American War: A dystopian novel of survival in a divided America, for fans of Station Eleven

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!

Dystopia is when the privileged experience its absence and this is about America experiencing its own foreign policy. As such it is an adventure story as well as a satire.

A thought provoking and plausible novel based in a not too distant future America where climate change has shaped the landscape and the old Yankee vs Confederate mindsets have re-emerged to shape events. Well written and well researched, it follows the story of one person's experience from innocence to anger in the middle of the chaos that has taken over. Parallels can be drawn with those people that are experiencing exactly the same in the war zones of the world today and it is a stark reminder of the effects of brutality on the mind and the soul of the innocents. A very good, but chastening read and a glimpse into an all too possible grim future.

I appreciate that this book helps the reader feel what is like to be a refugee but unfortunately for me this was eclipsed by the fact that the protagonist Sarat is really quite unlikeable. I also appreciate some foreshadowing in good books but the awful thing Sarat does at the end is all but completely spelled out near the beginning of the story and this somewhat spoiled it for me. Omar El Akkad's prose is good though and I would still be open to reading his future work.

It's supposedly set in later decades of the present century. Yet no smartphones nor internet - nor mosquitos amongst the floodwaters of seceding southern states? It's a grim parable, with just enough realism to hold a mirror to contemporary US society where Guantanamo still haunts, climate disaster beckons, and the conventions which hold society together may be on the verge of breakdown. In this scenario, "American War" reminds us that on the edge of survival it's not unnatural to live by revenge and retribution, whether by government or an individual warrior, in this case Sarat. Curiously, the book has already been overtaken by events. Covid's transmissability highlights the impossibility of any plague confining itself to one location. And the prospect of gun-toting militias holding democratic instutions to ransom is all too apparent now in the 2020s, and foreboding of a US civil war is common currency.

This is a brilliant, if dark, book. The story is centered around a second American civil war brought on by the effects of climate change and some peoples unwillingness to make changes and to adapt. The main character, Sarat, is a Southener and a refugee displaced by the fighting and becomes radicalised while in a refugee camp. This is a very interesting and thought provoking twist which mirrors the plight of those caught up in fighting in the middle east currently. I thought this book was really well written and I struggled to put it down. It's interesting how much it occupied my mind while I wasn't reading it too, a sure sign of an excellent plot.

If you want a real understanding of the process by which apparently ordinary people become fanatics, dedicated to the destruction of an enemy without caring that it means their own destruction - or even the destruction of their friends and family - as well, then read this book. The clear-eyed exposition of the radicalization of an unremarkable young woman in this book should be required reading for everyone who has ever wondered how and why suicidal killers come to be, as well as how they are cynically used by those with political ends.

This book is possibly prophetic, definitely based on stuff that has happened to real people in a lot of places. Main character is a bit one dimensional but that doesn’t spoil the book. I’ll think about this one for a while I expect.

I loved the story

Before writing this review I did what I usually do: read the 1 star and 5 star reviews by others. This time I didn't read the 5 stars, because my mind was made up that this was a fabulous book! Reading the 1 stars, it was as if we hadn't read the same book. My interest was strongly caught in the first few pages, and sustained steadily throughout the day as I read it in front of a fireplace on a real feel high temp of 8° day on vacation in a rustic state park cabin. Started it at about noon, and finished it a little before midnight. Sarat, the main character, is endearing from her first introduction at age 6, and becomes only more interesting as her flawed humanity is broken, strengthened, and broken again by life during a climate catastrophe, pandemic, and second American civil war. I found every plot point believably rooted in either/both the political and cultural history of the 19th century civil war or the fragmented and fractious polarizations of 2016-2026. Shifting power use from power with to power over and power against ✔️ Geographic and values based political divisions ✔️ Climate change deniers vs climate change activists ✔️ the declining power and influence of the U.S and the rise of European and Middle East coalitions ✔️ Widening gaps between the elite wealthy and the rest of us ✔️ and more. "Gone with the Wind" it isn't, thankfully, as that book hasn't aged well, with it's romantization of the Southern Cause and the fantasy portrayal of happy enslaved people of color oppressed by the privileged white minority. As much as I loved the character of Scarlett O'Hara, I found Sarat more human, more believable, and more inspiring as she, like Rhett Butler on the road outside of Atlanta as it burns, surprises himself by deciding to enlist in the final days of the Confederacy. One of many good quotes, applicable to today's political conservatives: "For (them) there is no future, only three kinds of pasts- the distant past of heritage, the near past of experience, and the past-in-waiting." Very highly recommended!

Non avevo grandi aspettative su questo libro, non conoscevo l'autore (che infatti è al primo lavoro) e non sapevo di cosa trattasse, per questo leggerlo mi ha coinvolto e mi ha sorpreso. Omar El Akkad immagina un nuovo mondo, una nuova America, una nuova guerra civile e nuovi equilibri. Come al solito provo ad accennare qualcosa senza "spoiler", spero di riuscirci. Siamo in un mondo, o meglio di un'America, con nuovi equilibri alla fine del XXI secolo, con nuovi problemi e conflitti interni, che oggi magari sembrano anche snobbati ma che ad un certo punto assumono tanta importanza da arrivare ad essere cause scatenanti. I nuovi problemi sono l'innalzamento dei mari, condizioni metereologiche estreme ed il terrorismo che è mutato in bioterrorismo. Inoltre il potere sembra derivare dal controllo dei combustibili fossili, con le potenze asiatiche e mediorientali in ascesa rispetto ad un mondo che finora sembrava essere americo-centrico. Il protagonista del libro si chiama Sarat, lo incontriamo da piccolo, con una famiglia che vuole migrare al nord a causa delle pessime condizioni della loro Louisiana. Fa strano pensare ad un'America così poco "americana", che diventa luogo di fuga e non di arrivo, con atrocità e torture, difficili da concepire nell'immagine che ormai tutti oggi abbiamo del sogno americano. Il libro è bello per i curiosi, per chi ama le storie che aprono a possibilità che oggi sembrano lontane ma che sono assolutamente possibili, quasi probabili. Potrebbe sconvolgere e lasciare una sensazione di pesantezza riguardo al futuro politico (e non solo) del mondo, totalmente diverso - in peggio - da come lo conosciamo oggi. Lo consiglio, seppur non sia una lettura leggera.