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|
The
2004 Award
|
|
The
Eye of Cybele by
Daniel Chavarria |
Nominated by:
Publisher
of Nominated Edition:
|
| the complete A-Z listing of nominated authors |
|
ABOUT
THE BOOK
|
| The
central character of The Eye of Cybele is Alcibiades, a stutteringly
precocious Athenian general whose physical beauty, unparalleled Olympic
achievements, and reckless courage on the battlefield earn the fanatical
enthusiasm of the polis; the affection and desire of Lysis, a lusty and
seductive temple prostitute; the admiration and patronage of Socrates; and
the jealousy and suspicion of Nicias, one of the city's most powerful generals
and a leading competitor for the favour of both Pericles and the masses.
At the centre of it all is the Eye of Cybele, a sacred jewel whose mysterious
disappearance sets in motion a sequence of deceptions, subterfuges, and
failed schemes that ultimately undermine the self-serving ambitions of both
Alcibiades and Nicias. Much of the novel's real action takes place behind the scenes, however, through the comically megalomaniacal preoccupations of the Keeper of the Sum, a mad but charismatic beggar-priest who founds - and personally administers the sensual sacraments of - a new Cybeline cult. While the core beliefs and aspirations of the Golden Age are beginning to crumble from within, Chavarría depicts - in the phallically obsessed reveries of the Keeper - the birth pangs of a new world religion. In spite of a complex structure that blends conventional third-person narrative, formal epistles, and deliriously sensual streams-of-consciousness, the novel progresses at a lively pace. Along the way there are savage scenes of torture and war, convoluted tales of political manoeuvring, luridly sensual descriptions of cult sexual activity, and spirited philosophical debates. In a stunning denouement, Chavarría masterly employs the Socratic roots of the suspense genre, with the great sceptical philosopher himself unwittingly assuming the role of a Nick Charles-style detective who logically eliminates one hypothesis and suspect after another to identify the novel's real culprit for an equally uncomprehending audience. |
| ABOUT THE AUTHOR |
| Daniel Chavarría was born in Uruguay in 1933. Chavarría has worked as a translator of literature into Spanish, and has taught Latin, Greek, and Classical Literature. His novels, short stories, literary journalism, and screenplays have reached audiences across Latin America and Europe. Chavarría has won numerous literary awards around the world, including a 1992 Dashiell Hammett Award. His comic suspense novel about a bicycle hooker in Havana, Adios Muchachos, was published in 2001 and has been nominated for an Edgar Award. |
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