Viken Berberian's “The Cyclist”
Book review by Paul Chaderjian (2002) Viken Berberian's “The Cyclist” takes readers to places they've never been in fiction and in literature, while entertaining and challenging their intellect and emotions. Berberian offers the reader insight into a geographically and intellectually foreign world, which is now part of our post-9-11 reality. Berberian does this while questioning and challenging us to philosophically examine what it is to be human, live in a divided community, and what we want of our collective global reality. Berberian's story begins with a simple question many have asked and wondered: what happens to those who live in a continuous state of trauma in embattled communities and war-torn countries? Berberian asks, how does one cope with life in a divided society, where neighbors are now enemies, where populations are victims of terrorism, where people live with the threat of terrorist attacks? His answer is a lyrical and creative glimpse i...