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A review by blankpagealex
American War by Omar El Akkad
4.0
I went back and forth between 3 and 4 stars on this one before landing on the higher rating, mainly because this book was very thought provoking and I found myself stewing on the ending for a very long time.
The notion here is a speculative scenario where a civil war has broken out over fossil fuels and the North has essentially defeated the South and now treats them almost exactly like America treats foreign nations during wartime. In this scenario we see the birth of a terrorist and the conditions that embolden someone to commit mass murder - not a political cause or a religion, but blind, and sometimes inexplicable hatred.
The metaphor of the injustices of an occupied country - internment, military rule, even torture - was a little bit of a stretch when applied to the American South and the idea that fossil fuel policy would cause them to revolt is laughable. Race is barely mentioned, which at first made me dislike the conceit of the novel altogether because it's impossible to imagine a new civil war that isn't driven by the same factors as the last one - racism, slavery, etc. However, the more I sat with it the more I felt that racism on its surface does not make inherent sense and essentially boils down to blind, inexplicable hatred - a driving force for some of the greatest atrocities in human history.
I think the feeling of discomfort that came with following a main character as they spiral into mass murder was the point and it made me frustrated, but intrigued and is therefore a worthy read.
The notion here is a speculative scenario where a civil war has broken out over fossil fuels and the North has essentially defeated the South and now treats them almost exactly like America treats foreign nations during wartime. In this scenario we see the birth of a terrorist and the conditions that embolden someone to commit mass murder - not a political cause or a religion, but blind, and sometimes inexplicable hatred.
The metaphor of the injustices of an occupied country - internment, military rule, even torture - was a little bit of a stretch when applied to the American South and the idea that fossil fuel policy would cause them to revolt is laughable. Race is barely mentioned, which at first made me dislike the conceit of the novel altogether because it's impossible to imagine a new civil war that isn't driven by the same factors as the last one - racism, slavery, etc. However, the more I sat with it the more I felt that racism on its surface does not make inherent sense and essentially boils down to blind, inexplicable hatred - a driving force for some of the greatest atrocities in human history.
I think the feeling of discomfort that came with following a main character as they spiral into mass murder was the point and it made me frustrated, but intrigued and is therefore a worthy read.