Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland

 

For a long time, I avoided reading about the history of Northern Ireland.  I have a smidgen of Irish ancestry, and carry a bit of baggage from that side of the family.  So, I never believed I could read a history of Northern Ireland without oonfronting some of the intractable “self-hating” aspects of my identity.   Why would I want to read about Protestians and Catholcs refighting the Thirity Years War?  Weren't these sectarian disputes settled by other peoples a long time ago?

Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe did not help me at all in this regard.  I still self-hate.  I see nothing enobling about The Troubles.  But that is not Keefe’s fault.  The Troubles is presented as what it was, a largely senseless, sectarian conflict that ended when there was little left to save in the end.  The violence ended because the match had burnt out.

That said, Keefe does an admirable job of presenting this history.  This is a gripping story, and he tells it well.  He humanized the terrible cost of communal violence.