The Eye of Cybele - Hardcover

Chavarría, Daniel; Lopez, Carlos

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1888451254 ISBN 13: 9781888451252

Publisher: Akashic Books, Ltd., 2002

Synopsis

Daniel Chavarría has long been recognized as one of Latin America's finest writers . . ."
—Edgar Award-winning author William Heffernan

Daniel Chavarría's most celebrated novel to date, The Eye of Cybele is the internationally acclaimed author's second book in English translation. The Eye is a tremendous literary accomplishment, an epic mystery set in ancient Greece in the time of Pericles. A mad priest and an entrancing whore join the likes of Alcibiades and Socrates in a quest for a lost jewel—the Dyndimenian Eye. Chavarría's knowledge of Greek history and command of language guide him masterfully through this stunning and highly original work. The novel has already won four literary awards around the world: Premio Ennio Flaiano Award (Italy); Premio Internacional Planeta-Joaquín Mortiz Award (Mexico); Premio del Ministerio de Educación y Cultura Award (Uruguay) and Premio de la Crítica Award (Cuba).

"Out of the mystery wrapped in an enigma that, over the last forty years, has been Cuba for the US, comes a voice so cheerful, a face so laughing, and a mind so deviously optimistic that we can only hope this is but the beginning of a flood of Latin America's indomitable novelists, playwrights, storytellers. Welcome, Daniel Chavarría."—Donald Westlake, author of Trust Me on This

"I recommend that we all do as Fidel likely does: light up a cigar and turn Chavarría's pages, with pleasure."
— Thomas Adcock, author of Grief Street

Daniel Chavarría is a Uruguayan writer whose novels, short stories, literary journalism, and screenplays have reached audiences across Latin America and Europe. For years, he was a professor of Latin, Greek, and Classical Literature. In 2001, Akashic published Adios Muchachos, Chavarría's first book in English translation.

Also available from Danieel Chavarría
Adios Muchachos
TP $13.95, 1-888451-16-5 · CUSA

About this title

From the Publisher

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 maneuvering, luridly sensual descriptions of cult sexual activity, and spirited philosophical debates. In a stunning denouement, Chavarría masterly employs the Socratic method to demonstrate the Socratic roots of the suspense genre, with the great skeptical 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. This is the paperback reissue of the Ancient-Greek thriller nominated for an Anthony Award and a 2004 IMPAC Dublin Literary Award.

From the Inside Flap

The Eye of the Cybele, Akashic's second release by celebrated Uruguayan mystery novelist Daniel Chavarrma, is equal parts historical epic, whodunnit-style thriller, highbrow erotica and philosophical discourse. Set in late sixth-century B.C.--during the reign of Pericles--the novel fictionally recreates the behind-the-scenes scandals and political intrigues that occupied the Athenian home front at the height of the Peloponessian War.

The novel's central character 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 favor of both Pericles and the masses. At the center of it all is the Eye of the 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 megalomanical 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, Chavarrma depicts--in the phallically obsessed reveries of the Keeper--the birth pangs of a new world religion.

In spite of a complexstructure 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 maneuvering, luridly sensual descriptions of cult sexual activity, and spirited philosophical debates. In a stunning denouement, Chavarrma masterly employs the Socratic method to demonstrate the Socratic roots of the suspense genre, with the great skeptical 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 this edition

• Publisher: Akashic Books, Ltd.
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 1888451254
• ISBN 13: 9781888451252
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 400