's death is not the important part.

The relationship between Christ and Judas, wh More...

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Nov 15, 2008

Rafael rated it:

"A cool Heavenly breeze took possession of him..." with that opening, Kazantzakis explores the liminal space between god and man. This is a profoundly spiritual and dare I say, Christin novel of exploration. Yet the Christ of the book should not be mistaken for the Christ of the New testament. Like all of us, Kazantzakis struggled to identify that within us that the Christian church calls upon us to do, find Christ in ourselves, so that we may understand the nature of the spiritual and More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 06, 2012

Jon rated it:

I bought the Last Temptation at a used book sale. It was so old, GoodReads didn't provide a cover option to choose from. It was so old, the pages fell from their binding literally as I turned pages. That said, the condition of the book did not influence my reading, although being sick with bronchitis may have because most of my reading was done in bed (late at night) while I was under the influence of codeine enriched cough syrup. I can't say I loved this book (it made me too uncomfort More...

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Jul 13, 2011

March rated it:

Maybe I should start by saying that Nikos Kazantzakis' Zorba is among my very much favorite books so far. Checking out his other great "hit" - The Last Temptation of Christ - was thus sort of a must. The quick review that I want to give this book tonight will surely not do it justice, but there's only so much time I can spare right now, and I have been putting this review off for a long time already, so here goes.

It was a difficult book for me to read - the language is (I thi More...

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Jun 09, 2011

Jeruen rated it:

They say that curiosity kills the cat. If that were the case, then I should have been dead ages ago.

There were times in which I select what I read based on what people think about it. Back in undergrad, I picked up a few books due to the fact that they were revolutionary, and that they were banned previously. I have read quite a few of those books, such as Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller, and The Rainbow and its sequel Women in Love by D. H. Lawrence. These three books were controvers More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 20, 2010

Matt rated it:

This book astounded me. It's one of the few books I've read twice, since I usually would rather read a new book. I guess what amazed me most is how Kazantzakis brought Jesus to life in a story that felt like a nightmare that you don't want to wake up from. In the book Jesus was a giant contradiction, which to me, really gave him an intensity that made him a man and a God at once. I know that this book is very controversial amongst Christians (Kazantzakis himself was excommunicated from the G More...

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Aug 05, 2007

Mandy rated it:

A book I recommend but with caution. It's hard to read this and come out wholly unchanged at the other end of it -- asking a slew of uncomfortable questions about beliefs many of us have taken for granted since we were children.

With regard to the scandal surrounding "Last Temptation" -- as far as I'm concerned, the introduction answers all accusations concisely and candidly, in terms of why he wrote it, what he was struggling with, and on what level (fiction!) we should ap

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 17, 2009

Arash rated it:

شاید برایتان پیش آمده باشد که وقتی افکار متناقضی به سویتان هجوم آورده اند و شما را از پا می افکنند با خود گفته باشید ای کاش مسیح بودم و مانند او با اراده ای استوار به پیش می رفتم.
در این کتاب با مسیح همراه می شوید.و با او رستگار میگردید.اما شاید در آخر بپرسید «چرا؟».

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 02, 2009

Klay rated it:

perhaps the book that has been most influential in my life...a CLASSIC

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 29, 2007

Virginia rated it:

I told my mother (who is Catholic and protested the movie's release in the 80s) that if I had seen the movie or read the book when I was a kid, I would probably be a Christian today.

This book made Jesus more real to me than anything else ever did.

Additionally, it started a huge obsession with reading all of the biographies and historical accounts of Jesus that I could find, including about 15 different versions of the bible.

It is an amazing book.

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 09, 2006

Sarah rated it:

This is one of the most stunning books I've read as it is a very alternative interpretation on a pretty well known story. It was black listed by the pope for its portrayal of Christ as a man with humanly desires and frustrations. An interesting twist turns Mary Magdalene into the woman Jesus was supposed to marry from childhood; another one questions Judas as the betrayer...Very interesting book. I still think about it and it's been about 6 years since I read it.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 08, 2012

CaterinaAnna rated it:

I think I enjoyed this book. It was an interesting journey into the humanity, and therefore the difficulties faced, by Jesus realising and accepting his divinity. It was at times harrowing and also confusing, for the boundaries between reality and vision are often blurred, not just for Jesus but also for other characters in the book. And there are a lot of characters, which I suspect might be rather difficult to keep up with for someone who doesn't know the gospels. In spite of being inside thei More...

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Feb 27, 2009

Amy rated it:

this book was awesome..........i actually bought a copy of the new testement so that i could compare the novel with the biblical texts. oh, but if you're very religious, you wouldn't like it.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

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