Greek Passion / Nikos Kazantzakis 432 p.

I am a Kazantzakis junkie.  This author of Zorba the Greek and The Last Temptation of Christ wrote a novelization of the life of Francis of Assisi - Saint Francis: a Novel - which is one of my all-time favorites.  Greek Passion was less enjoyable but still interesting, a reworking of the Gospel Passion in a small Greek village controlled by the Turks during the Ottoman period.  I liked it for its extremely vivid depiction of the setting; on the other hand, the development of the characters to represent various Gospel figures felt sometimes forced and cookie-cutterish.  I did like the Pilate figure, the Turkish governor, fat, drunken and debauched, with no more concern for his subjects than animals but powerfully motivated to keep the peace.