Books: Last Testament

REPORT TO GRECO, by Nikos Kazantzakis. 512 pages. Simon & Schuster. $7.50.

This century is likely to expire before qualified men find Nikos Kazantzakis' true place in the pantheon of literature. His claims on greatness must await the patient perspective of time. He wrote eight novels, of which three—Zorba the Greek, The Greek Passion and Freedom or Death—are well known in the U.S.

As a scholar, he converted the classics of seven languages into Greek. As a philosopher, he absorbed Bergson, Nietzsche, Buddha and Lenin, and formed a derivative, somewhat nihilistic creed that seemed...