Customer Reviews

The Cyclist: A Novel

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This is a provocative and poetic book about the Middle East.
In structure and language I rate it highly original. It reminded me of Michael Ondaatje's English Patient--turned on its head. The attention to detail is almost obsessive. It's Berberian's rare
and origianl use of language which distinguishes this book from
good fiction and sets it a cut above the rest. The language is
evocative of an Enfant Terrible's: at times angry, at times ironic, at times deeply humane. Not afraid to challenge. I would
have wanted to see more of that in fact. But there is certainly
fire in this book.

Berberian's 'The Cyclist' is, put simply, the thoughts of a terrorist as he recovers from a bicycle accident and prepares himself for another terrorist mission. But Berberian does much more than tell a simple story. While in the hospital, the main character/narrator goes through a mental journey of his life and what is important to him. I think readers will be surprised at what they'll find. This man has a love of cycling, a love for fine food, love for a woman...and all of these loves blend together to make him more than just a faceless terrorist. Don't get me wrong, the book is NOT endorsing terrorism in any way, but rather giving us a glimpse of what might go through the mind of a terrorist as the designated act of destruction draws near. A very short book (187 pages) that can be read in just a couple of hours, 'The Cyclist' deserves to be read and discussed.

Is this book the product of creative chaos cast into
a pit of hell and emerging phoenix-like, in triumph?
I have to say yes. The protagonist's obsessions inform
nearly every page. His language, like him, transcends
convention, making him difficult to forget. Our Cyclist
is elliptical yet highly informed. The attention to
cultural detail is (for example, the way milk is stored
in plastic bags, the type of cookies eaten during Purim,
even the fruit shakes sold in Beirut which are named
after world despots)deliriously delicious. Some of the
sentences are permanently burned into my subconscious.
I highly recommend.

Even without the current problems in the Middle East, this would be a wonderful book to read and think about.

The book centers on an unnamed narrator who is planning on carrying out a suicide bombing. Throughout the book, we are witness to his thoughts and experiences as the day of the attack nears. We find out how he has come to this moment in time, with a bomb strapped on his back, and what he thinks about his life and future.

Highly Recommended

Relentless, pushing, implacable, like a glacier, big and brutal. A precisely and delicately written portrait. Thank You.

In a novel told by an unnamed and cosmopolitan narrator, often to the rhythm of couplets, Berberian links the pornography of food to the asceticism of violence. The protagonist's macaroni macaronics conceal deep scars and strident moral dilemmas.

Perhaps most mature in its presentation of lives shattered beyond reconstitution. For those who are alienated into the Academy, solutions are makeshift and the sense of peace tenuous.

loved this book but it's not so much a treatise on terrorism; it is more of a celebration of the senses. each morcel contains an idea, a truth, a new truth, a challenge, so savor each word carefully. nothing is wasted in this slim book. the ingredients combine in the most enduring ways.

The Cyclist is the extrordinary narrative of a thinking terrorist - an enigmatic agent of fear and destruction who ponders his own existentialism as his mission unfolds.

Author Viken Berberian navigates skillfully through the minefields of the Near Eastern cycles of violence and delivers a surreal, timeless novel, free of political and historical cliches.

The story is inwoven with Near-Eastern emotions, colors, fragrances, textures, cultures and food. Lots of food! No doubt this will tingle the senses of anyone familiar with the Near East. It is a refreshing novel from the usual historical, political and travelogue books on the Near East. Indeed a must-read for anyone who wants to grasp the ongoing AngstZeit of the region.

The Cyclist is neither a political nor a historical statement. It is a poem. It is high art. It is a masterpiece bound to remain a litterary classic.

Berberian's writing is highly esthetic yet very powerful. The Cyclist will no doubt secure him a spot amongst the avant-garde litterati.

This book reminds me of the existentialist writers, who at the
core believed that life is absurd. It's a complex read in spite of its brevity. There is a lot of punning in the book. I highly reccommend it to anyone who has spent time in the Middle East or anyone who wants to understand it from an uncommon and untold point of view. At times, the gallows humor makes you wince, but in spite of the narrator's initial cynicism (which he outgrows), it is ultimately a very humane book, full of surprises. Like life, it doesn't end neatly. I highly recommend it, especially for a second read.

How relevant and timely . A thought provoking book with cunning insights into the mind of a suicide bomber. An enjoyable and enriching read . Although I finished the book a few weeks ago , it haunts me . I keep coming back to it .