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A review by willowbiblio
Some People Need Killing: A Memoir of Murder in My Country by Patricia Evangelista
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
medium-paced
5.0
"I'm a trauma reporter. People like me work in the uneasy space between what is and what should be. My stories offered no solutions, no proposed salvation. I did not traffic in hope."
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I am still somewhat shocked that, until I read this book, I had no idea these extrajudicial murders were happening on such scale in current times. Evangelista's voice felt quite disassociated from the emotional context of her work, like she still cannot process the horror of what she has witnessed. Despite that, her prose made clear other people's feelings and conveyed the grief of families well.
I really appreciated that Evangelista provided a brief and thorough overview of the Philippines, to put into context the current political landscape. She also did a remarkable job of reiterating the message that there were state-sanctioned murders, and that President Duterte was explicitly calling for this violence. I felt very aware of her danger in pursuing the truth of these stories.
I also appreciated how she brought in her "friendship" with Domingo, and how someone so jovial with her was responsible for some of the more horrific acts contained in her timeline. I loved her parallels to 1984 and the inclusion of ideas like doublethink and pseud0-events that allow people to both commit these heinous acts and feel justified in their fear. I will be following news about the Philippines more closely now and keeping the grieving families and victims in my thoughts. Excellent reporting.
---------------
I am still somewhat shocked that, until I read this book, I had no idea these extrajudicial murders were happening on such scale in current times. Evangelista's voice felt quite disassociated from the emotional context of her work, like she still cannot process the horror of what she has witnessed. Despite that, her prose made clear other people's feelings and conveyed the grief of families well.
I really appreciated that Evangelista provided a brief and thorough overview of the Philippines, to put into context the current political landscape. She also did a remarkable job of reiterating the message that there were state-sanctioned murders, and that President Duterte was explicitly calling for this violence. I felt very aware of her danger in pursuing the truth of these stories.
I also appreciated how she brought in her "friendship" with Domingo, and how someone so jovial with her was responsible for some of the more horrific acts contained in her timeline. I loved her parallels to 1984 and the inclusion of ideas like doublethink and pseud0-events that allow people to both commit these heinous acts and feel justified in their fear. I will be following news about the Philippines more closely now and keeping the grieving families and victims in my thoughts. Excellent reporting.