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3.81 AVERAGE
3.81 AVERAGE
talk about a deep, slightly uncomfortable topic that leads to a book that had me engrossed and wanting more.
2074... the ice caps have melted, resulting in large portions of the United States no longer existing. The Mississippi Delta is now the Mississippi Sea. The Capital of the United States has moved from the now underwater Washington DC to Columbus, Ohio. A ban on fossil fuels has lead to the Second American Civil War because the Southern States, who relied on the industry for the economy once again broke from the north and formed the Free Southern States. The entire State of South Carolina is behind a wall to keep a plague virus that was unleashed there early in the war contained.
This is the world that Sara T. Chestnut (known to all as Sarat) lived.
This book is told by her nephew Benjamin years after the events happen. How, when she was 6, Sarat's family evacuated their small home in Louisiana to a refugee camp, where she lived for 7 years. How she and her siblings survived a massacre there and she went to work for a rebel faction, how she lived in a military prison for years as a prisoner of war, and how, after being freed, she worked to end it all.
I found the book very difficult, because I can see how it could so easily happen. I am glad I read the book, though I think I can say with certainty that I do not think I need to ever read it again.
2074... the ice caps have melted, resulting in large portions of the United States no longer existing. The Mississippi Delta is now the Mississippi Sea. The Capital of the United States has moved from the now underwater Washington DC to Columbus, Ohio. A ban on fossil fuels has lead to the Second American Civil War because the Southern States, who relied on the industry for the economy once again broke from the north and formed the Free Southern States. The entire State of South Carolina is behind a wall to keep a plague virus that was unleashed there early in the war contained.
This is the world that Sara T. Chestnut (known to all as Sarat) lived.
This book is told by her nephew Benjamin years after the events happen. How, when she was 6, Sarat's family evacuated their small home in Louisiana to a refugee camp, where she lived for 7 years. How she and her siblings survived a massacre there and she went to work for a rebel faction, how she lived in a military prison for years as a prisoner of war, and how, after being freed, she worked to end it all.
I found the book very difficult, because I can see how it could so easily happen. I am glad I read the book, though I think I can say with certainty that I do not think I need to ever read it again.
The universal slogan of war, she’d learned, was simple: If it had been you, you’d have done no different.
This book gripped me.
Telling about an American Civil war in the near future.
How it happened makes sense.
Especially seeing what is happening now and the events that are bound in the future.
It both intrigues me and scares me.
I can recommend this read to all Americans so they can make sure it never comes to pass.
“All these old men want it to be like it was when they were young. But it’ll never be like that again, and they’ll never be young again, no matter what they do. And it’s not just ours that do it. It’s theirs too. Imagine if the North had just let us be. Imagine if they didn’t fight us tooth and nail, kill all those innocent people, just to keep us from having a country of our own and doing things our own way—would it really have been so bad? No, of course it wouldn’t. But it wasn’t that way when all those old people that run everything were young, so they can’t let it be. But you and I”—she pointed at the children playing on the street behind her—“and them too: we’re young, and we ain’t bound by what they bound by. We’re gonna pull the power from their hands, because when it comes down to it, they don’t really care ’bout the Red. Only thing they ever cared ’bout was themselves."
This book gripped me.
Telling about an American Civil war in the near future.
How it happened makes sense.
Especially seeing what is happening now and the events that are bound in the future.
It both intrigues me and scares me.
I can recommend this read to all Americans so they can make sure it never comes to pass.
“All these old men want it to be like it was when they were young. But it’ll never be like that again, and they’ll never be young again, no matter what they do. And it’s not just ours that do it. It’s theirs too. Imagine if the North had just let us be. Imagine if they didn’t fight us tooth and nail, kill all those innocent people, just to keep us from having a country of our own and doing things our own way—would it really have been so bad? No, of course it wouldn’t. But it wasn’t that way when all those old people that run everything were young, so they can’t let it be. But you and I”—she pointed at the children playing on the street behind her—“and them too: we’re young, and we ain’t bound by what they bound by. We’re gonna pull the power from their hands, because when it comes down to it, they don’t really care ’bout the Red. Only thing they ever cared ’bout was themselves."
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This one felt like a study guide for the next few decades. Or months. Whatever.
This is a powerful story—timely, poignant, and beautifully written.
A bit slow to start and I was confused at some points by the worldbuilding, but still a solid read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, War
This book took a lot of unexpected turns. The premise is fascinating -- climate change has caused mass-migration toward the middle of the US, and the South secedes over the use of fossil fuels. Certainly a believable dystopian scenario. I enjoyed it, but admittedly hoped for different outcomes.
Not a bad story, just not the story I needed at the time I read it. It was a hard story to read and I just didn't enjoy it. It was well written and probably researched, just wasn't the right time for me.
After hearing about this book on NPR and considering the relevance of its content, I was really hoping for more. This is probably not a fair criticism of fiction, but I was hoping the story would be a bit more realistic. The "South Carolina Quarantine Zone" and the "plague" were a bit too much of a stretch for me.
I also wasn't sure what to make of the main character, Sarat. It wasn't clear if we should be rooting for or against her; I did not find her particularly likeable. I do think the author did a nice job of using Sarat to demonstrate how easily people can become radicalized for the "wrong" side in a conflict.
I did really like the sections with the "historical documents" from the war. I thought that was a brilliant touch.
I also wasn't sure what to make of the main character, Sarat. It wasn't clear if we should be rooting for or against her; I did not find her particularly likeable. I do think the author did a nice job of using Sarat to demonstrate how easily people can become radicalized for the "wrong" side in a conflict.
I did really like the sections with the "historical documents" from the war. I thought that was a brilliant touch.
On the whole: YES! I love me a cool dystopian novel about climate change, geo-political upheaval, and historical self-correction. Loved the world-building, loved the references to its own history, and loved the characters.
Yet for some reason this didn't blow me away. I had some trouble getting myself excited about reading it chapter to chapter. It could be because Sarat herself felt a little distant of a protagonist, and I didn't get a strong sense of who she truly was on the inside, what made her tick, etc. As she became older, she felt more inaccessible. And part of me was really confused why she accepted the final mission Joe offered her -- it felt that her character had chosen to embrace a path of healing and love? I guess I was just a bit confused.
Also, can we have a big kid talk about the dialogue? #stilted #noonetalkslikethis #painful
On the whole, REALLY original and cool. Definitely impressive stuff. I think this will stay with me for awhile.
Yet for some reason this didn't blow me away. I had some trouble getting myself excited about reading it chapter to chapter. It could be because Sarat herself felt a little distant of a protagonist, and I didn't get a strong sense of who she truly was on the inside, what made her tick, etc. As she became older, she felt more inaccessible. And part of me was really confused why she accepted the final mission Joe offered her -- it felt that her character had chosen to embrace a path of healing and love? I guess I was just a bit confused.
Also, can we have a big kid talk about the dialogue? #stilted #noonetalkslikethis #painful
On the whole, REALLY original and cool. Definitely impressive stuff. I think this will stay with me for awhile.
This book does a very clever thing. It paints Southern, poor, conservatives a picture of how oppressed people become terrorist in a language that is familiar and in a way that at least borders on plausible -- all wrapped up in an engaging dystopian story. We have drone strikes killing families, refugee camps, retaliation murders of a lot of innocent people (disproportionate responses), extremist recruiters (a guys who is one of the most likable characters in the book for awhile. He's seriously charming.) a barely veiled Guantanamo prison...
When you are zoomed in to the human level view of war it isn't hard to see why the main character Sarat is making the choices she makes. This book has you empathizing deeply with a terrorist. It also never really lets Sarat off the hook for her actions either. She doesn't get a free "get out of jail pass" for what she does by any stretch. But her story is human, painful, and disturbing. I thought it was immersive and smart. It does a fantastic job of smashing against the barriers we work so hard to erect between "us" & "them."
To quote the author, " No. I don't think you're supposed to have sympathy for her [Sarat]. My only hope is that you understand why she did it. I think one of the things that's been lost in this incredibly polarized world we live in is the idea that it's possible to understand without taking somebody's side."
When you are zoomed in to the human level view of war it isn't hard to see why the main character Sarat is making the choices she makes. This book has you empathizing deeply with a terrorist. It also never really lets Sarat off the hook for her actions either. She doesn't get a free "get out of jail pass" for what she does by any stretch. But her story is human, painful, and disturbing. I thought it was immersive and smart. It does a fantastic job of smashing against the barriers we work so hard to erect between "us" & "them."
To quote the author, " No. I don't think you're supposed to have sympathy for her [Sarat]. My only hope is that you understand why she did it. I think one of the things that's been lost in this incredibly polarized world we live in is the idea that it's possible to understand without taking somebody's side."
Bleak post-apocalyptic, excellent writing but too dark for me. Didn't finish.
This is one of the books nominated in the Canada Reads 2018 competition. I'm not a huge fan of how the Canada Reads debates are structured, but it's a good resource for finding some noteworthy Canadian novels, which I've been meaning to focus on a little more.
This story takes place at the end of the 21st century in America. After climate change forces a ban on fossil fuel across the country, the southern states break away from the union and start the second civil war. The protagonist, Sarat Chestnut, is just a child when this happens, and we follow her as she's uprooted from her home and forced to try to find room in a refugee camp. The story spans the entirety of the war and beyond, which is an interesting perspective when typically a story would focus on just a key battle or moment within the war.
The characters in this are quite complex, and it does a great job of showing how good people can be twisted to do evil things. It explores the idea that violence just spawns more violence by providing terrorist organizations with ample ground for recruiting, allowing them to cut civilians off from the news of the outside world and use the deaths of their family and friends to fuel their hate and need for vengeance. Here that takes place within the United States, which I think can maybe drive the point home a bit easier for a western audience.
I liked this, but I didn't love it. Maybe the characters were a little too unsympathetic, or maybe the world was a little too closed off around these characters, but I found I wasn't that invested in the story. I also didn't feel like I was reading a story set over fifty years in the future when almost no advancements in technology seemed to have occurred. Although sadly, the main conflict didn't seem too crazy to me. Two years ago I would have thought the idea of a disagreement on fossil fuels starting a civil war in America to be ridiculous, but I think this last year or so has made the ridiculous seem plausible. You know - stupid people, large groups.
Interesting and thought-provoking book. I will probably read a couple more of this year's Canada Reads books, although probably not before the debates take place at the end of this month.
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This story takes place at the end of the 21st century in America. After climate change forces a ban on fossil fuel across the country, the southern states break away from the union and start the second civil war. The protagonist, Sarat Chestnut, is just a child when this happens, and we follow her as she's uprooted from her home and forced to try to find room in a refugee camp. The story spans the entirety of the war and beyond, which is an interesting perspective when typically a story would focus on just a key battle or moment within the war.
Nativism being a pyramid scheme, I found myself contemptuous of the refugees’ presence in a city already overburdened. At the foot of the docks, we yelled at them to go home, even though we knew home to be a pestilence field. We carried signs calling them terrorists and criminals and we vandalized the homes that would take them in. It made me feel good to do it, it made me feel rooted; their unbelonging was proof of my belonging.
The characters in this are quite complex, and it does a great job of showing how good people can be twisted to do evil things. It explores the idea that violence just spawns more violence by providing terrorist organizations with ample ground for recruiting, allowing them to cut civilians off from the news of the outside world and use the deaths of their family and friends to fuel their hate and need for vengeance. Here that takes place within the United States, which I think can maybe drive the point home a bit easier for a western audience.
I liked this, but I didn't love it. Maybe the characters were a little too unsympathetic, or maybe the world was a little too closed off around these characters, but I found I wasn't that invested in the story. I also didn't feel like I was reading a story set over fifty years in the future when almost no advancements in technology seemed to have occurred. Although sadly, the main conflict didn't seem too crazy to me. Two years ago I would have thought the idea of a disagreement on fossil fuels starting a civil war in America to be ridiculous, but I think this last year or so has made the ridiculous seem plausible. You know - stupid people, large groups.
Interesting and thought-provoking book. I will probably read a couple more of this year's Canada Reads books, although probably not before the debates take place at the end of this month.
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