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alery_celery 's review for:
American War
by Omar El Akkad
I chose to read this book after listening to the “Extremist Future” episode of NPR’s Throughline podcast (link below). In this episode we are “immersed in Omar El Akkad's 'what could be' to understand larger questions about history, humanity, and American exceptionalism”. Though I would not have known of the book’s existence without listening to this episode, I wish I had learned about the book some other way, read the book first and then listened to the episode. Because of the podcast, I already had some idea of who the main character is, and what her choices would be. Still, I really enjoyed this story.
Basic concept: in the not so distant future a second civil war breaks out in the United States. Climate change has ravaged the country. Several factions of fighters occupy the south. Suicide bombers and biological warfare is happening. Southerners from the coasts and the war torn borders flee to refugee camps. The story follows Sarat Chestnut from her childhood in Louisiana through her life as a fighter, and beyond.
It’s easy to empathize with the Sarat even as her environment shapes her into who she becomes. I won’t go more in-depth than that so as not to spoil it for anyone else, but for sure, if you want to read this book, listen to the podcast after rather than before.
https://www.npr.org/2023/01/12/1148854407/extremist-futures
Basic concept: in the not so distant future a second civil war breaks out in the United States. Climate change has ravaged the country. Several factions of fighters occupy the south. Suicide bombers and biological warfare is happening. Southerners from the coasts and the war torn borders flee to refugee camps. The story follows Sarat Chestnut from her childhood in Louisiana through her life as a fighter, and beyond.
It’s easy to empathize with the Sarat even as her environment shapes her into who she becomes. I won’t go more in-depth than that so as not to spoil it for anyone else, but for sure, if you want to read this book, listen to the podcast after rather than before.
https://www.npr.org/2023/01/12/1148854407/extremist-futures