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EGW Writings

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EGW Writings application enables you to read and search the complete published writings of Ellen G....

Goddess in the Stacks (553 KP) rated American War in Books

Sep 27, 2017

American War

Omar El Akkad | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry

7.5

(4 Ratings)

Book Rating

Amazing character development (1 more)

All-too plausible future

An amazing debut dystopia

By now you probably know there are a few things I tend to enjoy in novels. Dystopias, Fantasies, Debut Novels, and Diversity tend to peak my interest, and American War is a dystopian debut novel by an Egyptian-Canadian author.

And it’s FANTASTIC.

El Akkad did an absolutely amazing job of weaving together the North/South rivalry of the US, climate change, the changing nature of energy generation, and US wars in the middle east to write an all-too-plausible novel about the US, seventy years from now.

Alternating between narrative chapters following his protagonist, and “historical documents” about the time period, he masterfully tells the story of how a terrorist is made. Because that’s what Sarat, his protagonist, is. Let’s make no bones about that. She is a terrorist. But she is a terrorist whose reasoning makes sense to us. Perhaps because the territories and the peoples are familiar to us, perhaps because we see how she grew up and what drove her to it – but the end result is a terrorist act on an unheard-of scale.

I’d like to think this book would make people look at refugees and terrorists in a new light – with more understanding and compassion and maybe with ideas to help actually combat the attitudes and circumstances that lead to terrorist acts. But I doubt it. I doubt this will change any minds that don’t already understand the underlying reasons.

My only quibble with this book is while he manages to weave together so many other issues facing our country right now, he doesn’t really wrap in racism. And I have a hard time believing our country is past racism 70 years from now.

I was very pleasantly surprised to find the protagonist is a bisexual, gender non-conforming woman of color. How awesome is that? And her bisexuality isn’t mentioned, it’s shown, her one on-screen sex scene (and it’s only barely on-screen) being with a woman. (She’s also attracted to a man in the book.)

The author was born in Egypt, grew up in Qatar, and lived in Canada, earning at least one award for his investigative reporting while working at The Globe and Mail. He’s one of the Canadian Broadcasting Company’s 17 writers to watch this year, and I see why. American War is definitely one of my favorite books of 2017.

You can find all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.wordpress.com

Kudos

Hazel (1853 KP) rated Wild: A Journey from Lost to Found in Books

Dec 7, 2018

I won this book through Goodreads First Reads

Recently brought to the big screen starring Academy Award Winner Reese Witherspoon, Wild is a true account of Cheryl Strayed's epic hike along the Pacific Crest Trail. Over the course of three months Cheryl treks from Mojave, California, through Oregon before finishing at the Bridge of the Gods.

Wild is a compelling story that reveals a young woman's determination and bravery to complete her impulsive walk of eleven hundred miles. Ill-prepared and still struggling with the death of her mother a few years earlier, Cherly sets off unknowing of the strength she would need to complete her challenge.

As Cheryl writes the reader learns how she survey the severe changes in weather conditions, her lack of food and money as well as her damaged feet and missing toenails.

Cheryl Strayed's story is an inspiration to readers as she proves that a human being can go above and beyond expectation in extraordinary circumstances. Despite having the truth laid out on paper, it is impossible to imagine the emotions and physical exertion Cheryl must have gone through.

A good thing about this biographical tale is that Cheryl's narrative does not solely focus on the PCT but refers back to events of the past that have made Cheryl who she is today and influenced her decision to begin the trail. The reader begins to know the real Cheryl and understand what she is feeling and thinking at different points in the book.

Split into five parts, Cheryl has used famous quotes to reflect the content of the following chapters. This takes the book to a higher intellectual level than just having the narrative.

Even if reading about someone going for a long walk sounds unappealing, it is so beautifully written, full of raw emotion that it will be enjoyed by many different readers whether male or female, old or young.

Having not yet seen the film it is impossible to pass comment on it, however the book is definitely worth making the time to read.