Summary of Cyclops
Melkior is a young theatre critic in Zagreb in early 1941. The Second World War has not yet reached Yugoslavia but looms on the horizon. Fearing conscription into the army, Melkior starves himself and wanders dreamily around in Zagreb’s bohemian circles, preoccupied about his future and the threats to European civilization.
Reasons to read Cyclops
“Cyclops” is a smart and at times comic anti-war novel, that vividly captures the atmosphere in Zagreb at the outbreak of the Second World War. This novel by Croatian author Ranko Marinkovic is rich with philosophical questions, literary quotations, and allusions to ancient mythology. Widely considered one of the masterpieces of Croatian literature, “Cyclops” was voted the best Croatian novel of all time by the newspaper Jutarnji list in 2010. The Croatian Kiklop literature award (awarded from 2004 to 2014) was named after this novel.
Setting: Zagreb (Croatia)
Original title: Kiklop
Year of publication: 1965
Nr of pages: 576
