July Book Club review - I loved it!
Added 2022-07-28 18:00:04 +0000 UTCThis month I read Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland (you can buy it via Amazon here if you're interested in giving it a go!)
I really enjoyed it!! It looked a bit intimidating as I don't read much (any) political fiction, but I'm really glad I did - big shoutout to Tushar for sending it!
I went into it knowing absolutely nothing about Northern Ireland and I felt like I learned a lot by the end - but I know there's still tons more to learn!
Did you guys try it this month?? Let me know what you thought!
Comments
I thought it was a really good read, and as you say it was nowhere near as 'heavy' as I expected. I think with a subject such as this you'll never please everyone and I'd read that some think it doesn't accurately portray everything in the right way. My only experience of the troubles was fleeting, a week in Belfast running a training course in the 1990's. My local host was determined to show me 'everything' and we eventually ended up at a very late hour in a small bar near the Harland and Wolf shipyard. definitely not on the tourist route... it was literally the only time I've ever walked into a bar and all conversation stopped!!
Malcolm Lawrence
2022-07-29 13:24:29 +0000 UTCI was trying to tell a story but it matters not a jot. A young man by the name of Danny Blinko was shot and killed right in front of me in Crossmaglen Square by a bullet under his body armour armpit. We did everything we knew how, but he bled out. And my wife wonders why I drink.
Andy Corder
2022-07-28 21:30:12 +0000 UTCA little ditty for you. It was 1993. I was outside having a cigarette. We all smoked back then. The IRA loaded a mark 15 mortar into a van and aimed it at the Crossmaglen base. They used to cut the roof off, cover it with paper and spray paint it to not look suspicious. They used the telecoms mast as the aiming point. It went off as I was outside having a smoke. I had no helmet on and was hit in the top of my head by a piece of shrapnel. Totally unconscious. My mate, Mick R, I won’t give his full name as he will be embarrassed. He picked me up, pulled the shrapnel from my head and dragged me inside to safety. Dressed the wound then gave me a drip. My blood pressure was so low he couldn’t find a vein so in true Israeli style he stuck it up my arse, google it. He saved my life that day. He was mentioned in dispatches for what he did, I thought it was worth a bigger award, but I didn’t decide. He got in a little bit of bother as he got on the helicopter with me and left our weapons behind on the base. Still lifelong friends all these years later.
Andy Corder
2022-07-28 20:07:56 +0000 UTCI really liked it too! Even tho I’m from NI and I learned about it in history I didn’t know about most of the stuff in the book! I knew about hunger strikes and stuff, but I didn’t know the specifics of of them, so that was interesting! The Protestant/ Catholic stuff is NI isn’t fun, but I’m glad my generation has moved away from it a lot! My sisters boyfriend is a Protestant and it isn’t a problem, which it may have been years ago! I’m glad things are getting better here! NI isn’t talked about a lot, and can be a bit forgotten at times, so thank you for for taking time to learn about it! And thank you for book club, I really like being part of it every month!
Aaron Conway
2022-07-28 19:49:24 +0000 UTCI haven't read it but I will. I spent over three years in Northern Ireland during the troubles. The IRA tried to murder me twice. Once in Forkhill and again in Crossmaglen, causing me serious brain damage which I still suffer from today. I have mostly forgiven them, but if I met the guy who did it I would plant a 9mm between his eyes.
Andy Corder
2022-07-28 19:05:28 +0000 UTC
