Review by Lucy Arber -- Perspectives on Life
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Lucy Arber
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- Latest Review: Perspectives on Life by Mohamed Rabie
Review by Lucy Arber -- Perspectives on Life
[Following is a volunteer review of "Perspectives on Life" by Mohamed Rabie.]
Perspectives on Life by Mohamed Rabie is a collection of short essays, interspersed with poetry, which sets out to give the reader a clear interpretation of the past, present and future of social and political development from the unique perspective of a well-travelled thinker.
I was excited to open the pages of Rabie's work. The subject matter greatly appealed to my academic background and reading the blurb only piqued my interest further. Rabie's enthusiasm for the subject is clear but is, regrettably, the one positive I can truthfully give. I'm unable to find myself recommending this book.
My first impressions are not so much of an academic and mutual exchange of ideas but instead of a preaching lecture to an errant child by a scolding aunt. Reading Perspectives on Life, I felt like I was 6 years old again and being told to enjoy my school years before the 'real world' of paying bills and changing nappies descends on me.
The poor first impression wasn't improved by the rather binary and sweaping statements made by Rabie, with little to no supporting evidence. His description of wealth divides, for example, are oversimplified and, whilst I believe them to be true, I would appreciate a minimum amount of sources for such statements.
Unfortunately, Perspectives on Life, though written by such a well-travelled individual, comes from a particularly Westernised perspective and fails to recognise a great many cultural perspectives. His conflation between creationism and the Abrahamic religions, for example, is uninformed and ignores the various categorisations within the creationism-evolution debate, let alone non-Western arguments from outside the debate.
Furthermore, Rabie's unfamiliarity with English is made clear by his peculiar choices in grammar and syntax. Whilst I never found myself confused or stumped, it took me several pages to adapt to Rabie's writing style and unusual phrasing would occasionally make me pause from the reading experience. A phrase commonly mentioned, 'believing in racial diversity' is used to describe the action of racial prejudice, rather than inclusion, for example. Misplaced commas and run-on sentences are the final nail in the coffin of what could have been a great collection but ultimately failed to satisfy.
I cannot find myself recommending Perspectives on Life except perhaps to a reader looking for something to critique. It would make a good summary for students of other fields if only it had sources but anyone interested in delving further into socio-political development would be quickly put off after reading Rabie's collection. I give it 1 out of 4 stars due to the oversimpification and ignorance of theory and poor relationship that Rabie builds with with reader.
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Perspectives on Life
View: on Bookshelves
Perspectives on Life by Mohamed Rabie is a collection of short essays, interspersed with poetry, which sets out to give the reader a clear interpretation of the past, present and future of social and political development from the unique perspective of a well-travelled thinker.
I was excited to open the pages of Rabie's work. The subject matter greatly appealed to my academic background and reading the blurb only piqued my interest further. Rabie's enthusiasm for the subject is clear but is, regrettably, the one positive I can truthfully give. I'm unable to find myself recommending this book.
My first impressions are not so much of an academic and mutual exchange of ideas but instead of a preaching lecture to an errant child by a scolding aunt. Reading Perspectives on Life, I felt like I was 6 years old again and being told to enjoy my school years before the 'real world' of paying bills and changing nappies descends on me.
The poor first impression wasn't improved by the rather binary and sweaping statements made by Rabie, with little to no supporting evidence. His description of wealth divides, for example, are oversimplified and, whilst I believe them to be true, I would appreciate a minimum amount of sources for such statements.
Unfortunately, Perspectives on Life, though written by such a well-travelled individual, comes from a particularly Westernised perspective and fails to recognise a great many cultural perspectives. His conflation between creationism and the Abrahamic religions, for example, is uninformed and ignores the various categorisations within the creationism-evolution debate, let alone non-Western arguments from outside the debate.
Furthermore, Rabie's unfamiliarity with English is made clear by his peculiar choices in grammar and syntax. Whilst I never found myself confused or stumped, it took me several pages to adapt to Rabie's writing style and unusual phrasing would occasionally make me pause from the reading experience. A phrase commonly mentioned, 'believing in racial diversity' is used to describe the action of racial prejudice, rather than inclusion, for example. Misplaced commas and run-on sentences are the final nail in the coffin of what could have been a great collection but ultimately failed to satisfy.
I cannot find myself recommending Perspectives on Life except perhaps to a reader looking for something to critique. It would make a good summary for students of other fields if only it had sources but anyone interested in delving further into socio-political development would be quickly put off after reading Rabie's collection. I give it 1 out of 4 stars due to the oversimpification and ignorance of theory and poor relationship that Rabie builds with with reader.
******
Perspectives on Life
View: on Bookshelves
Latest Review: Perspectives on Life by Mohamed Rabie
