by Omar El Akkad

The wreckage of a boat filled with Middle Eastern and African migrants washes up on a (presumably) Greek island, and Amir, a Syrian child, is the sole survivor. What Strange Paradise is told in chapters alternating between the events leading up to the incident––explaining what brought Amir and the others there––and the aftermath, where the native-born, teenaged Vänna attempts to help Amir evade the soldiers tasked at keeping undesirables out of the country. El Akkad’s novel provides important criticism of the Western public’s response to humanitarian disasters, but this is delivered in a largely inaccessible way, hidden deep within what appears a relatively straightforward story. While I rarely view inaccessibility as a negative, the message passing a reader by in this case serves to confirm the harmful beliefs the author’s criticizing in a way that perpetuates the problem. The writing’s objectively competent throughout, but El Akkad’s probable goals are effectively undermined through his presentation.

originally published in The Walleye, October 2021