Rawi Hage: DE NIRO'S GAME

De Niro's Game is the debut novel of Lebanese-Canadian writer Rawe Hage. The novel won the prestigious Impac Dublin Literary Prize in 2008.

Reading the synopsis of the novel didn't immediately arouse my interest despite knowing that the novel had won several important literary prizes. I found the title intriguing though. The first thing that came in my mind was Russian roulette - that dangerous game that claimed the life of Christopher Walken's character in the Academy Award winning film The Deer Hunter. I was right. Russian roulette is vital in the novel that one of the two main characters is nicknamed De Niro.

The story focuses on the struggles for survival of childhood best friends (Bassam and George) amid the civil war that had reduced the once beautiful Beirut into ashes. Bombs fall, corpses scatter, blood taints the streets and rivers, and so on. Bassam wants to escape to Rome. George wants to gain power in the criminal underworld. Bassam finally escapes, but to France. George remains. What follows are the unforgettable  series of encounters between Bassam and people who are or may not be connected to their broken lives in Beirut. The ending is full of sense.

I like this novel very much. It's prose is so visual that it puts you where the actions are. It is so cinematic that reading it feels like watching a film - a Scorsese film. 

Rating: 5.0/5.0