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A review by flijn
Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators by Ronan Farrow
dark
emotional
informative
medium-paced
5.0
Blown away by this book.
Although it can read as an investigative thriller, it never lets you forget this is about real people, real injustice, real trauma. It made me mad and sad and even then Jonathan's lines made me laugh.
I'm in awe of the scope of this book, how it not only unravels Weinsteins crimes but also the systemic silence. You might lose faith in humanity because of the many, many men in this story who put their ego and desire and greed over others' safety, dignity, and wellbeing; and by the people who enabled them. But that does not do this book justice. Because it also highlights the courage, determination, selflessness, empathy and professionalism of so many others. The women who came forward, the journalists fighting to give them a voice, the significant others standing by them. And that alone makes this book worth the read.
Apart from this, the plotting of the book itself is great: weaving first-person reporting in with harrowing accounts of winesses and victims, accounting almost in real time a battle uphill to publish, while subtly pointing to stories and twists to come in the last third of the book, where the particular story about Weinstein gains a chilling context. I'm not American and not very with it when it comes to all the media personalities, so sometimes the many names made my head swim. No matter, the important ones become very clear.
Just superb work, not only at reporting, but also capturing the impact of the experiences and crafting a comprehensive, detailed narrative.
Interesting, by the way, how the second part of Rachel Maddow's interview with Ronan is still not to be found on MSNBC's YouTube channel.
Although it can read as an investigative thriller, it never lets you forget this is about real people, real injustice, real trauma. It made me mad and sad and even then Jonathan's lines made me laugh.
I'm in awe of the scope of this book, how it not only unravels Weinsteins crimes but also the systemic silence. You might lose faith in humanity because of the many, many men in this story who put their ego and desire and greed over others' safety, dignity, and wellbeing; and by the people who enabled them. But that does not do this book justice. Because it also highlights the courage, determination, selflessness, empathy and professionalism of so many others. The women who came forward, the journalists fighting to give them a voice, the significant others standing by them. And that alone makes this book worth the read.
Apart from this, the plotting of the book itself is great: weaving first-person reporting in with harrowing accounts of winesses and victims, accounting almost in real time a battle uphill to publish, while subtly pointing to stories and twists to come in the last third of the book, where the particular story about Weinstein gains a chilling context. I'm not American and not very with it when it comes to all the media personalities, so sometimes the many names made my head swim. No matter, the important ones become very clear.
Just superb work, not only at reporting, but also capturing the impact of the experiences and crafting a comprehensive, detailed narrative.
Interesting, by the way, how the second part of Rachel Maddow's interview with Ronan is still not to be found on MSNBC's YouTube channel.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence