professorkenan 's review for:

American War by Omar El Akkad

5.0

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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."