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3.81 AVERAGE
3.81 AVERAGE
dark
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
This book is a beautiful indictment of what the future of earth might look like. More than that, it’s an introspective look at how there are no sides to war because everyone has the capacity to lose something and/or someone. Beyond that, it’s the making of an extremist/terrorist, and how simply it can happen when exacerbated by the landscape of war. With the right equation in place, anyone can succumb to extremist thinking when knowledge is deployed in a way that causes rage to fester, and certainly when ones experiences plant the seeds for that festering to occur in the first place. I think El Akkad does a remarkable job of showing how any simple action can result in catastrophic results, whether that’s the overconsumption of fossil fuels (that indisputably contribute to exponential climate change) or raising a child in a climate of war (that leads to extremist and terrorist groups like ISIS or Al Qaeda). I think this book showcases that people want/need freedom and safety. And when they live in a world that is neither free nor safe, they gravitate to any individual or group that might promise them the prospect of prosperity.
This novel holds up a very disturbing mirror image not just to where we are, but more so, to where we can very likely end up. Though based in America, this story could very well take place anywhere. El Akkad did a great job with this dystopian novel, and I think it's an important read in a time where Trump is the leader of the "free world."
This novel holds up a very disturbing mirror image not just to where we are, but more so, to where we can very likely end up. Though based in America, this story could very well take place anywhere. El Akkad did a great job with this dystopian novel, and I think it's an important read in a time where Trump is the leader of the "free world."
Don’t know if I missed something but it changed narrators and went back and forward in time so much that it was hard to keep track of.
I can't say I liked reading this book. It's not by the fault of the writing, but because of how I felt after reading it. Initially, I went into American War expecting a story more aligned to the political side of things. Instead, I came out questioning the moral ambiguities between good and evil. It reminded me of how war brings out the worst in people, and the deep-running consequences that follow in its wake. Although the story is set in America, it seemed to be an analogy for the events occurring in the Middle East today. I can't say I will ever be able to understand what people go through when they are placed in such a tragedy, but reading American War gave me a glimpse of the life of those unfortunate enough to be brought up in a war-torn country. Very interesting read, but now I need something to wash away my melancholy.
Why does something have to be brutally depressing to be considered “literary”?
Anyway this was a well written book that stomped on my soul
Anyway this was a well written book that stomped on my soul
Good, but a slow read. The setting was probably the most interesting part--creative and detailed, and hitting a good balance between familiar enough to be believable and different enough to be fascinating.
Characters and plot were less impressive: Only a few of the characters were really developed enough for me to become attached to them, and the plot was depressing spiral downward that held few surprises. Books that tell you the ending at the very beginning can be quite effective--but only when the path to that ending is a mystery. In this book, the details might have been unexpected but the main character's arc, on the large scale, was easy to predict.
However, the bold choice to tell the story of how a terrorist is grown somewhat makes up for the lackluster plot and characters. El Akkad handles Sarat's story sympathetically but without sugarcoating the choices she makes.
Characters and plot were less impressive: Only a few of the characters were really developed enough for me to become attached to them, and the plot was depressing spiral downward that held few surprises. Books that tell you the ending at the very beginning can be quite effective--but only when the path to that ending is a mystery. In this book, the details might have been unexpected but the main character's arc, on the large scale, was easy to predict.
However, the bold choice to tell the story of how a terrorist is grown somewhat makes up for the lackluster plot and characters. El Akkad handles Sarat's story sympathetically but without sugarcoating the choices she makes.
American War is ostensibly about a second civil war fought in the United States in the 2070s. Global warming is the proximate cause that reshapes the world (Florida is gone, large parts of Mississippi, Louisiana, and the East Coast are underwater) and puts enormous pressure on the resources of a country that is losing its best real estate and industry. Civil wars tend not to happen to otherwise stable and successful countries so it is these stresses that set the stage for a second conflict. The federal government bans the use of fossil fuels but the oil dependent and rich south balks and eventually rebels.
The premise is kinda nutty. None of it, I don’t think, makes a lot of sense, at least not the way that it is portrayed. The South is way too weak and the North way too powerful as outlined for a struggle like this to continue for decades. Then again, the conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria have also taken a lot longer than I expected and in this reimagined future there are other, more global, forces at work.
However this is not what American War is actually about. It’s about radicalization. It attempts to explain how insurgents are created not born. The protagonist is a southern insurgent terrorist wrecking as much havoc as she can on the faction of the country that is oppressing her people. She sees her land torn apart, her family torn from her, and with little leadership and no other options she chooses to cause more pain to ease her own. Upon completion I hated El Akkad a little bit for making me sympathize with such a terrible terrible human. But that is the point I suppose. There is no thesis or message here beyond war is terrible and knows no limits beside those we choose to abide by. Empathy is still the greatest weapon we have for ending wars before they begin. I will definitely think on this novel in the future as I examine conflicts around the globe.
The premise is kinda nutty. None of it, I don’t think, makes a lot of sense, at least not the way that it is portrayed. The South is way too weak and the North way too powerful as outlined for a struggle like this to continue for decades. Then again, the conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria have also taken a lot longer than I expected and in this reimagined future there are other, more global, forces at work.
However this is not what American War is actually about. It’s about radicalization. It attempts to explain how insurgents are created not born. The protagonist is a southern insurgent terrorist wrecking as much havoc as she can on the faction of the country that is oppressing her people. She sees her land torn apart, her family torn from her, and with little leadership and no other options she chooses to cause more pain to ease her own. Upon completion I hated El Akkad a little bit for making me sympathize with such a terrible terrible human. But that is the point I suppose. There is no thesis or message here beyond war is terrible and knows no limits beside those we choose to abide by. Empathy is still the greatest weapon we have for ending wars before they begin. I will definitely think on this novel in the future as I examine conflicts around the globe.
3.5 out of 5 stars -- see this review and others at The Speculative Shelf.
Omar El Akkad’s debut novel is an inventive and timely story that uses the framework of what we understand about the United States today and extrapolates a possible horrifying future. A collection of states in the Deep South has attempted secession due to their refusal to cease using fossil fuels. Sarat Chestnut is young girl growing up in a refugee camp within these Free Southern States, while deadly conflict between the Blue (North) and Red (South) explodes all around her. American War explores the future consequences of many of today’s hot-button political issues: drone warfare, torture, climate change, nativism, the American political divide, and several others.
The worldbuilding El Akkad employs is extremely effective. Many things about this dystopian future are clearly communicated to the reader (a redrawn map of the United States, primary source documents) and the rest is interwoven in a subtle way that requires a small mental step to fully appreciate — a character references a Category 6 storm that passes through (oh, there are now storms bigger than a Category 5?) or discussions of the fighting craze “Yuffsy” (an evolved version of the pseudo-sound-alike “UFC”).
Sarat’s unrelenting personal narrative wasn’t quite as compelling to me as the overall world that she inhabited, but this was still a really impressive debut; it just never quite got over the hump to go from “good” to “great.” I would welcome another book set in this world, but I’d happily read anything else El Akkad comes out with next.
Omar El Akkad’s debut novel is an inventive and timely story that uses the framework of what we understand about the United States today and extrapolates a possible horrifying future. A collection of states in the Deep South has attempted secession due to their refusal to cease using fossil fuels. Sarat Chestnut is young girl growing up in a refugee camp within these Free Southern States, while deadly conflict between the Blue (North) and Red (South) explodes all around her. American War explores the future consequences of many of today’s hot-button political issues: drone warfare, torture, climate change, nativism, the American political divide, and several others.
The worldbuilding El Akkad employs is extremely effective. Many things about this dystopian future are clearly communicated to the reader (a redrawn map of the United States, primary source documents) and the rest is interwoven in a subtle way that requires a small mental step to fully appreciate — a character references a Category 6 storm that passes through (oh, there are now storms bigger than a Category 5?) or discussions of the fighting craze “Yuffsy” (an evolved version of the pseudo-sound-alike “UFC”).
Sarat’s unrelenting personal narrative wasn’t quite as compelling to me as the overall world that she inhabited, but this was still a really impressive debut; it just never quite got over the hump to go from “good” to “great.” I would welcome another book set in this world, but I’d happily read anything else El Akkad comes out with next.