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A review by aimiller
Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
I think this was a really solid introduction to the Troubles, following the history through events and major figures, as well as tracing the McConville family through the time through the present. Keefe's reach is pretty expansive and it's clear the careful work he did in interviewing those he was able to and taking a guess based on other work for those he could not allowed him to create a fairly balanced narrative that raises many questions.
I do think the true crime angle of this book means that some things that I personally find more interesting get dropped out; Keefe touches on some of the connections between the Troubles and other anticolonial struggles through the world, especially as they relate to the British response, but doesn't do much more investigating of colonialism beyond this, or the ways that the IRA saw themselves (if at all!) as part of an anticolonial movement (including with ideas about global solidarity.) Indeed, way more emphasis is drawn at the beginning on the similarity of the nonviolent march that the Price sisters were involved in (and possibly radicalized by) to the US civil rights movement, but doesn't acknowledge MLK's drawing from (among others) the work on nonviolence done by Mahatma Ghandi--in response also to British colonialism. I understand that in some ways that's me pushing this book to move outside some of its scope, but I would have liked a little more of that. (And also yknow any recommendations you have about the IRA and ideological or political connections to other anticolonial movements, I'd love to read that!)
But I do think it was a really solid book, and if you're looking for an entry point into the history this is very accessible and interesting.
I do think the true crime angle of this book means that some things that I personally find more interesting get dropped out; Keefe touches on some of the connections between the Troubles and other anticolonial struggles through the world, especially as they relate to the British response, but doesn't do much more investigating of colonialism beyond this, or the ways that the IRA saw themselves (if at all!) as part of an anticolonial movement (including with ideas about global solidarity.) Indeed, way more emphasis is drawn at the beginning on the similarity of the nonviolent march that the Price sisters were involved in (and possibly radicalized by) to the US civil rights movement, but doesn't acknowledge MLK's drawing from (among others) the work on nonviolence done by Mahatma Ghandi--in response also to British colonialism. I understand that in some ways that's me pushing this book to move outside some of its scope, but I would have liked a little more of that. (And also yknow any recommendations you have about the IRA and ideological or political connections to other anticolonial movements, I'd love to read that!)
But I do think it was a really solid book, and if you're looking for an entry point into the history this is very accessible and interesting.