"The famous
Northern reticence, the tight gag of place
And times: yes, yes. Of the 'wee six' I sing
Where to be saved you only must save face
And whatever you say, you say nothing."
And times: yes, yes. Of the 'wee six' I sing
Where to be saved you only must save face
And whatever you say, you say nothing."
-Seamus Heaney, from "Whatever You Say, Say Nothing" 1975
I am not sure when I became a Hibernophile, a person with fondness for all things Irish. It could have been when I read Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt about a year ago or it might have been visiting 4 ports in Ireland on a recent cruise. When I saw a review of Say Nothing in a magazine a few months ago, it captured my interest and I added it to my must-read list.
When John and I visited Ireland last year, a tour guide in Belfast mentioned the option of a Troubles Tour of sites involved in that conflict. Although I had heard of turmoil in Ireland between Protestants and Catholics years ago, I knew precious little of the history. I saw plenty of hints of animosity between the two religious groups and anti-British feelings in Angela's Ashes. It was rather funny to me that McCourt's father would come home drunk late at night and wake his sons to make them promise to "die for Ireland." In watching the Masterpiece Theatre series "Victoria" it became clear that the discord goes back much farther than the late 60's forward which is the focus of this book.
After reading this thoroughly researched narrative nonfiction about The Troubles by award-winning journalist Keefe, I wish I could go back and do that tour in Belfast.
The most challenging thing for me in reading this book was keeping the names of so many organizations straight! Googling the Troubles in Ireland helped to line up the Irish Republic paramilitaries, (mostly Catholic) and their splinter groups and the Ulster Loyalist paramilitaries, (mostly Protestant) and others on their side, including, it would seem, the British. The violence was disturbing but not so different from sectarian brutality in other parts of the world, even our own country. Apparently over 3500 people died during the Troubles.
In his final chapter, Keefe gets personal, sharing his own ethnic background and motivation and inspiration for writing Say Nothing. This passage, I believe gives a good overview of book's theme and historic figures: "In the intertwining lives of Jean McConville, Dolours Price, Brendan Hughes, and Gerry Adams, I saw an opportunity to tell a story about how people become radicalized in their uncompromising devotion to a cause, and about how individuals---a whole society---make sense of political violence once they have passed through the crucible and finally have time to reflect."
Say Nothing was close to being a page-turner for me; it gets a rating of 4+. The story was mesmerizing, if not exactly enjoyable. Every Hibernophile should read it!
When John and I visited Ireland last year, a tour guide in Belfast mentioned the option of a Troubles Tour of sites involved in that conflict. Although I had heard of turmoil in Ireland between Protestants and Catholics years ago, I knew precious little of the history. I saw plenty of hints of animosity between the two religious groups and anti-British feelings in Angela's Ashes. It was rather funny to me that McCourt's father would come home drunk late at night and wake his sons to make them promise to "die for Ireland." In watching the Masterpiece Theatre series "Victoria" it became clear that the discord goes back much farther than the late 60's forward which is the focus of this book.
After reading this thoroughly researched narrative nonfiction about The Troubles by award-winning journalist Keefe, I wish I could go back and do that tour in Belfast.
The most challenging thing for me in reading this book was keeping the names of so many organizations straight! Googling the Troubles in Ireland helped to line up the Irish Republic paramilitaries, (mostly Catholic) and their splinter groups and the Ulster Loyalist paramilitaries, (mostly Protestant) and others on their side, including, it would seem, the British. The violence was disturbing but not so different from sectarian brutality in other parts of the world, even our own country. Apparently over 3500 people died during the Troubles.
In his final chapter, Keefe gets personal, sharing his own ethnic background and motivation and inspiration for writing Say Nothing. This passage, I believe gives a good overview of book's theme and historic figures: "In the intertwining lives of Jean McConville, Dolours Price, Brendan Hughes, and Gerry Adams, I saw an opportunity to tell a story about how people become radicalized in their uncompromising devotion to a cause, and about how individuals---a whole society---make sense of political violence once they have passed through the crucible and finally have time to reflect."
Say Nothing was close to being a page-turner for me; it gets a rating of 4+. The story was mesmerizing, if not exactly enjoyable. Every Hibernophile should read it!
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