Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe

32 reviews

curlywiggles's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense

5.0

This is a brilliant piece of narrative non fiction. It's well researched and well written. It uses the 'disappearance' of Jean McConville as a framing device to tell a wider picture of the Provos involvement during The Troubles. It you are looking for more on the loyalists or on Britain's involvement, then you'd need to do some wider reading. 

The book also delves into the Belfast Project, or the Boston Tapes which is fascinating.

In the beginning it takes a while to get your head around the different 'chatacters' and the book moves back and forth in time, but you get to grips with it so bear with it. 

This was a real eye opener, and really interesting. But very dark. I needed to take breaks from it and I'd recommend checking the content warnings. Having said that, I still read it in a week as it does read like a thriller. 

I appreciated that the narrator was Northern Irish, and for the most part he's very good. But in the later part of the book he starts taking weird pauses. Not for effect, but in the middle of sentences. It's a bit random and distracting. 

I know this is a 5 start read for me as I keep thinking about it and wanting to talk about it with people. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Torture, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Murder, and War

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, and Death of parent

Minor: Child abuse and Mental illness

katrinaburch's review against another edition

challenging dark informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

4.5

This book is one that should be on anyone's list who has an interest in the Troubles. It is well researched and well written. I was a teenager when the Good Friday Agreement was signed and while I knew a little at the point that was going on, I have since learned more through books like Edward Rutherfurd's Dublin and Morgan Llywellen's The Irish Century series. But those are both fiction, this is narrative non-fiction. Yes, the author does state that it doesn't begin to cover all that is needed to know about one of the most complex conflicts in the world, but it's a start. 

I did have to knock it down a star for the author not using footnotes and ONLY using endnotes. As a historian, this drives me nuts. Endnotes are for your sources, footnotes are for extra information!

Overall, it's a very good book and should be read. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Violence, Religious bigotry, Murder, Gaslighting, and Classism

Minor: Alcoholism, Child death, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Suicide, Torture, Excrement, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

akswhy's review against another edition

challenging dark informative tense slow-paced

3.5

A wildly comprehensive book on a notoriously difficult to tackle subject. I learned TONS, but I think the book was too long. It could have been trimmed down. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, and War

Moderate: Eating disorder and Misogyny

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Dementia, and Alcohol

mikeybjones's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, Alcohol, and War

jadepfaefflin's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark informative inspiring mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Confinement, Death, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Murder, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

bigheadcam's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

An absolutely incredible, fascinating, and perfectly paced narrative nonfiction on the Troubles. Radden Keefe is very careful to specify that this book is not "historical" nonfiction because a lot of the information in this book is derived from oral accounts. He did his best to reconcile these accounts by corroborating them with more official records and reports, but the Troubles are not well documented and were a truly chaotic time.

Radden Keefe's writing is objective and informative while also remaining gripping and maintaining an excellent storytelling tone. I was consistently impressed with how well he kept every subject covered interesting, and how he manages to switch contexts without losing the reader or making it jarring.

Thanks to John Oliver for recommending this on Hot Ones. I'd happily do the same for anyone with an interest in history, radical ideologies, revolution, and modern struggles for independence as well as the cost of said struggles.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

maggies's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative sad tense fast-paced

5.0

Since reading Empire of Pain and Rogues, PRK has topped my list of nonfiction writers. His attention to detail and ability to weave a history that reads like a novel is second to none. The story of Jean McConville and her children, the nationalist movement, the origins of the Troubles, and its fragile peace and enduring legacy is told not necessarily chronologically, but thematically. PRK leaves a trail of breadcrumbs throughout as he builds to his final conclusion, with shocking twists and reveals along the way. Among the most shocking was the constant reminder of how recent this history is—while many active participants have passed away, many others are still alive, and memory is long.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Police brutality and Religious bigotry

qqjj's review against another edition

challenging dark informative sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Confinement, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Colonisation, and War

lipliplip's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative tense slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, and Classism

taytastic's review against another edition

dark informative medium-paced

4.5

Totally enthralling and truly captivating. It was a slow start but once I got past the first 60 pages, I could not stop reading it. The book is a nonfiction book about a war zone in modern history, engage accordingly.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and War

Minor: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, and Suicide