Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Zeg niets: Moord en verraad in Noord-Ierland by Patrick Radden Keefe

130 reviews

atsundarsingh's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

Exemplary writing. The Troubles are such a hard thing to write about, precisely because the story of the violence is still such a live issue. Still, this is a tightly coiled and deftly rendered dig into some of that hard history. Since it's such recent history, it was also really cool to be able to look up some of the obits and editorials that he discusses online, and know they were only a quick search away. Finally, and this is historian brain speaking, the absolutely essential nature of oral history projects especially to peace and reconciliation efforts is on full display here, and so is history's present-day relevance. A very well-deserved award winner, and likely to send me on another full anti-empire rabbit hole of books. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Confinement, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

paigeno's review against another edition

dark informative tense

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, and War

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Eating disorder, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

seamoonstone's review against another edition

dark informative medium-paced

5.0

This is my second reading of Say Nothing. I returned to it after watching Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast and reading Radden Keefe’s Empire of Pain—Branagh’s charming and heartfelt portrait of boyhood in the tense atmosphere of Belfast in 1969 and Radden Keefe’s thorough tracing of the rise of the Sackler family and the opioid epidemic both left me feeling as though I needed more time with his reporting on the lives of some of those most entwined in the Troubles. 

I find Radden Keefe’s analysis of the Troubles to be clear, careful and balanced. His writing humanizes the two Irish parties present in the war for Northern Ireland’s independence—it’s worth noting that we are missing the perspective of the British (both the military presence in the capital of Belfast and those in the UK who were involved either politically or as bystanders during IRA bombings), but I don’t think that is required here. While framed as a murder-mystery of Jean McConville, a 38-year-old widow and mother of ten, Say Nothing presents so much more than a cold case. McConville’s “disappearance” introduces the reader to the political and moral complexities of the Troubles and exposes the generational trauma of those involved in the IRA. This is an eye-opening story of betrayal, fear, passion and pride against the backdrop of contemporary western politics and centuries of colonial occupation.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, and War

Moderate: Eating disorder

kgroods9's review against another edition

informative reflective medium-paced

4.75

you can tell the author writes for the new yorker because this should have been a quite dense and taxing read, but instead it reads more like a novel. the author manages to discuss a macro event, but tell it through the lens of individual players involved. a great read if you’re interested in history, but often put off by the density of historical writing

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence and War

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, and Murder

livimw's review against another edition

challenging dark informative mysterious reflective medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, and War

Moderate: Xenophobia, Kidnapping, Grief, and Death of parent

danidamico's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective medium-paced

5.0

Hace años que tenía ganas de leer Say Nothing, pero siempre me intimidó un poco. Finalmente me animé y fue una experiencia increíble, por momentos un poco densa en cuanto a información, pero cada capítulo terminaba valiendo la pena. Hace poco cursé una materia que se llama Taller de Crónica, en la que vimos que una de las cosas más importantes de la crónica es que el cronista logre mostrar los hechos y no sólo contarlos. Patrick Radden Keefe lo logra, durante los cientos y cientos de páginas te transporta a cada lugar, como si él mismo hubiera estado ahí cuando todo ocurrió. El laburo que hizo para que semejante cantidad de información pueda ser narrada de una manera atrapante y disfrutable es admirable. Prácticamente se lee como una novela, transitando momentos de mayor tensión, de suspenso, de tristeza y hasta pequeños destellos de humor.

Con esta bestia de libro, Radden Keefe intenta relatar la historia del conflicto armado en Irlanda del Norte, en especial el período conocido como "the Troubles", desde 1969 en adelante. Pone especial énfasis en ciertas figuras del IRA como Dolours y Marian Price, Brendan Hughes y Gerry Adams, como también en el secuestro de una mujer llamada Jean McConville. Empezar esta lectura es como embarcarse en un viaje que te va llevando por lugares insólitos, sorprendentes y frustrantes, y cuando creés que todo terminó, aparece algo nuevo que te deja con la boca abierta. Es una historia fascinante y el autor sabe cómo contarla.

Say Nothing es, sin duda alguna, una de mis mejores lecturas del año y mi favorita de no ficción junto con Putas y Guerrilleras. En fin, no quiero seguir elogiando a Radden Keefe, hay miles de cosas para decir sobre este texto, pero no sé ni por dónde empezar. Creo que si tuviera que señalar lo que más me gustó es que nunca cae en el blanco o negro, buenos o malos, sino que se sumerge en las contradicciones y complejidades que caracterizaron a este conflicto histórico. Radden Keefe no subestima a nada ni a nadie, no simplifica, al contrario, te deja con preguntas abiertas. Te deja pensando. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Mental illness, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Grief, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

emmyinthestacks's review against another edition

dark informative mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, and War

Minor: Pedophilia, Sexual assault, and Suicide

amandas_bookshelf's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Colonisation, and War

Minor: Child abuse, Incest, and Rape

caitlyn_baldwin's review against another edition

dark informative medium-paced

4.75

A work that's both captivating and haunting. It was interesting to hear some narrative surrounding The Troubles in Northern Ireland. Keefe is thoroughly researched, with interviews from people on every side of the conflict. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Eating disorder, and Violence

Moderate: Torture

kimveach's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

3.0

If you are interested in The Troubles or the IRA during the latter half of the 20th century, then this is a well-crafted book.  By starting with the kidnapping of Jean McConnville, he has a thread to tie the book together.  However, it didn't work for me.  I don't read much non-fiction and was not interested in this particular story.   While I did learn much about the IRA and Northern Ireland, the large number of names and intertwining stories was tiring. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail