TODA RABA

by Nikos azantzakis ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 17, 1964

ter a trip to the Soviet Union for the tenth anniversary of the October Revolution, this well-known Greek author wrote Toda Raba (1929) -- an epic novel of the nnamed ""heroes"" who believed in the revolutionary ""Idea"" as the dawning of a new age for man. As ""pilgrims"" to the cause they journeyed from all countries of the earth to aswer ""the cry from Moscow,"" some to pay homage to the ""Idea"" itself, others to see that Russia, land of the ""Idea's"" germination, was making of her almost messianic ission. Old Sou-ki, the Schoolteacher from San Francisco's Chinatown; Rahel, a beautiful young Polish Jewess; Amita, the idealized Japanese poet; Ananda, the mystical Hindu saint; Azad, the brutish Armenian soldier; Galanos from Crete, an intellectual who learns how empty mere ideals can be. Each ""comrade"" has different motives and different obsessions for the future of man. Each reacts differently to the realities Russia thrusts in his view. Only Toda Raba, the African shaman, remains outside the conflicts of thought and politics. His ""Idea"" is a passion which he sees in a frenzied sion in front of Lenin's tomb: the oppressed countries (of Africa and Asia) rise to gnity and liberation in his wild dance. Toda Raba is the real ""hero"" to whom the author is pointing throughout the poetic unreality of this modern Odyssey. In writing both powerful and obsessed, the contemporary reader finds a fantastic and incredible sion of the human dream attached to ""the rising red star.

Pub Date: June 17, 1964

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1964

Categories: FICTION