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annieca's review
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
This is a really hard book to rate. It was very, very slow going for the first 200 pages because of how violent and dark the memoir was. But then as Collins started to come out of the IRA and spent his time in prison, the pace seemed to pick up. I do wish there had been an afterword added after Collins was murdered.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and War
anti_formalist12's review
5.0
A sad book, especially considering Collins was murdered within two years of publication. A man who lost his faith in a cause that seemed to be losing its way, and just wanted to live a simple life.
srash's review
4.0
Well, that was disturbing.
Collins was an intelligence officer for the IRA in the 1970s and 1980s in the town of Newry. He helped arrange assassinations and bombings before becoming a police informer after he became disillusioned with the IRA, though he soon became disillusioned with being a "tout" too. Following his expulsion from the IRA and banishment from Northern Ireland, Collins--who was never nothing if not defiant, regardless of the occasion--ignored the edict, returned home, and worked in community education and became an outspoken proponent of an end to the violence. [Unfortunately, Collins's defiance led to his still unsolved murder a couple of years after the release of this book, no doubt the IRA making good on its threats to him.)
Collins is brutally honest, and the resulting book is hard to read as a result. He writes quite openly about the work he did with the IRA, what led him to join, and what led him to leave. Collins is an insightful, intelligent, and well-educated man (he was a law student before he began his career as a revolutionary/terrorist) who seems more comfortable analyzing his actions and decision-making process than many other people are.
I can't say I particularly liked Collins, but I do admire his forthcomingness and thought the book was an excellent look at the Troubles. He gives good context for the events of the era and does a good job of chronicling the way the organization began to fragment in the 1980s as tension developed between the more militant members and those more interested in political solutions.
Collins was an intelligence officer for the IRA in the 1970s and 1980s in the town of Newry. He helped arrange assassinations and bombings before becoming a police informer after he became disillusioned with the IRA, though he soon became disillusioned with being a "tout" too. Following his expulsion from the IRA and banishment from Northern Ireland, Collins--who was never nothing if not defiant, regardless of the occasion--ignored the edict, returned home, and worked in community education and became an outspoken proponent of an end to the violence. [Unfortunately, Collins's defiance led to his still unsolved murder a couple of years after the release of this book, no doubt the IRA making good on its threats to him.)
Collins is brutally honest, and the resulting book is hard to read as a result. He writes quite openly about the work he did with the IRA, what led him to join, and what led him to leave. Collins is an insightful, intelligent, and well-educated man (he was a law student before he began his career as a revolutionary/terrorist) who seems more comfortable analyzing his actions and decision-making process than many other people are.
I can't say I particularly liked Collins, but I do admire his forthcomingness and thought the book was an excellent look at the Troubles. He gives good context for the events of the era and does a good job of chronicling the way the organization began to fragment in the 1980s as tension developed between the more militant members and those more interested in political solutions.
polusvijet's review
1.0
Self-adulating ramblings of a narcissist of questionable credibility delivered in a self-righteous and moralizing tone. At the beginning of the book, there's a documentary mentioned called "Confessions", which came out shortly prior to this book. If you watch it (it's on YT), you'll see a man who's doing this for the sole purpose of being remembered. If you're in the mood for a clichee laden Farewell to Arms, read this.
merer's review
5.0
This is the autobiography of Eamon Collins, a former I.R.A. terrorist and later informant. He turned his back on the organization in the late 1980s and was stabbed and beaten to death (most likely by I.R.A. members) in 1999,less than a year after this book was published. This is an insightful and disturbing look into the mind of a completely normal human being who did terrible things.
cfrederich's review
4.0
Really interesting story by a former IRA member. One of the most intriguing books I've ever read, and it was by someone who was directly responsible for dozens of deaths.
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