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3.16 AVERAGE
3.16 AVERAGE
dark
slow-paced
Kind of... middling. Brady's awfully full of himself, and does have, as he admits, limited access to info from a prison cell (the chapter on the Mad Butcher was pretty scant), but it is interesting to see a look into serial killing by someone who has been there and done that. It was also interesting to see his take on the Green River Killer in light of the recent developments in the case.
For me this is two books in one, the first half deals with Brady's views on society and the general psychology of your average serial killer (if there is such a thing as an average serial killer) and the second half delves into individual cases, both solved and unsolved, dissecting the whys and wherefores of each killer.
The first half is overloaded with Brady's paranoia and attacks on society as hypocritical and corrupt as the people it punishes and on the general public as being the dull herded animals that believe everything that the authorities tells them. While Brady does have some interesting points to make they get lost in the miasma of his delusions and need to use as much jargon as possible, which is a shame given that his views do raise many questions that each of us should at least consider if nothing else. Brady also dives into psychology and psychiatry in this section and how these areas of study have developed into the tools used by detectives and how the terms banded around in film, television and books actually relate to reality. Here Brady has made very good use of the prison library and the spare time he has had since his imprisonment decades ago. Although this again does become lost amongst Brady's accusations against authority and society as a whole, it does give good insight and clarity into the mind sets of the killers discussed in the next section of the book.
This second section deals with the case histories of eleven serial killers, hand picked by Brady for discussion, including John Wayne Gacy, Ted Bundy, Peter Sutcliffe and Richard Ramirez. Each of these studies focus on the killer with the victims taking more of a background role, which does make a refreshing change, as Brady focuses on the motivation behind the killer's actions in all respects of their crimes not just on the gore and horror of the killings themselves. For each Brady provides interesting and sometimes quite original opinions and views on why certain actions, methods etc were used from the view of someone who thinks the same, which (let's face it) cannot be replicated by detectives, psychiatrists, media etc no matter how hard they try. Interestingly you can sense that some of the insights Brady gives are from more than intelligient thought and hint at personal experience with some of the aspects of the crimes dealt with, making one think that even though Brady doesn't discuss his own crimes directly, he is indirectly through those of others.
No matter what you think of Brady as an individual, he is an articulate and intelligent writer, and although at times you may just want to fling the book across the room in disgust, one has to admit that he makes many a good point and gives incredible insight into the society, authority, the individual killers dealt with and himself, as a man and a criminal.
The first half is overloaded with Brady's paranoia and attacks on society as hypocritical and corrupt as the people it punishes and on the general public as being the dull herded animals that believe everything that the authorities tells them. While Brady does have some interesting points to make they get lost in the miasma of his delusions and need to use as much jargon as possible, which is a shame given that his views do raise many questions that each of us should at least consider if nothing else. Brady also dives into psychology and psychiatry in this section and how these areas of study have developed into the tools used by detectives and how the terms banded around in film, television and books actually relate to reality. Here Brady has made very good use of the prison library and the spare time he has had since his imprisonment decades ago. Although this again does become lost amongst Brady's accusations against authority and society as a whole, it does give good insight and clarity into the mind sets of the killers discussed in the next section of the book.
This second section deals with the case histories of eleven serial killers, hand picked by Brady for discussion, including John Wayne Gacy, Ted Bundy, Peter Sutcliffe and Richard Ramirez. Each of these studies focus on the killer with the victims taking more of a background role, which does make a refreshing change, as Brady focuses on the motivation behind the killer's actions in all respects of their crimes not just on the gore and horror of the killings themselves. For each Brady provides interesting and sometimes quite original opinions and views on why certain actions, methods etc were used from the view of someone who thinks the same, which (let's face it) cannot be replicated by detectives, psychiatrists, media etc no matter how hard they try. Interestingly you can sense that some of the insights Brady gives are from more than intelligient thought and hint at personal experience with some of the aspects of the crimes dealt with, making one think that even though Brady doesn't discuss his own crimes directly, he is indirectly through those of others.
No matter what you think of Brady as an individual, he is an articulate and intelligent writer, and although at times you may just want to fling the book across the room in disgust, one has to admit that he makes many a good point and gives incredible insight into the society, authority, the individual killers dealt with and himself, as a man and a criminal.
dark
informative
reflective
medium-paced
A book on serial killers written by a particularly disgusting murderer. The analysis of the killers themselves is well thought out and frankly honest, but the opening few chapters are an exercise in trying to drag other down to his own level as he imparts his thoughts on society and humans as a whole.
dark
sad
Strange, strange book. Very interesting, if nothing else.
A book about serial killers by a serial killer sounds intriguing, but what can you hope to find here? Something that will help catch them? Possibly prevent them? Ian Brady doesn't have any extraordinary insight for you. Nothing new; nothing helpful unless you want to delve into the thoughts of a narcissist psychopath. Filled with inaccuracies, Brady's analysis of varies serial killers tells more about himself than his subjects.
He waffles on about 'moral relativity', which is only brought up by those who want to commit atrocities and think they're smart enough to confuse people. In order for a society to function and thrive, there has to be core principles and values that everyone agrees upon or else all chaos ensues. Morality serves a purpose for society, and has some stable principles throughout different cultures. It's pretty clear raping and murdering children to get off is wrong. Brady's claim he doesn't see it as such falls flat when we understand his crimes were intended to violate morals in the most abominable way possible, thus unintentionally acknowledging he knew his actions were wrong.
Blaming society and politicians and war, Brady attempts and fails to portray serial killers as mistreated antiheroes fighting the establishment... I guess by raping and murdering? Not sure how that works, and I doubt Ian Brady did either.
He waffles on about 'moral relativity', which is only brought up by those who want to commit atrocities and think they're smart enough to confuse people. In order for a society to function and thrive, there has to be core principles and values that everyone agrees upon or else all chaos ensues. Morality serves a purpose for society, and has some stable principles throughout different cultures. It's pretty clear raping and murdering children to get off is wrong. Brady's claim he doesn't see it as such falls flat when we understand his crimes were intended to violate morals in the most abominable way possible, thus unintentionally acknowledging he knew his actions were wrong.
Blaming society and politicians and war, Brady attempts and fails to portray serial killers as mistreated antiheroes fighting the establishment... I guess by raping and murdering? Not sure how that works, and I doubt Ian Brady did either.
While I know my appreciation for this book is not something the average person would understand, I found this amazingly insightful. Regardless of how you feel about Brady, or the idea of serial killers in general, there is no doubt this work exposes some dark thoughts and ideas that while we might like to pretend don't exist, are worth pondering. I've always believed that anyone is capable of anything given the right circumstances, and this book raises the question of how easily the right circumstances can come about.
An extremely insightful view into the human - not just "criminal" - mind.
An extremely insightful view into the human - not just "criminal" - mind.
This book sucked. Hardly any interesting insight into serial killing even though its by a serial killer. Also poor taste? ALSO I read the updated version with an afterword by Peter Sotos which was unreadable. Who the fuck breaks up their sentences with unnecessary periods?? Does he know that makes it hard to follow and doesn't add emphasis like he thinks it does? WHERE IS THE EDITOR?? Hard pass.