Voice of the Proletariat: Monthly Reads

Review: Omar El Akkad's One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This

Park Jee-hoon — Fri, 07 Aug 2026 10:02:36 GMT

Credit: Knopf Publishing Group (book cover); Elizabeth Frantz for Reuters (background)

I recently finished Egyptian-Canadian-American novelist and journalist Omar El Akkad’s highly rated book, One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This (2025). In most regards, it unfortunately fell quite short of my expectations.

While the title and even the synopsis may suggest a detailed dive into the history of Palestinian resistance against colonialism, there is little history in this book. The text frankly wanders at times to only loosely related topics.

As another review notes:

The book is a memoir … weaving [El Akkad’s] personal story into what is happening in Palestine and the hypocrisy of the West. … This book feels scattered, jumping across time and stories, saying nothing new except the author's own story. I wish this had more substance to it, created better arguments, and didn't use Palestine to sell a memoir. It fell flat, and I wish it didn't.

Baseless smears of China, Russia

El Akkad dedicates a significant portion of the book repeating what are essentially CIA talking points on China and mainstream Western views on Russia. He criticizes American politicians who baselessly smear China and Russia, then proceeds to repeat similar lines; the way this is done is a clear case of “both-sides” thinking.

In the case of China, he claims that the CPC “mistreats” their Uyghur ethnic minority in Xinjiang, curiously not mentioning the East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM), a terrorist organization with close ties to the Taliban and Al-Qaeda that has been sanctioned by the UNSC since 2002.

The author correctly critiques Western liberalism and capitalism quite harshly and consistently frames the American uniparty as pure theatre.

Yet, he also points out the supposed “hypocrisy” shown by his colleagues who were quick to speak out against Russia but not against “Israel.” This is, ironically, a common liberal position, and one used quite frequently by “pro-Palestine” liberals.

El Akkad describes Russia’s SMO as an “invasion” and claims that Western media pundits’ condemnations of Russian court incidents are correct. So much for Russia’s right to self-governance!1

Ambiguity regarding support for Palestinian resistance groups

The author discusses in relative depth the use of “terrorist” accusations by the so-called “collective West” to sway public discourse against the “enemy,” whomever that may be at the moment. He writes:

While the terrible thing is happening, while the land is still being stolen and the natives still being killed, any form of opposition is “terroristic” and must be “crushed for the sake of civilization.” But, decades, centuries later—when enough of the land has been stolen, and enough of the natives killed—it is safe enough to venerate resistance in hindsight.

So, I was quite surprised at the depiction of Hamas in this book; El Akkad describes the October 7th operation in a negative light and claims Hamas is a “terror organization.” It is as if he believes the Western narrative that “the war is because of Hamas” while also decrying the West and Western liberalism.

Yet, he mostly justifies Palestine’s anti-colonial struggle, seemingly including armed struggle, making for a strange, hypocritical position where he supports these groups in theory while denying their legitimacy in practice. He criticizes the idea that “it’s complicated” but to some degree ends up adopting it himself.

Published by a company that supports “Israel”

In hindsight, I’m quite glad I borrowed rather than purchased this book. A quick search reveals that the publisher, Knopf Publishing Group, is part of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group division of Penguin Random House, which has invested “millions in ‘Israeli’ tech, AI, surveillance, and security technologies,” according to The New Arab.

It is certainly a strange decision to publish a book in support of the Palestinian movement through a pro-“Israel” company.

So, there are two options here. Either El Akkad is himself completely fine with this publisher, despite his own discussion of and apparent support for the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement in this book, or the associated editors and/or reviewers had him alter some of his views, which, again, leads to the question of why he chose this channel.

While the book is obviously well-written given El Akkad’s background in writing, it was ultimately quite disappointing, largely lacking depth, coherence, and political clarity.

To keep up with all my reads, you can find me on The StoryGraph here. For graphic novels and comics, I can also be found on League of Comic Geeks here.

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He also touches on the USSR a few times, framing it repeatedly as “the Soviet empire.”

Monthly Reads #3: July 2026

Park Jee-hoon — Sat, 01 Aug 2026 10:03:31 GMT

Welcome to Voice of the Proletariat’s Monthly Reads series. At the start of each month, a post like this one will go up, documenting some of my current reads, top reads from the past month, and a shortlist of newly acquired books.

Currently Reading

Homer’s Odyssey: An Illustrated Retelling by Barry Powell (2026), illust. Joanna Lisoweic

I heard a movie came out for this recently?

Thank you to Clarkson Potter and NetGalley for the ARC.

Spring and Autumn Annals of Wu and Yue by Zhao Ye (~56 AD), transl. Jianjun He (2021)

Completed This Month

Japan’s Infamous Unit 731 by Hal Gold (1996), narr. Joe Barrett (2020)

I consider this required reading for every single Westerner, especially those who have once questioned why we Chinese, Koreans, Russians, etc. hate Japan so much.

Upon learning what they have done—and, mind you, this work covers only a small portion of Japan’s countless war crimes during the World Anti-Fascist War (WWII) and War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression—one will understand why Japanese neo-militarism is so staunchly opposed.

For more on Imperial Japan’s history and legacy, see my collection “Imperial Japan: Then and Now” on Unlearning Capitalism.

The Taiwan Question and China’s Reunification in the New Era by the State Council Information Office and the Taiwan Affairs Office of the People’s Republic of China (2022)

This is an informative 26-page white paper on the shared aspiration of the CPC and the Chinese nation to realize China’s complete reunification. It reiterates the fact that Taiwan is part of China, demonstrates the resolve of China’s commitment to national reunification, and emphasizes the position and policies of the PRC in the new era.

Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-Tung by Mao Zedong (1965)

This edition, which pulled from the Marxist Internet Archive’s translations, was unfortunately a bit of a mess, with inconsistent formatting and some translation errors. Regardless, Chairman Mao’s “little red book” is an important collection that should be referred to constantly.

To keep up with all my reads rather than just some selected highlights, you can find me on The StoryGraph here. For graphic novels and comics, I can also be found on League of Comic Geeks here.

New Acquisitions

Capital: Critique of Political Economy, Volume 1 by Karl Marx (1867), transl. Paul Reitter (2024)

Education for the Revolution: The Legacy of the Black Panther Party’s Oakland Community School by Robert P. Robinson (2027)

Thank you to NetGalley and NYU Press for the ARC. This book releases January 12, 2027.

National Liberation: Essays on Theory and Practice by Rostislav Ulyanovsky (1976), transl. David Fidlon and Yuri Shirokov (1978)

I was quite excited when I found this book, which was printed back in then-Soviet Moscow.

As per the back cover, Professor Ulyanovsky:

…examines the role played by the classes and their parties in the national liberation struggle, the united anti-imperialist front and the more significant features of national-democratic states, the impact of developing countries and their parties in the bid for collective security in Asia.

You may recall my recent article, “On Patriotism, Nationalism, and Internationalism,” released on July 3rd.

The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism by Max Weber (1904)

This edition was published in 2003.

All reviews are written independently and without compensation. I accept complimentary books and ARCs for review consideration, and the source will be noted and credited in the review itself. Publishers and authors are welcome to email me regarding submissions.

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Monthly Reads #2: June 2026

Park Jee-hoon — Wed, 01 Jul 2026 10:01:16 GMT

You may notice that this entry is much shorter than that of last month. I've become much more selective about which books appear in this series, and I want to avoid unnecessary and unintentional advertising.1

Currently Reading

Homer’s Odyssey: An Illustrated Retelling (2026) by Barry Powell, illus. Joanna Lisowiec

About half the length of a full translation of Homer’s Odyssey, this has been a very fun retelling. The author writes:

This is not a translation as such of Homer’s Odyssey, but a retelling of the story filtered through my own sense of modern English. I aim to tell the story as Homer would tell it if he were alive today. Homer was an oral poet, so can never know his exact words.

I’d hoped to have finished it this past month, but things kept coming up.

Thank you to Clarkson Potter and NetGalley for the ARC. This book was released this past month, on June 16, 2026.

Marx: Later Political Writings (1995) by Karl Marx, transl. Terrell Carver

I have been reading this collection on-and-off since January and figured I would devote more time to it this past month.2

Propaganda and International Relations (1960) by Urban G. Whitaker, Jr.

Written around the time of the height of the Cold War, this American book has already offered many insights in regard to propaganda/information media studies.

While it is (obviously) favourable toward the American side, it provides a surprisingly fair view of the Soviet Union’s media efforts. When I first skimmed the book before reading, the following line stood out:

No one is exempt from objective criticism in the Soviet Union, whether in high position or low, whether a government minister, high party official, a novelist or plain ordinary worker.

Completed This Month

The Pomegranate is a Grenade (2026) by Maha Hashwi

As I briefly referred to in last month’s entry, I have only recently begun to explore the world of poetry, and this debut collection by an Arab Muslim offered a great introduction into the genre.

Within the collection, I especially liked the works Body Bags, Jannah, The Intention, Mango Pit, Welcome to Dearborn, Faux Patriotism, and The Pomegranate (the final one being the book's namesake).

Many of these poems refer to past or current events, including the self-immolation of American airman and anarchist Aaron Bushnell in 2024 in the case of Faux Patriotism, while some others discuss the displacement of Palestinians by “Israeli” forces more broadly.

Thank you to Central Avenue Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC. This book is set to release August 31, 2026.

To keep up with all my reads rather than just some selected highlights, you can find me on The StoryGraph here. For graphic novels and comics, I can also be found on League of Comic Geeks here.

New Acquisitions

Discourse on the Origin of Inequality (1755) by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, trans. Franklin Philip

The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State (1884) by Friedrich Engels

This classic work of Engels is one I surprisingly have not yet read.

On the topic of women’s liberation under socialism, I highly recommend Burkinabè revolutionary Thomas Sankara’s Women’s Liberation and the African Freedom Struggle, which I first borrowed and read in March before deciding to buy my own copy.

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I do not use any affiliate links. For Monthly Reads entries, I currently hyperlink books to the respective entry on The StoryGraph, a Black-owned alternative to Goodreads.

Most of my books are bought through independent bookstores, thrift stores, or directly from the publisher, and I avoid stores marked for boycotts by the Palestinian-led BDS movement.

I am reading the fifth edition, released 2005.

Monthly Reads #1: May 2026

Park Jee-hoon — Mon, 01 Jun 2026 10:03:11 GMT

Welcome to a new series on Voice of the Proletariat: Monthly Reads. At the start of each month, a post like this one will go up, documenting some of my current reads, top reads from the past month, and a shortlist of newly acquired books.

Currently Reading

The Pomegranate is a Grenade (2026) by Maha Hashwi

As I have expanded my reading genres over time to now include poetry, I acquired an ARC of this book, described as “a powerful debut from an Arab Muslim poet and activist, offering intimate, accessible poems about identity, family, and belonging.”

Unfortunately, I cannot include any quotes from within the book, as they may change before publication, but so far, I have especially liked Body Bags, Jannah, The Intention, Mango Pit, Welcome to Dearborn.

Thank you to Central Avenue Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC. This book is set to release August 31, 2026.

Mao Tse-tung: An Anthology of His Writings (1962) by Chairman Mao Zedong, transl. Anne Jackson Freemantle

Perhaps this will come as a surprise—I often quote Chairman Mao, after all—but I have been reading this specific compilation on-and-off since the end of December, despite the short length of 300 pages.

The first half of the book, Political and Strategic Writings, contains a total of nine works from the Periods of the First Revolutionary War, Second Revolutionary War, and War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression. This half was finally completed this past month.

The second half contains five Philosophical Writings, namely “Combat Liberalism” (1937), “On Practice” (1937), “On Contradiction” (1937), and “On the Correct Handling of Contradictions Among the People” (1957), which I have read in some other form prior.

Between the small print and the dense writing, this has admittedly taken longer than I had hoped, but the first half has provided me with a great amount of helpful historical context.

Completed This Month

The Art of War (500 B.C.) by Sun Tzu, transl. Lionel Giles

This is likely one of the most-read Chinese classics, and I quite enjoyed it. It was interesting to read it alongside Chairman Mao’s historical writings, given the common themes of warfare and wartime strategy; obviously, The Art of War is not a Marxist text, yet it still felt like a combination of theory and praxis.

Voices in the Sea Foam (2024) by Kotaro

While I occasionally read American comics and graphic novels, I do not typically read manga, but the cover of this BL caught my eye.

A reimagining of The Little Mermaid (which I have, admittedly, never read or watched), the plot was fairly confusing at first but became clearer the further I read. The artwork was incredible, and while the story seemed to drag at times, it remained fairly well-paced.

Thank you to Kodansha USA and NetGalley for the ARC. While the original Japanese edition was first released in 2024, the English edition I read was released on May 4, 2026.

To keep up with all my reads rather than just some selected highlights, you can find me on The StoryGraph here. For graphic novels and comics, I can also be found on League of Comic Geeks here.

New Acquisitions

The Analects of Confucius (429 B.C.) by Confucius, transl. Roger T. Ames and Henry Rosemont, Jr.

This is featured on Chairman (also President and General Secretary) Xi Jinping’s World Book Day Booklist.

At the River (2026) by Esteban Rodríguez

Thank you to Fonograf Editions and NetGalley for the ARC. This book is set to release September 22, 2026.

Dao De Jing (or Tao Te Ching; 400 B.C.) by Lao Tzu, transl. Roger Ames and David Hall

The German Ideology (1932) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, transl. W. Lough, C. Dutt, and C.P. Magill

Introductory Lectures on Aesthetics (1820) by Georg W.F. Hegel, transl. Bernard Bosanquet

Hegel is one of the most confusing writers in my view; I figured it would be beneficial to focus on his more accessible works, such as this one. I have only briefly and indirectly touched on his work in my article “The ‘Opium of the Masses’ in Context: Religion and Communism,” which includes an analysis of Marx’s Contribution to the Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right.