|
|
|
June 23, 2002
REVIEWS: Pain and prejudice
Since the beginning of time, men blinded by their prejudices have relentlessly shed the blood of their fellow men. Cocooned in the black folds of hatred, they have given birth to life which is bleaker than death itself.
The bomb, written by Michael T. Darkow, is the second novel of a trilogy, Real characters being the first and The bridge the last. It has a powerful theme that revolves around the most explosive of current issues, namely the Palestinian-Israeli crisis.
The book opens with a grim account of the atrocities committed by the Nazis against the Jews. Driven out of their homes into death camps, many of them were slaughtered like animals. Young Ellie was one of the people who had to leave his home and when his mother is killed like many others in the camp, his life changes altogether. After the defeat of the Nazis at the hands of the British, the prisoners of the death camp are set free but they have no place to call their own. They feel that they are welcomed nowhere except in the land that was promised to them by their Lord: the state of Israel.
The Palestinians are naturally outraged by what they see as an assault on their sacred homeland, their right to life and property. Yasif, a shy Palestinian boy, whose mother and brother, like most of his countrymen, harbour profound feelings of hatred against the Jews, is confused and saddened by the madness that surrounds him.
With the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land starts a cycle of violence fuelled by the intolerance and hatred each side carries for the other, each trapped in its own nightmares and fantasies. Yasif has grown up to become a Maths professor teaching in the United States and although he is far away from his home and family, the guilt and helplessness still haunt him.
Yet, fate has it’s own plans when Yasif becomes tangled in a scheme that is designed to take a thousand lives and if successful, would turn out to be the biggest terrorist attack ever on the American soil. Ellie, blinded by revenge, takes a road that would eventually lead to disastrous consequences.
Its a story based on ugly facts and heart rending realities. Both the oppressor and the oppressed are victims of their human flaws and weaknesses born of their extraordinary circumstances. Their powerful prejudices cost them their lives and of those they love.
The book has a poignant message. The madness spread over centuries of loathing and prejudice that have cut through the human soul can lead to unbearable suffering and pain. What is most striking, above all, is the helplessness of the “weak”, who seek a more reasonable way to end the conflicts between two different faiths than building a bridge between them with the flesh and blood of the innocent. This book sheds light on the open wounds of humanity. It makes the reader think and ponder the end he would like to choose for this world. He is expected to think rationally, not as a Muslim, a Jew or a Christian, but simply as a mortal, a human being who shares life on this earth with millions of others.
Writer’s email: somi_20@hotmail.com
The bomb
By Michael T. Darkow
Writer’s Club Press, an imprint of iUniverse.com, Inc, 5220 S 16th, Ste,
200, Lincoln, NE 68512
Website: www.iuniverse.com
ISBN:0-595-19984-4
169pp. US$14.95
|
|
|
|
