Book Log: Zorba the Greek

I bought Zorba the Greek at Belton's "Christmas on the Chisholm Trail" for $1 in order to read in the plane to & from Philadelphia. I'm glad I did; I very much enjoyed reading it. I want to read it again and make a list of all the new vocabulary.

It reminded me a little bit of some books by Hesse; for some time I thought the plot was going to be, "Chaste man finds what his heart is really missing and discovers the life of his emotions," but it's more complicated than that. Despite that the book's title says it's about Zorba, I think it's as least as much about the unnamed narrator and his friendships and emotions. (He obviously has very deep emotions even though he thinks his way thru life.)

Here's my first stab at the main questions it raises: What are the consequences of living life the way Zorba does? the way the narrator does? (and likewise the way other characters do: Dame Hortense, the peasants, monks, and the narrator's other friend?) To what degree is living life with Zorba's gusto desirable and achievable?

Then there are the contextual questions: How is Buddhism mixed up with this? What is the history of Greece and Crete in the time period depicted?