A Critical Review Of Malik's 'Crossbones'

Crossbones was an eye opener that shows how the daily life in Somalia is like. The author has used his creativity to make us understand of the Somali culture and also made us think of what it means to walk the streets of mogadisco or Bosaso in putland.

Something in the shape of anger-as-madness sticks in Malik’s gullet every time he visits a country in the throes of civil strife, but what makes this time unbearably hard to take is that this is his father’s country, a land of which his father has seldom spoken with affection. … Malik is of the view that perhaps an empire of a different thrust is now at work in Somalia. The Muslim world, from what he can tell, is at a crossroads, where several competing tendencies meet. … Somali religionists of radical persuasion are proving a confrontation with the Ethiopian empire in hopes of pitting the Muslim world against Christian-led Ethiopia… (2011, 56).
he also capture how the country deals with constant invasion, warlords, insurgents, suicide bombings and foreign interests. “crossbones provides a sophisticated introduction to present-day Somalia, and to the circle of poverty and violence that continues to blight the country”(new york