I started reading this book the day before the recent swine flu scare hit Europe. It was pretty ironic timing, as Abe F. March’s novel, They Plotted Revenge Against Amercia tells the story of a group of young Palestinians who, having cruelly lost their entire families in the continuing battle between US-supported Israel and Palestine, decide to join an organisation to seek revenge. That revenge was to take the form of a virus, distributed in both the fish and poultry industries in the United States which would result in hundreds of thousands dying of flu. Of course, I was pretty much unmoved by the swine flu hysteria which the newspapers were trying to incite here, but I found the whole book quite timely.

March clearly knows about the Middle East. His biography indicates that he had worked there and it therefore made sense how he understood the reality of the battle. Sadly, we are all so influenced by the media, we are led to believe what the main media outlets want us to believe. You don’t have to read too far to start to recognise that Israel’s actions are often brutal and unjustified, and America itself hasn’t behaved in a particularly exemplary fashion over the past decades either. This is very obviously March’s viewpoint, and it came out very clearly throughout this book.

On the plus side, I was taken by the book to the extent that I had to keep turning the pages to see what happened. Spoiler alert: it is fascinating how the attitudes of the groups of young Palestinians change as they progress in the mission, particular as they themselves discover love, and start to realise that most people in the United States aren’t malicious – they are merely completely ignorant about what is really happening in the Middle East, and therefore regurgitate what their politicians feed to them. Although the teams start with a determined and unmovable sense of vengeance, even the leaders find that their resolve begins to slip as the reality of what they are doing sinks in. The slaughter of innocents is not atoned for by the slaughter of more innocents, and several of the teams begin to see that only through education and outreach can real change occur.

However, my biggest problem with this book was the style in which is was written. Right from the outset, it felt completely detached. Although I was interested in the characters, none of them felt completely human to me. The character development was shallow and I struggled to feel as they felt. This was highlighted by the awkwardness with which love and sex was described and I felt that perhaps the author ought to have left it out as it seemed clear he wasn’t comfortable with that aspect of the story. The author’s strength was in his knowledge of the political situation, and the ideas behind it. I could determine his own feelings for the tragedy of the Middle East, but there were times that the story seemed like a shadow puppet show masking the depth of feeling that the author felt towards the actual subject of the novel.

I spent quite a lot of time thinking about it, wondering whether perhaps it would have been better if the book had been written as a non-fiction, but I couldn’t see how. I understand that the growing understanding between cultures could only be portrayed through fiction because, sadly, this simply isn’t a reality yet. But for a writer who clearly has a lot to say and a lot of passion, the fictional format didn’t quite work for me.

Nevertheless it was a page turner, and it was left hanging which forced me to think about the story long after I had finished it. That alone helps it to be successful. That and the fact that I am now seeking out other, more erudite opinions on the Middle East crisis than the daily newspapers. The one point that came out of They Plotted Revenge which everyone should heed is the fact that only through education and understanding have we any hope of finding a solution. Until then, more innocent people are going to die.

Publisher: All Things That Matter Press
ISBN: 0-9822722-2-7
Date: 2009
Date Finished: 7 May 2009
Pages: 244

In the modern world, why is it that half of the population lives in relative affluence, with abundant food, good housing, employment and luxuries, yet the other half suffers from persistent underdevelopment and poverty? How is it that with technological advances, ever increasing business and growing education that a large number of people spend each day merely trying to survive? This is the question that S.A. Odunsi chooses to face in this, the first volume of The Human Condition: New Ideas We Can’t Do Without. It is no small question, although the author posits a fairly firm answer and then takes the time to explain the answer and ultimately seek out a solution.

Within the first chapter, the author claims that the problems of persistent underdevelopment in what is referred to throughout the book as ‘the South’ (as opposed to the apparently developed North – Odunsi does make an exception of Australia in the footnotes so as to explain the generalisation) is actually the failing of the academic field of social science. The claim is that although Southerners are acquiring Northern education, because social science is unable to teach the practical principles of entrepreneurship, managerial ability and innovation – something which arises purely out of the culture of the North and therefore still unattained in the South, the countries suffering from persistent underdevelopment are simply unable to change. The author sets up quite a divide between the two, and then seeks to examine why the South has failed to acquire these apparently necessary skills.

Because this volume covers only the first four chaptes. ers of the authors thesis, we are never given a good outline of the solution to this problem. In order to find out, I will need to read the following chapters. However, the examination of why the problem exists is thorough, to say the least and demonstrates an enormous amount of research and passion from the author. This came through in every sentence and every argument, so I could tell that this was a problem that Odunsi was keen to see rectified, even if he had to start the ball rolling in the face of traditional, static academic belief.

Was I convinced? To a degree I was, particularly if I interpreted social science as economics, sociology, perhaps psychology, business studies and management. However, social science has a broader remit than that, and as a ’social scientist’ myself I found some of the arguments slightly weaker when I broadened the field into the arts and humanities. There were also some assertions which I found a little tenuous. For instance, in Chapter 3 The Failure of Social Science, the assertion that Australia was one country with few natural resources to speak of made me frown somewhat. As a country whose economy rests heavily on natural resources, I wasn’t sure to what the author was referring and although I hunted back in the text, I couldn’t find a satisfactory explanation for this assertion. This was one of several questions I noted and I wonder whether in the passion and conviction that the author held, some assertions were made to highlight the convictions which may not have been quite accurate.

I applaud Odunsi for having the courage to write this thesis. I think that the perspective offered is a fascinating one, and the examination of Western Social Science is well researched and very thorough. However, I wonder whether it is accurate to heap so much blame on the academics of social science? Yes, I have read Naomi Klein and my feelings towards Friedman’s economics tend towards anger, but not every social science faculty subscribes to the destructive beliefs of the Chicago School, and not every aspect of social science posits economic theories which could cause the failure of development in underdeveloped countries. What I think I needed with this book was some specifics rather than such broad generalisations. Perhaps they come in the later chapters of the thesis, but I became a little frustrated with the repetition of assertions which didn’t provide me with hard facts, names, schools and solid examples. I would like to see the ideas expanded with these additional extras. Then I think that this book could really make a difference.

Nevertheless, the ideas are revolutionary in some ways and should be taken heed of. This is an incredibly academic book which may be a struggle for some readers due to the complexity and abstractness of the ideas therein. I found it challenging to my own preconceived beliefs and have come away from it curious for more and wondering whether Odunsi will get the opportunity to have this thesis read in some of the academic institutions it criticises so it can truly make a difference.

ISBN: 978 0 615 221731
Year: 2008
Date Finished: 19 March 2009
Pages: 220