The Suffering God: Selected Letters to Galatea and to Papastephanou

by Nikos Kazantzakis, Philip Ramp (Translator), Katerina Anghelaki Rooke (Introduction)

1920-1924 were decisive years both in Greek and Western history. They were also crucial years in the life and work of Kazantzakis when the Idea ripened which was to hold together all his work till the end of his life. From that very important period, during which Kazantzakis, nearly 40, was in the middle of an agitated and constantly changing Europe, we really have no other record except the letters to his first wife Galatea, a few letters to a distant, childhood friend in America, the priest Manolis Papastephanou and a small book in the form of a dialogue, where five people talk about God.

Katzantzakis was going through one of the most important changes in his life. Deeply shaken by what he felt was a new Middle Ages in Europe, he was slowly coming out of the Buddhic cloud wherein he had dwelt for some time thinking he could find there an answer to the problem of existence. The world then ceased to be a phantasmagoria, a dream to be dissipated by the slightest breeze. Surrounded by human suffering, Kazantzakis became more aware than ever of the historical responsibility of the individual which makes each one feel that he has the answer to the injustice of the world. This inner struggle is evident in all of his writing.

114 pages, Hardcover

First published July 1, 1979

About the author

(Greek: Νίκος Καζαντζάκης)
Nikos Kazantzakis was a Greek writer, journalist, politician, poet and philosopher. Widely considered a giant of modern Greek literature, he was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in nine different years, and remains the most translated Greek author worldwide.