Nikosz Kazantzakisz: God's Pauper. St. Francis of Assisi

This is not a biography but an interpretation of one of the most lovable figures in history by Nikos Kazantzakis. He has dedicated the book to his friend, Albert Schweitzer.
Kazantzakis saw Man as the battleground of the eternal struggle between spirit and flesh. His writings are an intensely anguished expression of the struggle and he uses the story of St. Francis as he used that of Christ in The Last Temptation to draw us into the maelstrom.
The story is dramatically unfolded to us by the Saint's constant companion, Frate Leone – Brother Leo. He takes us through agonies of physical and spiritual humiliation, beatings and betrayals. We accompany the Saint before the Pope to establish his Brotherhood; to Damietta and the Saracen armies; in the solitary vigils on Mount Alvernia. Rain, wind, trees, crops, seasons, the minutest and the mightiest elements of nature form the backcloth to the powerful drama of events.
Francis' renunciation – '... There is the abyss - Jump!'
The shuddering horror of the moment when he kisses the leper. He lifts him to carry him to the city only to find himself holding an empty robe-'All these, if you kiss them on the mouth - Oh God, forgive me for saying this - they all ... become Christ.'
Humour, hate, beauty, reverence, compassion, jealousy and fear are some ingredients of the novel, fused in infinite shades and subtleties