A review by sashas_books
Капитан Михалис, by Nikos Kazantzakis
dark
emotional
informative
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
2.75
Somewhere in my social media feeds, I happened to see "Look, Nikos Kazantzakis' great novel! Published in Russian for the very first time!" So I thought "right, I've been meaning to read "Zorba the Greek", because I liked the movie so much, but here is another Kazantzakis, why not?"
Well, the good thing is that I now know a lot more about Crete, its history, and what it was like to live there in the late 19th century.
Now, on to my complaints... I have read a great many books, but until now I have never come across a novel full of such blatant romanticising of machismo, toxic and false masculinity, and misogyny. There were moments when the author seemed to question the above, but I cannot be certain. And if Kazantsakis' foreword is anything to go by, he MEANT to romanticise. I got tired of cringing.
Also, I strongly suspect that this Russian translation is simply not very good. I had the feeling that I kept missing a lot of nuances. It makes me give Kazantzakis' literary merits (at least) the benefit of the doubt.
It's been a while since I was THAT relieved after finishing a book I was not happy with.
Well, the good thing is that I now know a lot more about Crete, its history, and what it was like to live there in the late 19th century.
Now, on to my complaints... I have read a great many books, but until now I have never come across a novel full of such blatant romanticising of machismo, toxic and false masculinity, and misogyny. There were moments when the author seemed to question the above, but I cannot be certain. And if Kazantsakis' foreword is anything to go by, he MEANT to romanticise. I got tired of cringing.
Also, I strongly suspect that this Russian translation is simply not very good. I had the feeling that I kept missing a lot of nuances. It makes me give Kazantzakis' literary merits (at least) the benefit of the doubt.
It's been a while since I was THAT relieved after finishing a book I was not happy with.