Product Description

WINNER OF THE 2008 INTERNATIONAL IMPAC DUBLIN LITERARY PRIZE

De Niro’s Game plunges readers into the timely story of two young men caught in Lebanon’s civil war. Bassam and George, best friends in childhood, have grown to adulthood in war-torn Beirut. Now they must choose their futures: to stay in the city and consolidate power through crime, or to go into exile abroad, alienated from the only existence they have known. Told in a distinctive, captivating voice that fuses vivid cinematic imagery and page-turning plot with the measured strength and beauty of Arabic poetry, De Niro’s Game is an explosive portrait of life in a war zone, and a powerful meditation on what comes after.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #588212 in Books
• Published on: 2007-08-21
• Released on: 2007-08-21
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 280 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. This aggressive, prize-winning Canadian import debut recounts the fate of two childhood friends in war-ravaged Beirut. Narrator Bassam dreams of leaving Beirut, where there is "not enough [money] for cigarettes, a nagging mother, and food," and escaping to Rome, where even the pigeons "look happy and well fed." To fund his escape, he enters into a scheme with his best friend, George, to skim funds from the poker arcade where George works. But George is soon coerced into joining the militia and rises to its top ranks, allowing the friends to indulge in freewheeling lawlessness. Their days of riding the streets of West Beirut "with guns under our bellies, and stolen gas in our tanks, and no particular place to go" gives way to betrayal and violence more ferocious than either self-styled thug had bargained for. Though Bassam does eventually leave, he finds he cannot entirely escape Beirut; only in Paris, where the story plays out its third and final act, does he discover the extent of his friend's treachery. Hage's energetic prose matches the brutality depicted in the novel without overstating the narrative's tragic arc—an impressive first outing for Hage. (Aug.)
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From Booklist
*Starred Review* East meets West in this stunning first novel yielding a totally fresh perspective on war-torn Beirut. Bassam and George have been best friends since childhood, when they roamed the ruined streets of their hometown, making a game out of collecting empty bullets and cannon shells to trade for cigarettes. Now, years into the civil war, "ten thousand bombs had landed," and the two have lost their parents and many neighbors to them, growing hard and cynical in the process. Every day is a test in survival, a mad scramble for food and petrol. Bassam dreams of escaping to Rome, where even the pigeons look "happy and well-fed." He and George concoct an elaborate ruse to rip off the gambling parlor where George works, but after joining the local Christian militia, George is a changed man. Soon even their close friendship is enveloped by the nihilism bred by living in a war zone, and Bassam is forced to flee from the militia, hopping a a boat bound for France. Both terse and lyrical, Hage's narrative is a wonder, alternately referencing modern American action heroes and ancient Arabic imagery. The blend of the two is as startling as it is beautiful. Wilkinson, Joanne
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Review
"...a hallucinatory vision of how war corrupts even friendship. Written in English and calling upon Arabic poetry and French philosophy, De Niro’s Game forms an intriguing trilingual hybrid that should cement its appeal worldwide." -- Washington Post

"...the language, restless, enervated, slides from blunt and colorless to the candenced, figuring [the protagonist’s] world’s endless cycle of revolution and despair...Remarkable." -- Los Angeles Times

"Canadian author Rawi Hage’s exhilarating debut novel captures a dreamlike, cacophonous Beirut during the Lebanese civil war...Hage’s scattergun prose[’s]... impact lingers long after the last bomb has landed." -- The Observer (England)

Customer Reviews

Daniel is mistaken
Rawi Hage's first novel is arguably one of the best pieces of English literature on Lebanon's devastating 15-year civil war. Daniel Scott's simplistic analysis of "De Niro's Game" does not do the book or its author justice. Hage's writing style, which is often poetic in nature, paints a vivid picture of Lebanon's internal tragedy between Christian militias, socialist forces, and Palestinian guerrillas. This book is an absolute must-read.

Great writing
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Great cinematographic style, vivid, risky, and imaginative. A close look at the personal and daily living of two young people in the midst of a civil war. More informative and captivating than general media coverage. One of the best literay novels on the middle east I have read in years. Simply brilliant.

Masterpiece
A stream of consciousness account of a shell-shocked young man struggling to retain his sanity in the middle of a war. The narrator's voice is disengaged and repetitive as he describes events that overcome his family, childhood friendships, and city. Hage presents a stark contrast between the poetic beauty of his language and the tragedies of the war.