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akmarge13 's review for:
American War
by Omar El Akkad
This is one of those books that is important, but not enjoyable. It's too dark, too painful, too real. American War is about a fictional but entirely plausible future American civil war that begins in the year 2074; this time the South secedes over the prohibition of fossil fuels rather than over the emancipation of slaves. Sarat Chestnut is only six years old when her father dies and her mother moves Sarat and her siblings to a refugee camp that becomes their home for the next several years. Sarat is a tomboy with a strong will and a sharp mind. When a mysterious and fascinating stranger arrives at the camp and feeds her thirsty mind with politics, history, science, and more, Sarat finds her perspective, and her loyalties, shifting. As she grows into a young woman, Sarat in her grief and anger throws herself into the war...but is her revenge worth the consequences?
Having been born and raised in the South myself, many of the characters' sentiments (however misplaced) are familiar to me. The author really hit the Southern feelings of resentment and injustice right on the head. Fossil fuels have become the modern resource of the Southern economy, and it feels like Southern spite over a future prohibition of fossil fuels could easily ignite the underlying flame of Southern anger. The book is more than a commentary on the tension between the American north and south, however. It's an example of the insidious creep of radicalism; how consistent, subtle messaging can bend a willful mind to follow a cause blindly and indefinitely. It shows how there can be cracks and infighting even within a "unified" front in a war. The story demonstrates how war, particularly civil war, tears families and minds and souls apart. It examines the horrors and the fallacies of the use of torture to extract tactical information. The book was vividly and thoroughly written, but the characters are too broken and their pain is too raw to be relatable or likable. This would be a great choice for a book club discussion, but otherwise I'm glad the book is behind me.
Having been born and raised in the South myself, many of the characters' sentiments (however misplaced) are familiar to me. The author really hit the Southern feelings of resentment and injustice right on the head. Fossil fuels have become the modern resource of the Southern economy, and it feels like Southern spite over a future prohibition of fossil fuels could easily ignite the underlying flame of Southern anger. The book is more than a commentary on the tension between the American north and south, however. It's an example of the insidious creep of radicalism; how consistent, subtle messaging can bend a willful mind to follow a cause blindly and indefinitely. It shows how there can be cracks and infighting even within a "unified" front in a war. The story demonstrates how war, particularly civil war, tears families and minds and souls apart. It examines the horrors and the fallacies of the use of torture to extract tactical information. The book was vividly and thoroughly written, but the characters are too broken and their pain is too raw to be relatable or likable. This would be a great choice for a book club discussion, but otherwise I'm glad the book is behind me.