A short spiritual and philosophical work, written in a poetic, rhapsodic style, that sets out Kazantzakis's vision of life. It is not a novel but a kind of credo, describing the human being as a fighter who helps God by struggling, creating and overcoming. Drawing on thinkers such as Nietzsche and Bergson, it speaks of a living spirit pressing through matter and calls on the reader to take part in that effort. The book gives important background to the ideas that run through his later novels and poems.