The Cyclist

by Viken Berberian

Book Overview

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...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0743249399
• ISBN13: 9780743249393
• Release Date: June 2003
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.3" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Unusual & Thoughtful Debut

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.

Implaccable

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

brave new world

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

I found the book rare, highly original

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 rareand origianl use of language which distinguishes this book fromgood fiction and sets it a cut above the rest. The language isevocative of an Enfant Terrible's: at times angry, at times ironic, at times deeply humane. Not afraid to challenge. I wouldhave wanted to see more of that in fact. But there is certainlyfire in this book.

An important book that shows the human side of a terrorist

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