Review of Babylon's Ark

Babylon’s Ark: The Incredible Wartime Rescue of the Baghdad Zoo
Author: Lawrence Anthony, with Graham Spence
Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books
Date of Publication: March 2007

 

               In March 2003, the U.S. invaded Iraq, beginning the Iraq War and what would be the end of Sadam Hussein’s rule. Within a month, the capital, Baghdad, had fallen. One of the first civilians to enter the country and reach Baghdad was Lawrence Anthony. A prominent conservationist from South Africa, he feared for the residents of the Baghdad Zoo, trapped in cages in one of the city’s worst conflict zones and additionally devastated by looting. Working with local staff who risked their lives to come to the Zoo every day, Anthony scrounged food and materials from bullet-riddled streets and earned the compassion and aid of American soldiers. This is the story of starved royal lions, black market zoo busts, intense and reckless bravery, and a beautifully stubborn effort to rescue some of the most hopeless victims of human brutality.     

What makes Babylon’s Ark a great story is that it is entirely, heartrendingly real. If there are any gaps between Anthony’s memory and his tale, they are invisible. With each chapter comes a new challenge and a harrowing solution. Anthony’s struggles range from finding a cold beer in a powerless Middle Eastern summer to rescuing a deplorably caged bear from one of the most dangerous parts of Baghdad. These struggles are remarkable not just for their face-value risks, but because of the improbable dedication they require to solve. Anthony’s bullheaded, well-meaning charge into a war zone earns the respect, protection, and gradual assistance of American soldiers. The Zoo staff and other Iraqis that join the support team are not so protected. With Hussein’s loyalists still on patrol and anti-American sentiment at an all-time high, visible collaboration with a foreigner—even if he is South African—could be a death sentence. Not only that, but all resources provided by Iraqi locals are scrounged from a city intensely and violently plundered with scant attention to the animals caught in the (literal and figurative) crossfire. Many messages are conveyed by the story, and more still explicitly stated by Anthony. The most atrocious casualties of war are those who are helpless. Cross-cultural communication is invaluable. When we destroy the environment that both awes and feeds us, we imperil not just human life, but human decency.

               Anthony’s literary skill falls a bit short of his conservation prowess. Particularly earlier in the book, excessive and awkward linguistic flourishes encumber an already detailed narrative and an oddly romantic air to a ravaged, hostile city[ku1] . However, in a story this eccentric, some strange language is arguably just another adventure for the reader. Anthony’s tangents about trials at his home game reserve or oddly specific details of his interactions with soldiers suit the story of a man devoted to an unusual life path and sanguine about the associated risks. The book seems to accomplish its purpose: to use the story of the Baghdad Zoo to encourage awareness of interdependency between humans and nature, and to encourage care for the animals we look to for inspiration – and who depend upon our care and regard. Anthony’s chronicle is a reminder that true stories can and should embolden us to attempt the improbable. The world is a little bit better because Anthony did.

Review of Ink and Bone (The Great Library #1)

Ink and Bone (The Great Library, Book 1)
Author: Rachel Caine
Publisher: New American Library
Date of Publication: July 2015

 

Should knowledge be shared or controlled? Can powerful institutions change? Rachel Caine is both writer and director in this blockbuster book that is at once fast paced and philosophical.

Tota est scientia. Knowledge is all. The Great Library of Alexandria is a globally dominant force, governing the flow of knowledge to the masses. Alchemy makes possible the instantaneous delivery of literature, but personal ownership of books is forbidden. Jess Brightwell, born into a family of black-market book dealers, grows up bound to, and watched by, the Library. His belief in the institution’s value withstands his own persecution—until he is sent to the Great Library to become his family’s spy. While training and competing to enter the Library’s service, Jess and his peers are tested for loyalty to an institution they increasingly question. Controlling knowledge requires an unyielding and sometimes brutal authority over the people who seek it.

Within three pages, Jess is running. Ink and Bone begins with a chase scene, and the action movie tempo continues from there. The story is heavily plot driven, and creates intrigue from danger and secrecy. Caine’s careening exhilaration is highly compelling, but has benefits and drawbacks as a writing device. The world of the story is incrementally revealed, steadily feeding the plot’s momentum as the pace accelerates and subthemes develop. What this need for momentum limits is the development of the characters. The characters feel right in number to enable plot twists and give some depth to the fictional world without becoming a legion of extras. However, there are also enough that the time and detail required for them to deepen and evolve would overburden the plot. The characters’ inclination to action movie stereotypes actually underlies the thrill of the book. Among the roster is an innocent good guy, a bully and his cronies, a mysterious woman, and the protagonist just trying to survive. They are guided by their backstories in their patterns of decision making, their interactions with their peers, and even in the paths laid out for them by people with greater power. Their sojourns and trials are excitingly fraught, but somewhat predictable.

Despite these limitations, Ink and Bone is purposeful as well as exciting. Jess is the most quickly and fully detailed character, allowing him to be the lens through which the world of the story can be satisfactorily revealed. The quick plot provides light content for younger readers, who can also engage with the clearcut emotions of the characters. Even for older readers, the pace and story are riveting and there is also substance to contemplate in the structure and secrets of the Library. Jess’ familial ties to the black market shape what he values and criticizes in the Library, prompting consideration of how the power of knowledge and the written word can change based on their management. For audiences drawn to more fast-paced content, this is a wonderfully fun adventure through a world with ruthless pursuit, robed villains, and where independent thought is at once demanded and dangerous. For those steeped in more solemnly topical literature, this book feels painfully relevant to a time when the power of words and writers seems at once essential and imperiled.