As I closed the final pages of Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe, I couldn’t help but feel a profound sense of unease lingering in the air around me. The book, which delves into the tumultuous era of the Irish Revolution, had been on my radar for quite some time. But it was a surprising endorsement from Elon Musk that finally nudged me to pick it up.
The Irish Revolution, a period fraught with tension, violence, and ideological fervor, unfurled before my eyes. Yet, despite my initial fascination with the subject matter, navigating through the intricacies of Say Nothing proved to be a challenge. The sheer volume of details, names, and events sometimes threatened to overwhelm my senses, leaving me grappling to keep pace with the relentless march of history.
However, amidst the labyrinth of narratives and personalities, one glaring truth emerged with chilling clarity — the brutality inflicted by the British forces upon the Irish populace far exceeded my prior imaginings. Keefe’s unflinching portrayal of the atrocities committed during this dark chapter in history shattered any illusions of a romanticized struggle for independence.
Needless to say, many members of the Irish Revolutionary Army were also giant assholes (*cough* Gerry Adams *cough*). Anyway, going forward my literary journey delves down a different path. Once my hold is complete, I prepare to jump into the pages of Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie (aka a recommendation from a friendly sales clerk at Books Inc in Campbell).
PS: donated a huge bag of books to the Calabazas Branch Library. When the librarian found out I had even more to give, she told me to drop off the rest somewhere else.
