Childhood best friends Bassam and George have grown to be men in war-ravaged Beirut. Now they must choose between the only two futures available to them: to stay in the devastated city and consolidate power through crime or to go into exile abroad, alienated from the only existence they have ever known.
Told in a distinctive, captivating voice that fuses vivid cinematic imagery; a page-turning plot; and exquisite, dark poetry De Niro's Game is an explosive portrait of life in a war zone and a powerful meditation on what comes after.
Winner of the prestigious International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award.
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"I was blown away by the first 2/3 of this book. Set in Beirut during the Isreali invasion and cleansing of the Palestinian refugee camps in Lebannon, the book presents the events through the eyes of minor Christian thug. By turns heroic, then ruthless the thug/protagonist manages to avoid conscription into the Christian militia, or fall prey to his best friend, DeNiro's game. War time treachery, petty criminality, and middle east politics all come together in a convincing portrait of a man and country on the brink. In the final 1/3 of the book our very flawed hero escapes to Paris but not his fate. Here I think the book falters when it abandons the edginess for the romance of the city of lights. Still a dangerous romance but it pales in comparison to the pace previously established." — William (4 out of 5 stars)
"I was blown away by the first 2/3 of this book. Set in Beirut during the Isreali invasion and cleansing of the Palestinian refugee camps in Lebannon, the book presents the events through the eyes of minor Christian thug. By turns heroic, then ruthless the thug/protagonist manages to avoid conscription into the Christian militia, or fall prey to his best friend, DeNiro's game. War time treachery, petty criminality, and middle east politics all come together in a convincing portrait of a man and country on the brink. In the final 1/3 of the book our very flawed hero escapes to Paris but not his fate. Here I think the book falters when it abandons the edginess for the romance of the city of lights. Still a dangerous romance but it pales in comparison to the pace previously established."
" The writing was really beautiful, but by page 150, I was still waiting to be engaged by the story, care about what would happen, or even just plain connect with the protagonist. It never happened. I started skipping passages because I just didn't care. "
" I didn't know much about life in the lebanon. It was a different book to what I normally read. I enjoyed it. "
" Definitely not my usual thing but this is a good quick read with some insight into a different part of the world. "
" Quite violent so not my usual bag, but he carries a good story. He starts out with quite poetic language.Would recommend this to a man. "
" Wow. Intense. Beirut during civil war. Life is fucked up. "
" Favorite Line: "We were aimless, beggars and thieves, horny Arabs with curly hair and open shirts and Marlboro packs rolled in our sleeves, dropouts, ruthless nihilists with guns, bad breath, and long American jeans." "
" A look into the hardship of living under siege. These characters have big dreams and are set on making them real. I couldn't resist rooting for them, no matter how deep the trouble gets. The writing is sharp and keeps the plot at a nice pace. "
" My new favourite author. Rawi Hage makes me like his thug. "
" Hated this. I don't see why it was so highly praised; the writing is awful. Generic, repetitive and formulaic. This was only the second book in my life that I failed to finish. Waste of my time. "
" Compelling view of Beirut war thru the eyes of a youngster thug, playing on the limit. Kind of "Catcher in the Rye" in Lebanon. "
" This is a pretty brutal portrait of the Beirut Civil War through the eyes of a sympathetic young thug. It was energetic, engrossing, and rather poetic. And yes, the title definitely comes into play. "
" Dark, like snorting a line of poetry.... "
" There have been a handful of novels published about, or contextualized by, the Lebanese Civil War. DeNiro's Game is one of the best. Hage's characters are intense and sometimes brutal. Lots of action here; lots of things to think about, as well. "
" good book. the author's writing style is descriptive and full, and overall there are several things discussed in the book that make for an interesting read. pretty graphic, but war is graphic, so i understand why. "
" It's an entertaining & cinematic story of 2 hoodlum teenagers growing up in wartorn Beirut in the 70s. "
" I read it for a book club where it was very well received. For me to give a high rating to a book, no matter how well written, I need to like at least part of the story, or a character. This left me cold despite its obvious merits. "
" This is an eye-opening account of the civil war in Beirut and what it takes to survive in such a setting. Rawi's writing style with short, aggressive sentences made the violence jump off the page. "
" "Ten thousand coffins had slipped underground and the living still danced above ground with firearms in their hands" "
Rawi Hage was born in Beirut, Lebanon, and lived through nine years of the Lebanese civil war during the 1970s and 1980s. He immigrated to Canada in 1992 and now lives in Montreal. His first novel, De Niro’s Game, won the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award for the best English-language book published anywhere in the world in a given year, and has either won or been shortlisted for seven other major awards and prizes, including the Scotiabank Giller Prize and the Governor General’s Literary Award. Cockroach was the winner of the Paragraphe Hugh MacLennan Prize for Fiction and a finalist for the Governor General’s Award. It was also shortlisted for the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Award and the Giller Prize. His third novel, Carnival, told from the perspective of a taxi driver, was a finalist for the Writers’ Trust Award and won the Paragraphe Hugh MacLennan Prize for Fiction. His work has been translated into 30 languages.
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