Say Nothing

A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland

paperback, 800 pages

Published Feb. 26, 2019 by Random House Large Print.

ISBN:
978-1-9848-8321-6
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5 stars (48 reviews)

“Masked intruders dragged Jean McConville, a 38-year-old widow and mother of 10, from her Belfast home in 1972. In this meticulously reported book — as finely paced as a novel — Keefe uses McConville’s murder as a prism to tell the history of the Troubles in Northern Ireland. Interviewing people on both sides of the conflict, he transforms the tragic damage and waste of the era into a searing, utterly gripping saga.” – New York Times Book Review, Ten Best Books of the Year

From award-winning New Yorker staff writer Patrick Radden Keefe, a stunning, intricate narrative about a notorious killing in Northern Ireland and its devastating repercussions

In December 1972, Jean McConville, a thirty-eight-year-old mother of ten, was dragged from her Belfast home by masked intruders, her children clinging to her legs. They never saw her again. Her abduction was one of the most notorious episodes of the vicious …

5 editions

Review of 'Say Nothing' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Crónica de los "Troubles" de Irlanda del Norte, deteniéndose sobre todo en una serie de personajes de la facción católica: miembros del IRA y ‘desaparecidos’ tras ejercer de soplones. Atentados, huelgas de hambre, ejecuciones y mucho odio hasta llegar a los acuerdos de Viernes Santo y a morir alcoholizados.
Al igual que en “Empire of Pain”, la huella del reportaje periodístico largo, marca de la casa New Yorker está en cada capítulo, lo cual es perfecto para el tema tratado y para el enfoque utilizado. Lectura amena que se beneficia del hecho de centrarse en unos pocos personajes y sucesos en lugar de extenderse demasiado tratando de cubrirlo todo.

Review of 'Say Nothing' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

This book is excellent. It uses the disappearance of Jean McConville as a thread from which to hang the stories of former IRA members, historical context, and a lot of pain and suffering.

I found the IRA's unwelcome shift of a paramilitary organization fighting an unacknowledged war to a political party maintaining fragile, unsatisfying peace to be particularly interesting.

The bulk of this book is not about Jean McConville's disappearance and probably not a traditional 'true crime' novel. But her story and the story of her children are often brought back at the perfect moment to frame the historical narrative perfectly.

Review of 'Say Nothing' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

‘All wars are fought twice, the first time on the battlefield, the second time in memory.’

– VIET THANH NGUYEN

This book did not have me hooked from the start.I’ve always been unaware of “the conflict in the North of Ireland”, or, as the book points out, “Northern Ireland”; the difference between the two terms can be—and often is—politically vast, as is everything, for example to pronounce the letter “h” as “aitch” or “haitch”.My family is partly from Yugoslavia. When that nation broke into smaller ones, and NATO tried to shell Serbia from the face of the planet, suddenly everybody I even remotely knew, whose surname contained “ic”, turned political. Mainly via their parents. And vinegar words turned into vitriol, which turned into hatred of a people, of a nation, of more nations. And all were against NATO/USA.Radden Keefe is, I suppose, denounced by a lot of people just for …

Review of 'Say Nothing' on 'Storygraph'

5 stars

‘All wars are fought twice, the first time on the battlefield, the second time in memory.’

– VIET THANH NGUYEN



This book did not have me hooked from the start.

I’ve always been unaware of “the conflict in the North of Ireland”, or, as the book points out, “Northern Ireland”; the difference between the two terms can be—and often is—politically vast, as is everything, for example to pronounce the letter “h” as “aitch” or “haitch”.

My family is partly from Yugoslavia. When that nation broke into smaller ones, and NATO tried to shell Serbia from the face of the planet, suddenly everybody I even remotely knew, whose surname contained “ic”, turned political. Mainly via their parents. And vinegar words turned into vitriol, which turned into hatred of a people, of a nation, of more nations. And all were against NATO/USA.

Radden Keefe is, I suppose, denounced by a lot of …

Review of 'Say Nothing' on 'LibraryThing'

5 stars

‘All wars are fought twice, the first time on the battlefield, the second time in memory.’

– VIET THANH NGUYEN

This book did not have me hooked from the start.I’ve always been unaware of “the conflict in the North of Ireland”, or, as the book points out, “Northern Ireland”; the difference between the two terms can be—and often is—politically vast, as is everything, for example to pronounce the letter “h” as “aitch” or “haitch”.My family is partly from Yugoslavia. When that nation broke into smaller ones, and NATO tried to shell Serbia from the face of the planet, suddenly everybody I even remotely knew, whose surname contained “ic”, turned political. Mainly via their parents. And vinegar words turned into vitriol, which turned into hatred of a people, of a nation, of more nations. And all were against NATO/USA.Radden Keefe is, I suppose, denounced by a lot of people just for …

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