Poor Jack's Almanack

Just finished reading Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe. A short review: I wanted to read something about Ireland after going there and this was an excellent book for someone like me who has little knowledge about Ireland's past. This book kind of reminded me of the movie Goodfellas in that the first half is about the allure and idealism of a criminal life while the second half is about the inevitable downfalls of that life. In the beginning, the young members of the Provisional IRA seem like justice-seeking vigilantes who are resorting to violence to create religious freedom and a United Ireland because the peaceful/political avenue is neither open nor viable for them. When Delours and Marian Price are captured by the British after bombing London, they go on hunger strike and their father says "An awful lot of people come onto earth, eat, work, and die and never contribute anything to the world. If they die, at least they will have done something." There's something romantic about that level of sacrifice for a "great cause". But as the book goes on the IRA performs terror acts of greater and greater horror leaving you wondering, alongside some of the IRA members, whether 1) the Great Cause justifies these actions and 2) whether these actions are actually advancing the Great Cause or discrediting it. Reading about the tragic circumstances of the orphans of IRA victims, the PTSD of IRA members coming to terms with what they've done, and how trauma can be passed on for generations spanning decades was heart wrenching. The irony of this conflict is that the IRA did not "win". Ireland is still divided into Northern Ireland (part of the UK) and the Republic of Ireland. So Delours Price is left believing that "she had been robbed of any ethical justification of her own conduct." and asking "Is this what we killed for? Is this what we died for? What was it really all about?" So much of what happened in Ireland reminds of conflicts that are currently unfolding in the world, particularly Israel/Palestine. This book makes a convincing argument that the longer a conflict lasts, the less sympathetic and humane all sides become. PRK said "I saw an opportunity to tell a story about how people become radicalized in their uncompromising devotion to a cause, and about how individuals - and a whole society - make sense of political violence once they have passed through the crucible and finally have time to reflect." He succeeds in capitalizing on that opportunity. He shares Robert Caro's talent for marrying top notch storytelling with well researched reporting. A pleasure to read if it were a work of fiction but terrifyingly eye-opening to read as the work of non-fiction that it is.