Zorba the Greek is a novel by Nikos Kazantzakis about a scholar's interactions with a vivacious older man named Alexis Zorba. After meeting Zorba, the protagonist brings him to Crete where he owns the mineral rights to a tract of land. The novel chronicles their friendship with one another, Zorba's romantic relationship with an older woman he calls "Bouboulina," the protagonist's relationship with a widow and their failed attempts to build and improve a lignite mine. The novel has strong Existentialist undertone, with themes of death, religion, self-overcoming and redemption.