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phoenix_7 's review for:
American War
by Omar El Akkad
Amazing read that will stay with me for a long time. The plot, structure, characters -- I have zero critique of how this book plays out, in either form or content. American War was simply not what I was expecting. It delivers a drippy, crunchy empathy that sticks in your throat, calling your (at least my) sense of right/wrong into question.
First, I am a sucker for clever structural storytelling. The book lays out a narrative with "archival excerpts" tucked between the chapters. While we follow the main characters through their lives (in "real time") the archives allow us a zoomed out view of space or place or time.
Sometimes these excerpts show us what is going to happen next, but are just elusive enough to hide the who/why/how and keep you on the edge of your seat. Sometimes the excerpts enrich the characters, showing a side you can't see from the narrative perspective of the main characters. I found myself flipping back and forth to appreciate the clever foreshadowing and callbacks.
I adore the maps at the beginning and have to mention them -- you immediately understand the immensity of how the nation has changed both physically and politically.
The prologue gives you the broad overarching scope of how the war began and ended (and what tragedy immediately follows). For me, this established the good guys and the bad guys, and I expected a straightforward social/cultural critique of a stubborn, egotistical "Free Southern State."
I expected a heroine who struggled and did what she needed to survive in a deep Red/Rebel territory entrenched in violence. A protagonist who maintained some sort of heroism *in spite* of her surroundings. But in war, everyone has to take a stance, and this story shows us that stance-taking isn't an isolated event.
First, I am a sucker for clever structural storytelling. The book lays out a narrative with "archival excerpts" tucked between the chapters. While we follow the main characters through their lives (in "real time") the archives allow us a zoomed out view of space or place or time.
Sometimes these excerpts show us what is going to happen next, but are just elusive enough to hide the who/why/how and keep you on the edge of your seat. Sometimes the excerpts enrich the characters, showing a side you can't see from the narrative perspective of the main characters. I found myself flipping back and forth to appreciate the clever foreshadowing and callbacks.
I adore the maps at the beginning and have to mention them -- you immediately understand the immensity of how the nation has changed both physically and politically.
The prologue gives you the broad overarching scope of how the war began and ended (and what tragedy immediately follows). For me, this established the good guys and the bad guys, and I expected a straightforward social/cultural critique of a stubborn, egotistical "Free Southern State."
I expected a heroine who struggled and did what she needed to survive in a deep Red/Rebel territory entrenched in violence. A protagonist who maintained some sort of heroism *in spite* of her surroundings. But in war, everyone has to take a stance, and this story shows us that stance-taking isn't an isolated event.