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3.81 AVERAGE
3.81 AVERAGE
I really enjoyed this book. The author characterized the attitudes of the South in relation to their identity as Southerners very well, resulting in a very plausible telling of a second civil war.
Chilling alternate future which is compelling for its "just plausible enough to be possible" narrative. The characters are fully fleshed out and definitely not stereotypical. El Akkad masterfully creates an ethos where heroes are grubby and real, rather than larger than life. Highly recommended.
This was a heartbreaker. I love some future/post-apocalyptic fiction.
I would rate this far higher than a five, would it be allowed. This is a book that will stick with me and haunt me for a good while.
American War is timely and devastating, and an important read. It is set in a not too distant dystopian America. The planet has been devastated by global warming and what's left of the U.S. has been torn apart by civil war. The two super powers are now China and a Middle East empire called Bouazizi, formed out of a finally successful Arab Spring.
Five southern states succeeded for the right to to continue to use fossil fuel after they were outlawed. The effects of the war are endless and dark. This book is a study of how governmental decisions impact individuals but it's also a deeply moving story. It may be the next great American Novel, despite being written by a Canadian. Who emigrated from the Middle East.
American War is timely and devastating, and an important read. It is set in a not too distant dystopian America. The planet has been devastated by global warming and what's left of the U.S. has been torn apart by civil war. The two super powers are now China and a Middle East empire called Bouazizi, formed out of a finally successful Arab Spring.
Five southern states succeeded for the right to to continue to use fossil fuel after they were outlawed. The effects of the war are endless and dark. This book is a study of how governmental decisions impact individuals but it's also a deeply moving story. It may be the next great American Novel, despite being written by a Canadian. Who emigrated from the Middle East.
VERY GENERAL SPOILERS AHEAD:
Ripped apart by a lack of shared values--resulting in catastrophic climate change, political disarray, resource-conflicts, techonology run astray and long-held hatreds that've lost their sense of history or ideology, even--the former United States has descended into a long Second Civil War that benefits a growing Middle Eastern empire: keeping the USA from regaining unity, power and strength profits those who would replace them on the world stage (much of which is only implied until at least two-thirds of the way into the novel.)
Experienced through a focus on the story of Sarat Chestnut as she grows from a six year old child to an insurrectionist/terrorist, American War illustrates again that old adage that "that which is most personal is also most universal." Do we love Sarat? Do we admire Sarat? Do we root for Sarat? If we don't, do we at least understand how she came to be who she came to be, and the choices she made? Are those worthy of our empathy? Our support? Our sympathy?
I think the answers to this change across the course of the novel--and that these questions ultimately come to be the questions we must ask about ourselves, our countries, our politicians, our allies, our enemies and our world. Do we love our country? Do we admire our government? How have we come to be who we are, and how does that affect other people, other governments, other countries? How do the peoples and countries where the USA perpetuates infighting learn to hate us? Can we understand how that has come to be? And what our role in it might be?
And will we make different choices?
Can we afford not to?
Ripped apart by a lack of shared values--resulting in catastrophic climate change, political disarray, resource-conflicts, techonology run astray and long-held hatreds that've lost their sense of history or ideology, even--the former United States has descended into a long Second Civil War that benefits a growing Middle Eastern empire: keeping the USA from regaining unity, power and strength profits those who would replace them on the world stage (much of which is only implied until at least two-thirds of the way into the novel.)
Experienced through a focus on the story of Sarat Chestnut as she grows from a six year old child to an insurrectionist/terrorist, American War illustrates again that old adage that "that which is most personal is also most universal." Do we love Sarat? Do we admire Sarat? Do we root for Sarat? If we don't, do we at least understand how she came to be who she came to be, and the choices she made? Are those worthy of our empathy? Our support? Our sympathy?
I think the answers to this change across the course of the novel--and that these questions ultimately come to be the questions we must ask about ourselves, our countries, our politicians, our allies, our enemies and our world. Do we love our country? Do we admire our government? How have we come to be who we are, and how does that affect other people, other governments, other countries? How do the peoples and countries where the USA perpetuates infighting learn to hate us? Can we understand how that has come to be? And what our role in it might be?
And will we make different choices?
Can we afford not to?
I couldn't finish this book because I did not care about the main character Sarat at all. This is unfortunate, as the larger plot of the book had a lot of potential.
A terrible, grinding war, a back and forth of revenge that leads to so much suffering and death. Too grim by far for me. Sarat begins as a happy young girl, then the war destroys her again and again, her revenge terrible but pointless.
Terrifying, sad and gripping
A dystopian novel that feels all too possible. This book takes you on an emotional roller coaster as you read what could all too easily be our futures, filled with poignant observations of the human condition and capacity for suffering and revenge.
It was tragic, haunting and memorable.
A dystopian novel that feels all too possible. This book takes you on an emotional roller coaster as you read what could all too easily be our futures, filled with poignant observations of the human condition and capacity for suffering and revenge.
It was tragic, haunting and memorable.
challenging
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
A frightening vision of a second American civil war that is all too easy to imagine coming to some kind of fruition.
Highly recommend!
9.5 southern refugees out of 10
Highly recommend!
9.5 southern refugees out of 10