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oisin175 's review for:
American War
by Omar El Akkad
I really wanted to like this book more, but it felt like it was missing something. I honestly don't think it was trying to hard to make a political point, nor do I really think it's main focus was on American political differences. The presence of some pretty devastating effects from climate change and a second Civil War definitely make it seem like this book is political; however, the book itself focuses almost solely on the life of Sarat. The book seems to be more accurately addressed as an examination of the destruction of a human. The book follows Sarat's experiences and basically looks at how trauma, cruelty (either active cruelty or the passive cruelty of turning a blind eye), and a lack of belonging can turn a person into something different. It was strange that race played no role in this book. Somehow America became a completely colorblind society in the space of about 40-50 years, while simultaneously tearing itself apart over fossil fuels. I constantly forgot that Sarat was not white because not one single person in the FSS commented on it, which was jarring.
I'm sure some people will be offended at how southerners are depicted in this book. They do seem to conform to a stereotype concerning the culture of honor and the secession and violence caused by a refusal to stop using fossil fuels after Florida and chunks of the east and Gulf coasts have disappeared make the southerners seem either dumb or suicidally stubborn. While I agree that this kind of looks like a caricature, it's hard to dismiss the idea that this might happen based solely on the response of citizens in the current MAG states. They are experiencing detrimental impacts of climate change now and continue to support individuals who actively seek to make the problem worse. The same can be said about the economies and immigration in those states. It is very possible that ideological concerns may trump the long term survival concerns of a group of people, especially once propaganda gets involved.
The reason this book only received 3 stars is because I feel like much of Sarat's life was glossed over. If the purpose of the book was to look at the ruination of a life, then skipping large chunks seems to undermine that goal. If looking at the potential ruination of a country was the focus, then relying solely on the life of Sarat seems myopic. In addition to both of these, the book was also a bit slow moving a dull at times. It wasn't bad, but I think other books have dealt with the concepts here in a more interesting or thought-provoking manner.
I'm sure some people will be offended at how southerners are depicted in this book. They do seem to conform to a stereotype concerning the culture of honor and the secession and violence caused by a refusal to stop using fossil fuels after Florida and chunks of the east and Gulf coasts have disappeared make the southerners seem either dumb or suicidally stubborn. While I agree that this kind of looks like a caricature, it's hard to dismiss the idea that this might happen based solely on the response of citizens in the current MAG states. They are experiencing detrimental impacts of climate change now and continue to support individuals who actively seek to make the problem worse. The same can be said about the economies and immigration in those states. It is very possible that ideological concerns may trump the long term survival concerns of a group of people, especially once propaganda gets involved.
The reason this book only received 3 stars is because I feel like much of Sarat's life was glossed over. If the purpose of the book was to look at the ruination of a life, then skipping large chunks seems to undermine that goal. If looking at the potential ruination of a country was the focus, then relying solely on the life of Sarat seems myopic. In addition to both of these, the book was also a bit slow moving a dull at times. It wasn't bad, but I think other books have dealt with the concepts here in a more interesting or thought-provoking manner.