The Great Influenza - Book Report/Review Example

The Great Influenza A consoli d narration of extensive application of political tactics and administrative mechanism of a country that experiences the might of a pandemic during the most critical time is found along the frame-to-frame presentation of ‘The Great Influenza’. This is a referential record of the magnitude of a disease that spreads the storm of death on the surface of the land it passed. Science, politics and the pestilence are enveloped with the background of a great war. Also the story tells about an immediate overall wartime rearrangement undertaken from different spheres of American medical administrative system as an example to the entire world. ‘The Great Influenza’ was born from the alignment of clear definitions from views of an observational narrative from a great writer, John. M. Berry. The book vividly unfolds the dark corners of the dread that caused across the United States by a deadly pandemic in 1918. The intensity of the disease was described in the highest acumen with his penmanship as the author tried to emphasize that the disease posed a fear across the globe over twenty weeks. As the disease was generally called plague, the author had put all his effort to unveil the mysterious combination of factors related to the sudden impact of it in the state affairs of the country. His examination reveals the combination of politics, war and pestilence as running a chain of relationship. Contribution of political powers to the wide outspread of the plague is clearly mentioned. “Wilson believed in fact that his will and spirit were informed by the spirit and hope of a people and even of God” (Barry 121). Barry is of the view that vision impairment of political leaders redeems the human values to the exhibitionism of might-matches leading to disasters. Illustrative demonstration of spectacular narrative indices takes the reader along the actual affairs prevailed in America during the short period of dramatic time prior to the World War I and the influence of this disease that resulted in an insurgency to call for action. The books literature flow is rhythmic in nature; rather concisely, it can be read with the effect of watching a documentary. In this book, Barry used a chronicle presentation of critical reviews of the political conditions of America as a relationship with science and medicine. Socio-economic conditions of America before WWI and political redefinitions attributed to the medical system in the country are the front runners among the details of the book. There can be few other books on this line of narration with as much effect as ‘The Great Influenza’ imposes on the readers about the pathetic condition of the country at the time of World War-I. As a greater hook to grab the attention of others, the narrative diversity can be noted exceptional. Application of examples with livewire demonstrative description of each factor connected to the content gives life to the reading effect. A historical memorial theme is associated with lots of fiction and science in this great book. Barry uses his unmatched writing skills to visually express what he wants to say. Immaculate description of the nature’s supremacy over the advancement of man’s achievements is posted in the book. “It was the first great collision between a natural force and a society that included individuals who refused either to submit to that force or to simply call upon divine intervention to save themselves from it, individuals who instead were determined to confront this force directly, with a developing technology and with their minds.” (Barry: 5). Each moment in the war, the horror that was inflicted by the plague and everything of that sort comes to light with a great touch in the minds of the reader as he goes along the pages. The author was successful at composing a tune from the findings he excavated in the devastating expedition of the plague that had posted a death toll yet to be reached by any single known outbreak of a pandemic. Barry is remarkably great at restating the resonating effect of the disasters challenging the positive balance of the political cycle of the country. Almost everything from natural calamities becomes his favorite subject to write. The book gives information on the deep impact of the disease with enforcement of a data bank he displays with numbers specifying the magnitude of the horror. “Influenza pandemics generally infect from 15 to 40 percent of a population; any influenza virus infecting that many people and killing a significant percentage would be beyond a nightmare,”(Barry: 114). Much of the trace of this book goes to the American medical researches and the actual stance they had at the time of World War-I. Connective lines of the story within the theme are speculative about the intentional confinement of the truth about the disastrous outbreak. The conditions narrated as prevailed in the cities of the country is horrific as the disease took almost every life in the region it spread. A challenge of humanity versus diplomacy was the focus of the administrative heads of America at the time of the attack of the influenza. It became inevitable for the country to substantiate the fighting abilities of the army by concealing the actual fatality of the disease. Two different faces of the disease were seen as narrated in the book clearly; one is the internal onslaught it caused and the other is the carnage it forced on the fighting soldiers. Placing Welch at the top of researches in the narration, Barry speaks about the greatest findings doctors achieved during their researches of the disease. Finding any answer meant posing another question; that is the equation he tries to reveal as the conclusion of medical researches and their effect. “The greatest challenge of science, its art, lies in asking an important question and framing it in way that allows it to be broken into manageable pieces, into experiments that can be conducted that ultimately lead to answers” (Barry: 60). Barry is fair with his imaginations and calculations while he experiments on the truth of medical approach to this disease and how intensively the issue was taken for consideration by the research team. ‘The Great Influenza’ by all means, can be called an epic of bio-terrorism of the present world. Specific narrations of the insufficiency of doctors and nurses or the embossing literature applied in the violent narration of the impact of the disease are worth noticing while the ethical concern hiding in the core of the book demands greater attention to the need for a renaissance against the overemphasize given to scientific experiments. While fatality of the disease is so elaborately scripted, Barry critically identifies the unparallel tracks between the endeavor of the medical services in America during the World War-I and the political motives of Woodrow Wilson behind his immediate action to call for war. To a science lover, it has many things to know from. As a whole, this book is informative about various corners of the disease and the changes that a pandemic can inflict on the entire human society. Works Cited Barry, John M. The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History. Penguin Group Inc, 2004, US. Print. ISBN-0-67089473-7. Read More