Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

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

12 reviews

mikeybjones's review

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense fast-paced

4.0

---

Content Warnings

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

bigheadcam's review

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.

---

Content Warnings

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

timesnewroman12point's review

challenging emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

---

Content Warnings

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

helenab18's review against another edition

challenging dark informative

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol, Pedophilia, Suicide, Sexual violence, Violence, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, War, Drug use, and Eating disorder

lipliplip's review

challenging dark emotional informative tense slow-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

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

travisppe's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.5

Very interesting narrative, almost reads like a novel. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Ableism, Child abuse, Confinement, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Cancer, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Deportation, Eating disorder, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Gun violence, Medical content, Murder, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Panic attacks/disorders, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Torture, Violence, and War

plumpatio's review against another edition

informative mysterious reflective medium-paced

4.5

 A compelling narrative about historical events which I know very little about, I was grateful for the audiobook (read by an Irish narrator, which drew me in). I would recommend the book to anyone who enjoys narrative nonfiction with multi-faceted storytelling, but caution that the book is long. I'm not sure I would have finished it so quickly without the audiobook, the only downside of which is the lack of footnotes and images 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Gun violence, Torture, Kidnapping, and War

Moderate: Alcohol, Stalking, Eating disorder, Addiction, Suicide, Police brutality, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Religious bigotry, Murder, Death, and Alcoholism

A significant portion of the book centers around what are now considered war crimes including

force feeding and "disappearing" people (i.e., murdering people and hiding their bodies)

. There are also discriptions of counterintelligence methods utilized during the conflict.

proudtobeabookaholic's review against another edition

challenging informative medium-paced

2.0

Patrick Radden Keefe tar avstamp i bortförandet av 38-åriga änkan Jean McConville i december 1972. Hennes tio barn återstår henne aldrig. Att det var IRA som låg bakom hennes försvinnande var tydligt, men vad hade Jean egentligen gjort? Keefe redogör sedan för stora delar av IRA:s historia och terror, i den mån han kunnat gräva fram uppgifter.

Vi får lära känna flera personer och det är inte lätt att hålla reda på alla, eller vem som är vem. För mig blir systrarna Dolours och Marian Price mest minnesvärda. Deras engagemang i Provisoriska IRA, "provos", beskrivs detaljerat, men även deras liv efteråt. Gerry Adams och Brendan Hughes är två andra huvudpersoner, där Adams ständigt förnekat sin inblandning i IRA. Denna våldsamma konflikt mellan den protestantiska, lojalistiska sidan respektive den katolska, republikanska sidan pågick mestadels under 1960-1990-talen, men har efterverkningar än idag. 

Eftersom det här är en slags reportagebok så har den inget rakt händelseförlopp och många gånger känner jag bara att namn, grupperingar och årtal snurrar runt i mitt huvud. Det finns definitivt intressanta och till och med spännande delar, men för det mesta är jag förvirrad eller bortkollrad. Har lyssnat på den här boken och tror jag hade uppskattat den mer om jag läst den. Det är en bokcirkel-bok, så det ska bli intressant att höra vad de andra tycker om ett par dagar.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Gun violence, Violence, Murder, and Torture

Moderate: Mental illness and Alcohol

library_bee's review against another edition

dark informative reflective medium-paced

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, War, Gore, Gun violence, and Police brutality

Moderate: Colonisation, Death, Eating disorder, and Murder

Minor: Suicide, Drug abuse, Alcohol, and Alcoholism

kaynan1314's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Addiction, Murder, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Alcohol, Drug use, Excrement, Violence, War, Gun violence, Police brutality, and Physical abuse