American War

AMERICAN WAR

by Omar El Akkad

 

Nominations: Carnegie Longlist 2018, Dublin Longlist 2019, James Tait Black Finalist 2018

 

Date Read: August 23, 2023

 

American War is a bleak look at the U.S. should the north and the south engage in civil war. In El Akkad’s vision, the tension arises over the use of fossil fuels and the subsequent environmental devastation. Civil war seems absolutely plausible in reality, although I doubt it would be over the use of fossil fuels. Our country is just that divided.

 

Sarat is both the protagonist and antagonist, in turns garnering our sympathy and loathing. She is a twin whose youth is devastated by the loss of her father, the loss of her home and the loss of her twin sister. Through the refugee camps she inhabits throughout her childhood, all she ever knows is struggle, loss and war. She becomes proficient at all three.

 

Sarat is lethal in her focus and an imposing figure in her physical stature. She is someone to be respected and feared, fighting her entire life for the southern cause. Only towards the end of her life does she realize that it never really mattered which side she was on. 

 

The tide turns on Sarat when she is captured and sent to a torture camp. At first it seems like she will never break but seven years of constant torture is enough to break anyone’s spirit and resolve. Death would have been a welcome respite if she could have only found it. When she is finally released, she is completely at a loss as to how to human.

 

Simon, her brother, brain damaged from a bullet to the head, his wife and son take Sarat in and nurture her back to some form of herself. The person she used to be, however, is long gone. Rather than lament the uselessness and waste of such a long war, she commits herself to revenge and those working for their own ends are all too happy to provide her with the means.

 

This bleak and depressing novel almost reminds me in ways of The Road, but less well done. I was continually disheartened to think that civil war could actually happen. Sarat being unable to let go of her need for revenge is bleaker still. If everyone held on to their hurt and fury, the violence would be never-ending. And that is the most depressing part of all.