Honest and Moving

An honest and moving personal account of this great journalist’s struggle lifelong struggle with addiction and PSD set against rich description of some the most important conflicts in recent history.

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1 person found this helpful

Eloquence in vehement simplicity

Fergal Keane has done a great service in writing (and narrating) this brilliantly visceral memoir, predominantly dealing with the insidious nature of addiction and its manifestations, with such brutal and unsparing honesty.
Whilst I found many parts of the book, particularly those describing unspeakably cruel and senseless acts of violence, a difficult listen, as an addict in recovery myself I also found hope and encouragement that Keane has had a significant reprieve from alcohol addiction and has gained much greater agency over his addiction to conflict. To have hopefully put an end to the cycle of active addiction is a tremendous achievement.
Given his choice of career it is no surprise that Keane is highly eloquent, however in this book he is so without mincing his words or conveying a feeling of ego. Every word of his narration carries meaning behind it.
If you are looking for a deeply authentic account of one persons struggle with addiction mixed in with reportage from some of the most extreme trauma zones imaginable, then I suggest you give this book a read (or listen). I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to hear what Fergal Keane has to say.

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Honest, Open and Touching

An Open and Honest account of the effects that Trauma and Combat can have on Some of the often forgotten Front Line Non-Combatants.
A worthy Listen - Thank You.

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Remarkable story

This is the Best book I’ve read/listened to in a long time. Highly recommended

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A harrowing listen

And so it should be. Keane sacrifices himself time and again so we don't have to. The cost though is too high.

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1 person found this helpful

The pity of war

What can I say about this truly terrible and shattering personal memoir?

The suffering is heart breaking beyond imagining and is two-fold. There is t first he sickening brutality of man-made conflict from the Irish famine of Keane’s ancestors, the Troubles of his adolescence and from then on decade after decade of inhuman barbarity meted out in hostilities across the globe right up to the present tragedy in Ukraine. It is to these hostile killing fields that Keane has been addicted since he began as a war correspondent, bringing a succession of fearful events into our horrified conscious minds which we cannot now un-know.

The other part is Keane’s own personal suffering. He understands how his childhood with an alcoholic and sometimes violent father drove him along his own path of destructive addiction – to alcohol (which he finally conquered) and to zones of extreme terror, horror and danger. Well aware that his pursuit of these experiences is madness, and destructive of his fragile mental health (and I’d have thought his family life) , he cannot stop himself from jumping on the next plane to whichever part of the world where ferocious violence has suddenly erupted.

Gentle, loving, keenly perceptive about himself and those around him, Keane is a truly tragic figure cursed with this inescapable ‘madness’ which like some kind of shirt of Nessus drives him into such suffering. His own reading of the book with his soft voice is comfortingly in tune with his lyrical prose.

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3 people found this helpful

A must listen

I would rather read a book than listen to one. But needs must and so hence an audible account.Eevery now and again a book comes along which is improved by hearing it direct from the authors mouth. This is one. Left me a little bit wiser about myself and in tears.

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4 people found this helpful

Powerful story, beautifully written

An honest and often brutal account of Fergal’s life and career choices as a war correspondent. Beautifully written. Compelling and sometimes difficult to listen, but worth it.

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3 people found this helpful

A must read for everyone

Such an amazing story from Fergal Keane which provides an insight into a life of trauma, to addiction and then to a place of hope. This book is read by the author himself which makes it all the more impactful! Have listened to it three times in a row. Cannot recommend highly enough.

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2 people found this helpful

A very good writting but I found the story dull

A very good writting but I found the story dull. Maybe because it felt more like a reporting on the author's life rather than memoir.

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