Reviews tagging 'War'

Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe

90 reviews

kys831's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad slow-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Violence, and War

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

chomiczeq's review against another edition

dark informative reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

The book is fantastic, for me it is the perfect nonfiction – absorbing, detailed, nuanced, and based on solid, reliable sources. You can see the author's enormous work to recreate the events as best as possible, present key figures, their motives, stories, often difficult to understand actions and moral dilemmas. Another advantage of the book is its extensive bibliography and 100 pages of footnotes, which are really worth looking at, because the author adds many additional things there.

For me, the last part of the book, devoted to the issue of settling with the past and remembering these events, was particularly interesting. How key activists – Brendan Hughes, Dolours and Marian Price, Gerry Adams and others – referred to their actions after many years – or how they denied them, how they were affected by the crimes they committed, the hunger strikes they went on, their participation in planning attacks or kidnappings. Also how the families of victims, such as the aforementioned McConville children, dealt with the past. The author based his work on interviews, archives and recordings of interviews with participants in the conflict, and collaborated with researchers and journalists. The result is a reliable, nuanced and multidimensional work.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Suicide, Violence, and War

zas9's review against another edition

challenging informative tense fast-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Religious bigotry, and War

lizzi_thebooksquid's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective fast-paced

5.0

Through gripping narrative this book exposes the neglect of our history curriculum. Readers will be skillfully taken through the Troubles, the major events that made and contributed to the conflict and the lives that were irreperably changed. If you lived through this period or were born after it, everyone in the UK should read this.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence and War

Minor: Torture

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

mondovertigo's review against another edition

dark informative mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, and War

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Pedophilia, Excrement, Vomit, and Grief

Minor: Rape

mimi_t22's review against another edition

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

sarah15's review against another edition

dark informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, 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