American War

I'd like to start my review by thanking Joy at Joyous Reads whose blogged review of American War back in April 2018 encouraged me to add this novel to my TBR - and, almost two years later, I've finally read it! Why on earth did I wait so long? American War is unbelievably good!

American War is one of a select few novels which, for me at least, surpassed the five star rating I have awarded. As I closed the book after reading its final page, I actually had to take a couple of minutes to bring myself back to the present day because I had been so deeply immersed in Sarat's world that it felt more real to me than my own! El Akkad has brilliantly meshed together the realities of refugees' smashed lives in every war ever with a chilling portrait of how such desperation can be manipulated by callous men to create radicalised suicidal human weapons. What makes American War so shocking is that, by imagining America ripped apart by a second civil war, El Akkad's refugees are both Americans themselves and the result of American warfare techniques. This isn't the USA invading foreign nations in South or Central America, or across the Middle East, but the narrative and actions have such an authentic ring to them because I have already seen these ideas in novels such as Red Birds by Mohammed Hanif and The President's Gardens by Muhsin Al-Ramli.

The concept of The South rising again is wonderfully evocative. The American War storyline is told from a point even further into the future than the events we follow so it reads as rich historical fiction even it is actually science fiction. We glimpse as-yet impossible technologies, but the majority of scenes are set on poverty-stricken Southern lands, all-but destroyed by years of war, or within the crowded tent city that is Patience Refugee Camp, so people are struggling to survive with very little, their only highlights being the monthly Chinese aid shipment. I got a sense of a society which had reached affluent success, but which had now lost everything it had achieved - perhaps similar to present-day Syria?

El Akkad has already garnered comparisons with authors such as Cormac McCarthy and, on the strength of his vivid depictions of these grim settings, I would agree that his writing is easily as powerful. I was absolutely steamrollered by American War and will, I think, be enthusiastically recommending this novel to everyone I can find! Superb!

This dystopian novel is one that would not have been on my radar, had it not been for my book group. And I do not recommend reading two dystopian novels in a row...

American War is scary because it's plausible. In this story, the second American civil war is fought over the fossil fuel issue, but I'm afraid any number of issues could trigger such a rift, and anyway, it doesn't matter: people stick with their families, their tribes, and their turf. Even if that land is sinking into the ocean.

We follow Sarat, a young woman who has become a terrorist. She is bright and talented, born to be curious, serene, kind, and--athletic. In a happier, more sane world, she'd be the star of some ivy league volleyball team...but that kind of world is decades in the past, something people in her generation have barely even heard of.

This is the author's most powerful message, that even the best people can be driven to hate. All her life, Sarat and her southern neighbors have suffered at the hands of the Northerners. After what her family goes through, it's not too hard to imagine how she could be driven to seek revenge. When Sarat , at the tender age of twelve, meets an older man who specializes in recruiting for the Southern cause, she is transformed into the most radicalized of terrorists.

Though we see mostly the southern side of things in this novel, it is clear that there is no "right" side. Both have behaved badly. Picture a civil war with the kind of devastating technology that exists now, and "behaving badly" becomes a silly understatement.

This is a dark, cautionary tale. I must admit that the first hundred pages went slowly for me, and it would be a lie to say that I enjoyed reading this. It's not that kind of book. I admire it tremendously, and hope that it is widely read and discussed.