Review by Booklist Review
Unfortunately, as this collection of testimonies shows, virtually all citizens of deeply divided Northern Ireland are touched by hatred and violence on an ongoing basis. Parker, an English reporter, gives a brief introduction before each testimony and then allows his subjects--Catholic and Protestant teachers and students, politicians, rigid Unionists and Republicans--to speak. What emerges is a portrait of a society that is trapped by its own history, neither Catholics nor Protestants seemingly capable of giving up the myths and prejudices that continue to sustain their politics and culture or willing to do so. Catholics inevitably see themselves as Irishmen and heirs to centuries of British oppression. Protestants, even those who care little for any religion, see themselves as British and are appalled at suggestions that they cease that affiliation. Some of those quoted in this book offer inspiration and hope for future reconciliation, such as the minister who heads a nonsectarian secondary school. Unfortunately, most of the testimonials indicate that a lasting political solution isn't likely soon. ~--Jay Freeman
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Parker ( Russian Voices ) has compiled an involving collection of some 60 vignettes profiling both Catholics and Protestants on the struggle in Belfast. Upon his arrival, the British writer had to learn the subtleties that mark and separate the two religious groups. Belfast people will never ask outright which you are, but they will look for clues. Parker interviews Vicky Murray, who doesn't follow any religion but is ``afraid because I don't know what's going on.'' There's Catholic Rose Murphy, whose 17-year-old son under threat from the Protestant militia fled to London. Pat Taylor is the product of a ``mixed'' marriage and still thinks every day of his younger brother who was killed in sectarian fighting. Sammy Wilson is a Belfast City Councillor and Democratic Unionist who proudly recalls the siege of Londonderry in 1690 and calls Catholics ``fascists.'' Eamon Collins is a Republican terrorist who spent time ``on the blanket'' in Long Kesh prison and considers himself ``100% anti-British.'' Parker's interviewing technique, which is reminiscent of Studs Terkel's Working , supplies the reader with a valuable guide to one of the most tortured cities in the world. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
British journalist Parker incorporates extended transcripts of interviews with or statements of Belfast residents, allowing readers to experience directly their hopes and fears as they describe the impact the troubles in Northern Ireland have had on their lives. People interviewed come from all walks of life: teachers, clergy, housewives, professors, politicians, police, prisoners, military, and members of paramilitary organizations. Speaking with a bluntness that is characteristic of Belfast people, they express their strong attachment to their embattled city. In contrast to the large number of books that have focused on Ulster's history, law, violence, and politics, Parker's work is valuable in providing a bottom-up view of everyday life. However, the publisher's claim that Belfast voices are heard here for the first time is patently unfair to two other excellent books, Sally Belfrage's Living with War ( LJ 8/87) and Dervla Murphy's A Place Apart ( LJ 7/79). In addition, the idiosyncratic bibliography leaves off some of the very best books on Northern Ireland while including Roddy Doyle's The Van ( LJ 7/92), a terrific novel that is not, however, connected with Ulster. Still, this highly readable book is recommended for both popular and academic current events collections.-- Richard B. Finnegan, Stonehill Coll., North Easton, Mass. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by School Library Journal Review
YA-A collection of 60+ interviews with people living in Belfast that gives a vivid and poignant picture of the appalling situation in Northern Ireland today. There are no simple solutions; there are no clearly defined good guys or bad guys. YAs whose introduction to the troubles in this area has come solely from popular films would do well to listen to these voices. With a few deft phrases, a rain-soaked anorak here, a ginger mustache there, a cozy tea-room or a noisy youth center, the scene is set and the people tell their various stories. The selection is scrupulously evenhanded: men and women, old and young, Catholic and Protestant are all heard in heartbreaking clarity. The dialect rings true whether the speaker is a college professor or an ``ordinary Belfast housewife.'' Those who have decided that the situation is simply a matter of Catholics and Protestants learning to get along will be awakened to the underlying and more complicated economic and political issues facing the country. The book is long, but easy to read. The individual interviews are quite short, two or three pages at best. These voices offer valuable insight into many of the world's problems.-Pamela Beggan, Good Shepherd School, Alexandria, VA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
From oral historian Parker (Bird, Kansas, 1989, etc.), riveting interviews that speak to the heart of the ``Troubles'' in Belfast, where even to be neither Protestant nor Catholic is not sufficient: ``what matters is where did you begin?'' Parker learned that everything in Belfast, from your choice of camera shop to which hotel you stay in, is affected by religious affiliation. This ``need for knowledge of someone's present faith or antecedents isn't for the purpose of expressing empathy or antagonism, but purely so that...once you know whether you share common background, or you do not, you can avoid saying the wrong thing, or wrong word, to unwittingly cause offence.'' Having noted these parameters, Parker talks to a range of Belfast citizenry: Catholic and Protestant; Republican and Loyalist; IRA and RUC (Royal Ulster Constabulary); clergy and laypeople; and those who concentrate on nonsectarian issues like women's rights or education. One of the most impressive is the principal of the groundbreaking Lagan Integrated College, who is trying to encourage compromise rather than the ``We must win, they must lose attitudes.'' Nearly all, whether a sixteen year-old delinquent declaring ``I'm not one for all this religious business....I'm just your ordinary thief just taking things that come my way,'' or an anguished father whose beloved daughter was killed at a roadblock by British soldiers and who believes ``unification's got to be done democratically, never through bloodshed,'' are troubled by the current situation. The responses also suggest why change will not be easy: there's the great weight of history; enormous economic problems remain; and both religious hierarchies refuse to seek common ground. A book that, with talk of peace in the time, could hardly be more timely. But it is also a sobering reminder of just how perilous and difficult the peace process will be.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Review by Booklist Review
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Review by Library Journal Review
Review by School Library Journal Review
Review by Kirkus Book Review
