My Review of ‘All The Sons Of Abraham’ by Eldred Buck

 Review Of The Book ‘All The Sons Of Abraham’ by Eldred Buck:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eldred Buck has sensationally portrayed one of the most important periods in modern world history or the latter contemporary world history in his intriguing book ‘All the Sons of Abraham’. Buck has focussed on two very important years in his book which are the years 1997 and 1998 which contrary to our first impressions are rather significant years in contemporary times, especially for places like Jeddah and Riyadh where most of the action of the story takes place.

Eldred Buck has used a number of colourful characters to paint a fascinating hue to his story. He has researched very well into the happenings of the period in contemporary history which he has penned which can be clearly seen when he alludes to certain international events during the course of the novel like the death of Lady Diana for example. The flow of the book is smooth and easy to read. Bank work and the field of commerce is a very substantial part of the novel but Eldred Buck has handled the storyline so well that even an Arts or Science student would be easily able to read this novel and appreciate it.

As stated previously, the author has chosen to introduce many characters in his novel like the main protagonist Alex, his close friend in Jeddah who is called Jim, his wife Claire, their sons Christopher, Anthony and David, his colleagues at the AIB (bank) in Jeddah, his mistress, his neighbours and many others. Each character I have noticed has a role to play to convey to the reader what point of view or what idea the author wants to bring out via the character. This has been carried out excellently. Also, I admire the way Eldred Buck has given us during certain dialogues in the story a sort of insight into not only what is going on in one character’s mind but simultaneously what is going on in the other character’s mind which is unique and I’m impressed by it.

The pace of the story is relatively slow at first but then it happens to be a book where that pace is the best to go about to sink into the happenings of the novel. Of course towards the end of the novel, the pace is suddenly quickened which suits the situation appropriately.

The title of the book and the synopsis of the book can be relished in the story which as one of the characters put is about the sons of Abraham or let us say…the descendants of Abraham in the form of the Christians, Muslims and Jews who form a very important part of the Middle East during the years 1997 to 1998.

The chapters and sub chapters are divided properly following a continuum which makes the reader want to read more of the book and not get burdened with too many events to digest. The novel also brings out to the reader the way in which young Muslim men are brain washed into becoming terrorists and a threat to world peace which has been tackled very well by the author without hurting sentiments. The story is mature and has been gone about in a mature manner. The characters seem exceptionally real thanks to the vivid descriptions given by the author. Young adults and adults with a liking for intellectual matter in their stories are highly recommended by me to read this book. A few themes one can gather from this book are:

• The emergence of the Middle East as a powerful force
• The culture of the people of the Middle East
• The outlook of a foreigner in Jeddah
• The strict law of Jeddah
• The religion of Islam
• The rise of Osama Bin Laden as a world threat
• The brainwashing of young Muslim minds
• The undercover work of the CIA
• The globalization of the world and much more.

Lastly, I would like to thank the author for writing such a splendid book about a culture we are not very familiar with but through his book, we get a whole new look at the world of banking and commerce which is not at all boring but enlightening and fruitful for an intellectual reader.

Copyright 2014 Fiza Pathan

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