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(I
hope for nothing. I fear nothing. I am free.)
Kazantzakis
I’ve just finished reading the controversial best selling
novel The DA VINCI CODE by an American author of thriller
fiction, Dan Brown. This book is a brave attempt in a new
fictional style of writing to touch some very critical and
sensitive questions about Christianity. Also, the novel is
about to explore historical conspiracies against the
femininity sprit of the mankind’s history. Before, The DA
VINCI CODE, goddesses and the notion of natural balance
between femininity and masculinity are mentioned in ancient
religions and philosophies like Zuradashtrain, Mirtha, Tao,
and other Indo-Chinese religions. The DA VINCI CODE in a
very savvy technique tries to connect between all ideas that
price the scared role of femininity spirit through out the
history, and in some way pour more fuel on the elusive,
peaceful, and civilized battle between the Christianity and
Judaism, the two major Semitic religions that have great
role in leading today’s western and modern civilization.
The DA VINCI CODE sets in famous cities like N.Y, Paris,
Rome, and London, and its characters are high profile
people. Also the painting and masterpieces of the genius
Leonardo Da Vinci are great tools for the author to develop
its new techniques of story telling. The author Dan Brown is
amazingly views these masterpieces us and encourages each
reader of his novel to go further and see them in their real
way.
I myself never pick up a novel that its cover has big
uppercase letters and illustrated with colorful fancy
design. Therefore, I’ve never had a chance to read novels by
well known writers like Steven King or Ann Rice. Hence, as
you see my reading to THE DA VINCI CODE has come too late
but hopefully coincide the release of the movie.
Furthermore, I was lucky to read and enjoy THE DA VINCI CODE
at same time.
The lady with red hair is always considered as a
non-faithful sexy bad woman; quite in earlier time and
before my reading to THE DA VINCI CODE, I discovered the
historical reason behind calling a red hair woman so
negatively in a profound novel by Nikos Kazantzakis called
THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST. This novel before THE DA
VINCI CODE was the first to declare a probable marriage
relationship between Christ and Mary Magdalene. In his novel
Kazantzakis used a sophisticated technique to claim this
unproven theory and to explore the theme of the battle
between sprit and flesh. Like THE DA VINCI CODE, Christ is
found similar to any ordinary man between choosing God or a
red hair woman.
THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST was banned by Vatican in 1954,
and many of conservative people inside and outside churches
named Kazanzakis as a shameless atheist. Despite of many
people at that never read the novel or never understood its
deep and hidden questions. Unlike THE DA VINCI CODE, in
Kazantzakis’s novel Christ dreams and talks in a very deep
philosophical way, so just by opening the first pages of the
novel a reader feels that he/she is about to read a rich
wonderful text. This is in many ways more complicated and
difficult to digest comparing with THE DA VINCI CODE.
Hopefully, THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST is mentioned in THE
DA VINCI CODE, but as an American movie rather than a Greek
novel by Kazantzakis. This diplomatic approach to a text
written by a non American well known writer dealing the same
questions that THE DA VINCI CODE tries to answer them one
after one in a very mysterious puzzled way, is a smart
technique from the author to make everything American and to
capture the imagination of a wider range of readers.
In this writing I’m not going to compare these two great
that both have become movies in different time and style of
directing. Also each of them gives a reader different taste
and vision to see Christ either as a divine or man. After
reading both novels and seeing both movies, I’ll never
become that kind of readers to appreciate a movie over the
book. Also I never see a novelist done any fictional work
about Christ better than Kazanzakis.
For me any word written by Kazanzakis is a code.
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