Books: Life Force

ZORBA THE GREEK (311 pp.)—NIkos Kazanfzakis—Simon & Schuster ($3.50).

Nikos Kazantzakis, 68, was runner-up for the Nobel Prize in Literature last year.* Born in Crete and author of some 30 novels, plays and books on philosophy, Kazantzakis is one of Greece's leading men of letters. When Zorba the Greek appeared in Britain seven months ago, British critics tossed cheers around like "well dones" at a cricket match. Said the Times Literary Supplement: "Mr. Kazantzakis . . . has created in Zorba one of the great characters of modern fiction." Said the New Statesman &...