The Cyclist: A Novel
by Viken Berberian
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Description
The controversial novel about food, love, and terrorism. Somewhere in the Middle East, an aspiring terrorist has been entrusted with a mission that will reverberate around the world: to deliver a bomb to a hotel in Beirut, where the detonation will destroy hundreds of innocent lives. If he remains true to his cause, he will bring about his own death. Yet life holds such tantalizing delights: food (his secret vice), the heady pleasures of bicycle racing, the joys of unexpected love. As the show more days count down to the final, chilling moment of reckoning, this angst-ridden gourmand ponders his existential quandary -- with horrifying and hilarious results. A slyly subversive black comedy about a food-fixated terrorist who dreams of liberation through a world of eroticism and sensuality, The Cyclist combines absurdist humor and edgy lyricism to tell a provocative, page-turning tale of individual freedom and political violence. show lessTags
Recommendations
Member Recommendations
fiktions Erudite and well burnished.
fishersnap Farflung and global, atmospheric and strange. The Cylist is reminiscent of early Dellilo with chapters on Beirut, though
Berberian is more dreamy and surreal in his depiction of political
violence. Both obsessed with the archeology of language and violence.
Member Reviews
The language in this book is captivating and it has penetrating psychological insight. It is a very original read, so far, though it was not easy for me to get into. An important document on terrorism from a non-insitutional (literar) perspective, something which is rare in literary fiction. Written pre 9/11
I loved this debut novel by Viken Berberian. I actually had the pleasure of meeting him before publication at schmoshie party in the city. I was attending with a dear friend, Glory Kadigan/Bowen.
I found the writing terrific and intriguing. Especially the emotion set forth before the act.
It's a short read and I highly recommend it.
I found the writing terrific and intriguing. Especially the emotion set forth before the act.
It's a short read and I highly recommend it.
unusual, captivating read of a pedestrian topic
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Author Information
3+ Works 158 Members
Common Knowledge
- Original publication date
- 2002
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 85
- Popularity
- 376,960
- Reviews
- 3
- Rating
- (4.08)
- Languages
- English, French, Italian
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 5
- ASINs
- 2
