Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

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

33 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

sporadic_user's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

4.0

A powerful book about awful acts of violence, in a seemingly unending cycle of retribution. Keefe masterfully conveys the inner worlds and fierce beliefs of a suprisingly small cast actors in the troubles, illustrating the many changes throughout it's beginnings, height and end.

For those normally turned off by acciuntings of history, Keefes writing style will be a welcome, gripping narrative rendition of events.

In particular, the inner motivations of the depicted are so well articulated that it can become hard hold on to an objective view oneself. Much like these real people, you can get caught up in their personal views and their cycles of violence. You can get insight into how the peace process could be reviled by the very people who wanted to stop fighting themselves. You might even find yourself condemning the very people who ended the conflict, only to realize that this exact thinking is what kept the conflict alive.

This book can be hard to read because of its subject matter, but it thoroughly demystifies the origins, staying power and legacy of the troubles.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Death, Eating disorder, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Classism

Moderate: Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, and Suicide attempt

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

k1ras_magic's review

challenging dark informative mysterious tense medium-paced

4.0

Dua Lipa's book club for the win. I knew next to nothing of "The Troubles" and had very basic knowledge of the IRA and the whole thing. This book was so interesting, compelling & hooks you right from the beginning, it's a beautiful and horrific portrayal of what it means to be human. It really paints the picture of what it was to be a citizen in the island and how interconnected everything seems to be, and how the repercussions can still be felt today. Seriously gripping, entertainment and knowledgeable.  I don't give it five stars, mostly because it takes a long time to get through it. The names, places and  dates are very well laid out but I had to stop multiple times to  go back and check some of the notes and resources and so it took me a long time to read and process and sometimes even then I would get confused a bit, which totally makes sense because it's a complex story and also I get the stylistic choice of using an Irish accent for the audiobook but that def did not help me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Violence, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Addiction, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racism, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and War

finknight's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative fast-paced

5.0

an incredibly important, unapologetic, and impartial account of the troubles and ireland. the book jumps around between narratives of key individuals but in a manner which is not confusing but aids the narrative, which all comes together cohesively. utterly recommend; even, and especially, for those who know little about ireland & history but are looking to learn!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Torture, Violence, and War

Moderate: Addiction and Suicide

hellavaral's review against another edition

dark informative reflective medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Torture, Police brutality, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Excrement

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

kefink's review against another edition

challenging dark informative sad tense slow-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Hate crime, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Murder, Colonisation, and War

Moderate: Cancer, Child abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Excrement, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, and Suicide attempt

timesnewroman12point's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Alcohol, and War