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A review by laurel00
Method and Madness: The Hidden Story of Israel's Assaults on Gaza by Norman G. Finkelstein
informative
5.0
There were a lot of reasons that made me worried about picking up this book:
First of all, I am not a big non-fiction reader. I've always been very intimidated by it, I've found it difficult to focus on the few non-fiction books I've picked up in the past, and therefore I've pretty much exclusively read fiction novels throughout my life.
Second of all, the information I had on Palestine was quite limited. I had been keeping informed as much as possible on current events, but other than a few headlines here and there, and one basic 1h30 class on the Israeli-Palestine "conflict" in high school, I had been woefully uninformed about what preceded October 2023.
This tied into my third concern: this book focuses on the events of ~2002-2014, and only very quickly summarizes any earlier history to at least minimally contextualize the attacks addressed by Finkelstein. I was worried that I should start with the very beginning, but then worried about pinpointing the elusive "beginning" of this "conflict".
Finally, all of this was amplified by the fact that everyone has always told me, either through school or family or Canadian news and other international western media that this was an "incredibly complex" issue, seeming to imply that even the most informed, academic experts on the topic struggled to pick a side or understand the true depth of the situation.
I started reading this book expecting to set it down after a chapter or two, only to maybe pick it up again later once I did some more "basic" research. It ended up being an extremely straightforward, yet still deeply informative read.
I'm sure part of the reason is that Finkelstein is indeed a very talented author. His research is so extensive and his references/footnotes constitute in and of themselves a great source of further research. The way he presents his arguments is super clear and concise, the entire book was so well-organized which made it really easy to follow.
However, I think another reason this ended up being an easier read than I expected, is that the struggle of Palestinians and the violence they've had to face from Israel for decades now, is not nearly as complicated as the world has made it out to be. Just a couple of chapters into this book and I guarantee you will see that you cannot, as a person with humanity and logical critical-thinking, be anything other than pro-Palestine.
I strongly urge everyone to pick this up, even if it is the very first novel you ever read on the topic. It serves as a great starting point or as a complimentary read for people who have already been educating themselves on the issue for some time now. I'm excited to read some of Finkelstein's other books and I will absolutely be recommending this novel to everyone I know.
First of all, I am not a big non-fiction reader. I've always been very intimidated by it, I've found it difficult to focus on the few non-fiction books I've picked up in the past, and therefore I've pretty much exclusively read fiction novels throughout my life.
Second of all, the information I had on Palestine was quite limited. I had been keeping informed as much as possible on current events, but other than a few headlines here and there, and one basic 1h30 class on the Israeli-Palestine "conflict" in high school, I had been woefully uninformed about what preceded October 2023.
This tied into my third concern: this book focuses on the events of ~2002-2014, and only very quickly summarizes any earlier history to at least minimally contextualize the attacks addressed by Finkelstein. I was worried that I should start with the very beginning, but then worried about pinpointing the elusive "beginning" of this "conflict".
Finally, all of this was amplified by the fact that everyone has always told me, either through school or family or Canadian news and other international western media that this was an "incredibly complex" issue, seeming to imply that even the most informed, academic experts on the topic struggled to pick a side or understand the true depth of the situation.
I started reading this book expecting to set it down after a chapter or two, only to maybe pick it up again later once I did some more "basic" research. It ended up being an extremely straightforward, yet still deeply informative read.
I'm sure part of the reason is that Finkelstein is indeed a very talented author. His research is so extensive and his references/footnotes constitute in and of themselves a great source of further research. The way he presents his arguments is super clear and concise, the entire book was so well-organized which made it really easy to follow.
However, I think another reason this ended up being an easier read than I expected, is that the struggle of Palestinians and the violence they've had to face from Israel for decades now, is not nearly as complicated as the world has made it out to be. Just a couple of chapters into this book and I guarantee you will see that you cannot, as a person with humanity and logical critical-thinking, be anything other than pro-Palestine.
I strongly urge everyone to pick this up, even if it is the very first novel you ever read on the topic. It serves as a great starting point or as a complimentary read for people who have already been educating themselves on the issue for some time now. I'm excited to read some of Finkelstein's other books and I will absolutely be recommending this novel to everyone I know.