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3.81 AVERAGE
3.81 AVERAGE
This story hits rather close to what could actually happen, and was all the more riveting because of it. Sarat is a wonderfully complex character, and despite El Akkad's use of the old "found documents" trope, the events of the 2nd Civil War come to life in a vivid and thought-provoking way.
One of the better novels I’ve read in a good long while. Well done.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
challenging
inspiring
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
I absolutely adore the concept of American War by Omar El Akkad. Not that I'm wishing a second American civil war, but the concept of the book astounds me in how real it feels. The US decides that it will end the use of oil, making it illegal to use. In this move, a good portion of the South decides to secede leading to yet another civil war.
Although I don't know if banning the use of oil would cause us to go into a civil war, its a concept that's easy to buy into right away. The novel is broken into two different types of chapters. The first is about the life of Sarat Chestnut born in a Louisana that has been devastated by global warming (rising sea levels) and is forced to flee pretty early on. The second type of chapter is historical articles that describe the major events of the second civil war.
Really though this is a book about Sarat, and her journey. There's a point in this book where Sarat changes quite a bit that threw me for a loop. She becomes larger than life, almost a hero of sorts rather than the small story that the book begins with. And for that, I think the book misses an opportunity to be truly extraordinary. I loved the smaller stories, the families struggle during this insane civil war. When Sarat makes a big change about halfway through it didn't feel nearly as genuine or essential.
It's not that American War becomes a bad novel, just different. What I fell in love with in the first half turns into a more straightforward, less impactful war novel. There are some touching moments towards the end that brought me back but I have to say I ended American War more conflicted that I was in love with the book. It's a great novel, and I hope a ton of people read it, but it just missed being one of my favorite books of the year.
Although I don't know if banning the use of oil would cause us to go into a civil war, its a concept that's easy to buy into right away. The novel is broken into two different types of chapters. The first is about the life of Sarat Chestnut born in a Louisana that has been devastated by global warming (rising sea levels) and is forced to flee pretty early on. The second type of chapter is historical articles that describe the major events of the second civil war.
Really though this is a book about Sarat, and her journey. There's a point in this book where Sarat changes quite a bit that threw me for a loop. She becomes larger than life, almost a hero of sorts rather than the small story that the book begins with. And for that, I think the book misses an opportunity to be truly extraordinary. I loved the smaller stories, the families struggle during this insane civil war. When Sarat makes a big change about halfway through it didn't feel nearly as genuine or essential.
It's not that American War becomes a bad novel, just different. What I fell in love with in the first half turns into a more straightforward, less impactful war novel. There are some touching moments towards the end that brought me back but I have to say I ended American War more conflicted that I was in love with the book. It's a great novel, and I hope a ton of people read it, but it just missed being one of my favorite books of the year.
Set in the near future in the wake of increased environmental disasters striking the US, a family on the border of the Southern US States and the Northern ones finds itself caught up in an increasingly vicious civil war (following a previous Civil war/insurrection). The story particularly follows one of the daughter’s, Sarat, through her early years in the refugee camps and then later as she hardens into a resistance fighter. The book is well written and more literary than a techno thriller and that ultimately maybe its fundamental failing. The author tries to convey a sens of how ‘America’ might find itself torn apart by civil war and at the mercy of Foreign powers/aid like many other unfortunate countries especially those in the Middle East but in trying to build that metaphor he makes a fundamental mistake that leaves a lot of the story toothless even though its well written.
The decision to make the 2nd (3rd?) US Civil war in this book about Environmentalism fundamentally cripples the narrative. Its as if you wrote a book about the Middle east and left out religion. This mistake is doubled down on as the author then repeatedly goes out of his way to point out how the South is opposed to Green fuels even though they are more efficient, cost less and are fundamentally cleaner despite everyone clearly recognizing that Global warming is a thing and there is ample evidence of the damage it has caused especially in these ‘Southern’ states. It’s a real mind bender of a cause that never really rings true. The choice to avoid talking of race or gender or even religion and in fact making this America a post-gender/racial/religion one seems so contrived especially based on the state of the US right now that you just can’t reconcile it. The author obviously wants us to focus on the universal suffering and experience of civil war but by failing to tackle this he makes every character and motivation feel false.
SPOILER - Only by careful reading can you make out that the main character Sarat is half-Latino and half-Black. The fact that this is never commented on or mentioned even once by these Southerners – who also talk about how the South has always been oppressed by the North since the First US Civil War just goes even further to pull you out of the narrative. I refuse to believe in 50 years the US will be so blind to Race, gender or religion even when fighting along the old North=South divide.
With this fundamental narrative flaw what’s left is then a more standard refugee/civil war story. The fact that this is set in the near future by the way should not lead anyone to think that there is any commentary on modern war or the nature of it either – as again that timeline seems to have been chosen more to fit the environmental storyline vs. providing any insight into how future war may look like. There is an obligatory mention of drone war but that’s about it. It may seem like I am down on this book and it’s got to do more with expectations vs. the narrative itself. The book is well written and the main character compelling. You feel and understand her motivation leading up to a final act that is as monstrous and even cathartic. However throughout you can’t help but think how much stronger it all would be if the author and the narrative was as bold in picking on real motivations vs. the contrived one.
The decision to make the 2nd (3rd?) US Civil war in this book about Environmentalism fundamentally cripples the narrative. Its as if you wrote a book about the Middle east and left out religion. This mistake is doubled down on as the author then repeatedly goes out of his way to point out how the South is opposed to Green fuels even though they are more efficient, cost less and are fundamentally cleaner despite everyone clearly recognizing that Global warming is a thing and there is ample evidence of the damage it has caused especially in these ‘Southern’ states. It’s a real mind bender of a cause that never really rings true. The choice to avoid talking of race or gender or even religion and in fact making this America a post-gender/racial/religion one seems so contrived especially based on the state of the US right now that you just can’t reconcile it. The author obviously wants us to focus on the universal suffering and experience of civil war but by failing to tackle this he makes every character and motivation feel false.
SPOILER - Only by careful reading can you make out that the main character Sarat is half-Latino and half-Black. The fact that this is never commented on or mentioned even once by these Southerners – who also talk about how the South has always been oppressed by the North since the First US Civil War just goes even further to pull you out of the narrative. I refuse to believe in 50 years the US will be so blind to Race, gender or religion even when fighting along the old North=South divide.
With this fundamental narrative flaw what’s left is then a more standard refugee/civil war story. The fact that this is set in the near future by the way should not lead anyone to think that there is any commentary on modern war or the nature of it either – as again that timeline seems to have been chosen more to fit the environmental storyline vs. providing any insight into how future war may look like. There is an obligatory mention of drone war but that’s about it. It may seem like I am down on this book and it’s got to do more with expectations vs. the narrative itself. The book is well written and the main character compelling. You feel and understand her motivation leading up to a final act that is as monstrous and even cathartic. However throughout you can’t help but think how much stronger it all would be if the author and the narrative was as bold in picking on real motivations vs. the contrived one.
This book had a very interesting concept with an apt modern-day relevance - however, it missed the mark by trying to be too many things at once which diluted the main premise of the book. For me the book felt like part hunger games, part war drama, part historical fiction, sprinkled with some environmentalism. All these elements seemed to blend together inconsistently at different instances making the story a bit confusing. The fictional historical pretense of the civil war was not well fleshed out, making it difficult to process the different political players involved and the reasons behind their actions.
The main character got progressively less likeable and while I can understand how various traumatic events in the story contributed to the darker side of the heroine, the fuzzy political contexts made it very challenging to root for her. It just wasn't clear what she (or anyone for that matter) was fighting for.
Additionally, with the book being written in 2017, I would have anticipated that more current societal issues between "Red" and "Blue" states would have emerged as reasons for social discord and a civil war leading to separatist movements. The geopolitical tensions seem to only be connected to environmentalism and all modern-day issues (like racism and religion) got seemingly resolved by 2075 in this dystopian world, because they were non-existent in this book.
All in all, I would have either wanted a bit more from this book, or a bit less but more focused on specific parts of the story.
The main character got progressively less likeable and while I can understand how various traumatic events in the story contributed to the darker side of the heroine, the fuzzy political contexts made it very challenging to root for her. It just wasn't clear what she (or anyone for that matter) was fighting for.
Additionally, with the book being written in 2017, I would have anticipated that more current societal issues between "Red" and "Blue" states would have emerged as reasons for social discord and a civil war leading to separatist movements. The geopolitical tensions seem to only be connected to environmentalism and all modern-day issues (like racism and religion) got seemingly resolved by 2075 in this dystopian world, because they were non-existent in this book.
All in all, I would have either wanted a bit more from this book, or a bit less but more focused on specific parts of the story.
Równie dobre co przerażające... Kilka lat temu pewnie bym po coś takiego nie sięgnął.
A dzisiaj? Ameryka w klimacie jak nigdy wcześniej przypominającym ten sprzed secesji, Chiny (jak nic z akuszerującą z tyłu Rosją) zawiązujące alians saudyjsko-irański, wojna na Ukrainie, każdego roku bardziej dający się we znaki klimat ... S-F? Czyżby?
I jak to dobrze napisane! żadnych zbędnych wątków i postaci, wszystko logicznie spięte, toczy się warto, trzyma w napięciu - chce się czytać (choć zgroza przejmuje).
Rzemiosło po prostu. Z wysokiej półki.
A dzisiaj? Ameryka w klimacie jak nigdy wcześniej przypominającym ten sprzed secesji, Chiny (jak nic z akuszerującą z tyłu Rosją) zawiązujące alians saudyjsko-irański, wojna na Ukrainie, każdego roku bardziej dający się we znaki klimat ... S-F? Czyżby?
I jak to dobrze napisane! żadnych zbędnych wątków i postaci, wszystko logicznie spięte, toczy się warto, trzyma w napięciu - chce się czytać (choć zgroza przejmuje).
Rzemiosło po prostu. Z wysokiej półki.
Did Not Finish (DNF).
I started this book based on an interview I heard on National Public Radio. The story reminds me very much of something [a:William Gibson|9226|William Gibson|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1373826214p2/9226.jpg] might have written in his middle period.
Writing is quite good. Action scenes and descriptive prose are very rich. Dialog is good. If I have a criticism, its that the prose is a tad too literary. For example, the prose around the dirt-poor, tidewater Chestnut family should ideally be simpler to reflect their circumstance. The book was also well structured, with the scene transitions being well-handled.
After 175-pages, I put this book down.
Despite it being well-written, it wasn't interesting enough for me to continue reading. I tried picking it up several times, but never read more than a chapter every couple of weeks. I blame it on the author's choice of a main character. I was not in love with the protagonist, Sarat. I understand the point in making her a young woman (girl) of color. Although, I've come to think it was overly clever. Frankly, I thought Sarat's mother, Martina, was someone I could relate to more closely.
Also there was not enough of both the Cly-fy and future military and diplomatic history in the story to hold my interest. I'm terribly interested in both of these subjects. The Prologue, Maps and guerrilla warfare in America initially peeked my interest. However, there was no sustain for them. The Climate Change, and the military and diplomatic aspects of a modern American Civil War were too far down in the noise of the story to save it for me.
My scant reading time is just to precious to spend it on something I'm either not enjoying or really hating. I could see someone else really liking this book. However, it just wasn't for me.
I started this book based on an interview I heard on National Public Radio. The story reminds me very much of something [a:William Gibson|9226|William Gibson|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1373826214p2/9226.jpg] might have written in his middle period.
Writing is quite good. Action scenes and descriptive prose are very rich. Dialog is good. If I have a criticism, its that the prose is a tad too literary. For example, the prose around the dirt-poor, tidewater Chestnut family should ideally be simpler to reflect their circumstance. The book was also well structured, with the scene transitions being well-handled.
After 175-pages, I put this book down.
Despite it being well-written, it wasn't interesting enough for me to continue reading. I tried picking it up several times, but never read more than a chapter every couple of weeks. I blame it on the author's choice of a main character. I was not in love with the protagonist, Sarat. I understand the point in making her a young woman (girl) of color. Although, I've come to think it was overly clever. Frankly, I thought Sarat's mother, Martina, was someone I could relate to more closely.
Also there was not enough of both the Cly-fy and future military and diplomatic history in the story to hold my interest. I'm terribly interested in both of these subjects. The Prologue, Maps and guerrilla warfare in America initially peeked my interest. However, there was no sustain for them. The Climate Change, and the military and diplomatic aspects of a modern American Civil War were too far down in the noise of the story to save it for me.
My scant reading time is just to precious to spend it on something I'm either not enjoying or really hating. I could see someone else really liking this book. However, it just wasn't for me.
adventurous
dark
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes