Scan barcode
A review by comrademena
Nemesis: One Man and the Battle For Rio by Misha Glenny
4.0
3.5/5 rounded up because i liked it
really interesting account of the factors that led to the rise and fall of a notorious drug lord in rio. my favorite parts were the descriptions of life in the favelas and how ordinary residents adapted to the violence of their surroundings. i think this book does a really good job of showing how they were abandoned by the state and basically everyone except other favela residents, which is why they trusted the traffickers from the favelas marginally more than police.
this book's biggest flaw is that it sympathizes too much with its main character. the author skips over nem's abuse of the women in his life and paints him as reluctant to kill. there's no doubt that he did try to reduce violence against civilians in the favela but acting like he wouldn't kill others involved in trafficking is ridiculous. i wouldn't say that it glorifies nem and especially doesn't glorify the business of trafficking but its a little too forgiving. it was also hard to understand at times because it jumps around quite a bit but once you get used to the writing style it's fairly clear.
really interesting account of the factors that led to the rise and fall of a notorious drug lord in rio. my favorite parts were the descriptions of life in the favelas and how ordinary residents adapted to the violence of their surroundings. i think this book does a really good job of showing how they were abandoned by the state and basically everyone except other favela residents, which is why they trusted the traffickers from the favelas marginally more than police.
this book's biggest flaw is that it sympathizes too much with its main character. the author skips over nem's abuse of the women in his life and paints him as reluctant to kill. there's no doubt that he did try to reduce violence against civilians in the favela but acting like he wouldn't kill others involved in trafficking is ridiculous. i wouldn't say that it glorifies nem and especially doesn't glorify the business of trafficking but its a little too forgiving. it was also hard to understand at times because it jumps around quite a bit but once you get used to the writing style it's fairly clear.