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Not Untrue & Not Unkind
In Dublin, a newspaper editor called Cartwright is found dead. One of his colleagues, Owen Simmons, discovers a dossier on Cartwright's desk containing a photograph that brings him back to a dusty road in Africa and to a woman he once loved.
Not Untrue & Not Unkind is Owen's story-a gripping tale of friendship, rivalry, and betrayal among a group of journalists and photographers covering Africa's wars. It is an astonishingly powerful and accomplished debut that immediately establishes Ed O'Loughlin as a mature master of the novel, and was longlisted for the Booker Prize.
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First published January 1, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 45 reviews
April 21, 2025
This was, I am sorry to say, a one dull experience… I suffered through its uninteresting plot and uninspiring characters, skimming more often then decency should allow, hoping in vain that it might improve at some point. Now I am generally very happy that I don’t have to do it again. Can’t imagine what the Booker Prize judges were thinking….
November 2, 2009
This is a difficult book to rate, so I'm not giving it a number. I just can't bring myself to do it this time.
Owen Simmons is selected to take over after the death of his editor, Cartwright. As he begins to go through Cartwright's folders, he discovers a photo of Owen's friends and colleagues taken during his time in Africa as a correspondent during the 1990s. As he studies the photo, it takes him back to those days, reopening wounds that he'd rather not remember, some of which, in fact, he's mentally disengaged from. In Not Untrue and Not Unkind we follow events of Simmons' past in Africa as he reflects backwards in time, interspersed with events of the present.
But the story isn't really about events per se in Africa, although Simmons was there (for example, at the end of the Rwandan genocide in the Congo) when things were really still very hot; rather, it's about the relationship among a group of journalists in Simmons' circle. These people are not glitzy media stars but professional and freelance reporters and photographers out there to scoop the next story. For the most part, these people tend to be callous and shallow, often living and working in emotional disconnect from their surroundings. There is always an undercurrent of tension among the group with feelings often left unspoken and thus not dealt with, especially with Simmons, who can't seem to admit his feelings even to himself and who sometimes has trouble trying to make sense of things. On the whole, they're not likable characters that you can actually warm up to at any point in the story.
The author saves any kind of emotional high note until the end, so you really do have to read through the entire story to make sense of it all. It's slow going until you get there, but well worth the read. I was surprised to discover that Not Untrue and Not Unkind was his first novel because for the most part, the writing is not something you'd expect from a debut.
I recommend it with a few cautions: it's very slow, and you're not going to get any real insights into the whys of the horrors or atrocities of the wars in Africa even though some of the scenes are a bit stomach churning; it's also character, rather than action driven, and the slow pace may also be a turnoff for some readers. Overall, though, I liked it and thought it well worth the time I put into it.
Owen Simmons is selected to take over after the death of his editor, Cartwright. As he begins to go through Cartwright's folders, he discovers a photo of Owen's friends and colleagues taken during his time in Africa as a correspondent during the 1990s. As he studies the photo, it takes him back to those days, reopening wounds that he'd rather not remember, some of which, in fact, he's mentally disengaged from. In Not Untrue and Not Unkind we follow events of Simmons' past in Africa as he reflects backwards in time, interspersed with events of the present.
But the story isn't really about events per se in Africa, although Simmons was there (for example, at the end of the Rwandan genocide in the Congo) when things were really still very hot; rather, it's about the relationship among a group of journalists in Simmons' circle. These people are not glitzy media stars but professional and freelance reporters and photographers out there to scoop the next story. For the most part, these people tend to be callous and shallow, often living and working in emotional disconnect from their surroundings. There is always an undercurrent of tension among the group with feelings often left unspoken and thus not dealt with, especially with Simmons, who can't seem to admit his feelings even to himself and who sometimes has trouble trying to make sense of things. On the whole, they're not likable characters that you can actually warm up to at any point in the story.
The author saves any kind of emotional high note until the end, so you really do have to read through the entire story to make sense of it all. It's slow going until you get there, but well worth the read. I was surprised to discover that Not Untrue and Not Unkind was his first novel because for the most part, the writing is not something you'd expect from a debut.
I recommend it with a few cautions: it's very slow, and you're not going to get any real insights into the whys of the horrors or atrocities of the wars in Africa even though some of the scenes are a bit stomach churning; it's also character, rather than action driven, and the slow pace may also be a turnoff for some readers. Overall, though, I liked it and thought it well worth the time I put into it.
August 15, 2009
This book was just - it was awful.
The first 200 pages was full unremitting boredom, bland stories about very uninteresting and unappealing and one-dimensional characters and with no drive at all. The last 70 pages had brief splashes of interest - I liked the sections about Cartwright - but ultimately it felt like a dreary waste of time. I had to force myself to pick up the book every time.
I have disliked books because they were dull, because I hated the characters, because there was no beauty in the language or they were badly written. I've disliked books because they had no plot or no characterization or terrible dialogue. This is one of those rare books where I think I dislike it because it fulfills every one of those categories.
The first 200 pages was full unremitting boredom, bland stories about very uninteresting and unappealing and one-dimensional characters and with no drive at all. The last 70 pages had brief splashes of interest - I liked the sections about Cartwright - but ultimately it felt like a dreary waste of time. I had to force myself to pick up the book every time.
I have disliked books because they were dull, because I hated the characters, because there was no beauty in the language or they were badly written. I've disliked books because they had no plot or no characterization or terrible dialogue. This is one of those rare books where I think I dislike it because it fulfills every one of those categories.
September 4, 2012
Owen Simmons has a comfortable life these days. His work as a foreign correspondent over, he potters around in the newspaper's home office, doing little real work but a fixture nonetheless. The death of an office mate and the discovery of an old file of Simmons' stories from his time in Africa leads him to wonder why his colleague was interested in his time there and forces him back in his mind to relive those days.
Owen went to Africa as a stringer, a journalist who wrote articles hoping to sell them afterwards to someone. He falls in with the journalist circle there, those with full-time jobs, photographers, TV journalists, print journalists. Although they are all after the same story, they become a society, helping each other and making friends and lovers within the group. Owen travels and befriends various members of the group, including a woman journalist he loves but feels he knows little about.
Owen spends several years there in the 1990's, covering the Rwandan genocide and the various national uprisings. The group becomes hardened to violence and death as they move from one hot spot to another, seeing how little any one death meant in the grand scheme of things. Owen leaves when he is caught in an ambush and gravely wounded. Several of his friends are also in the ambush, and what happened that day and their various fates are the mainspring of the book. There is also a secret associated with the ambush that serves as a focal point of the novel.
Ed O'Loughlin writes from first-hand experience, as he himself spent time in Africa as a correspondent for the Irish Times. Readers will be interested in this subset of war, those who document it so that most of us can experience it comfortably in an armchair. He accurately portrays the suddenness of violence and death in a war zone, and how banal it all becomes when it is an everyday occurrence. Not Untrue And Not Unkind was a Mann Booker Prize nominee in 2009. This book is recommended for adult readers interested in how world events are reported and the lives of journalists.
Owen went to Africa as a stringer, a journalist who wrote articles hoping to sell them afterwards to someone. He falls in with the journalist circle there, those with full-time jobs, photographers, TV journalists, print journalists. Although they are all after the same story, they become a society, helping each other and making friends and lovers within the group. Owen travels and befriends various members of the group, including a woman journalist he loves but feels he knows little about.
Owen spends several years there in the 1990's, covering the Rwandan genocide and the various national uprisings. The group becomes hardened to violence and death as they move from one hot spot to another, seeing how little any one death meant in the grand scheme of things. Owen leaves when he is caught in an ambush and gravely wounded. Several of his friends are also in the ambush, and what happened that day and their various fates are the mainspring of the book. There is also a secret associated with the ambush that serves as a focal point of the novel.
Ed O'Loughlin writes from first-hand experience, as he himself spent time in Africa as a correspondent for the Irish Times. Readers will be interested in this subset of war, those who document it so that most of us can experience it comfortably in an armchair. He accurately portrays the suddenness of violence and death in a war zone, and how banal it all becomes when it is an everyday occurrence. Not Untrue And Not Unkind was a Mann Booker Prize nominee in 2009. This book is recommended for adult readers interested in how world events are reported and the lives of journalists.
August 3, 2010
Every image and every emotion in this book is a cliche -- a cliche about Africa, a cliche about expats in Africa, a cliche about men and women...
The framing device set in Ireland never gets off the ground, and is frankly overly melodramatic for what turns out to be very little payoff (if Cartwright could blackmail the narrator, he never did). The Africa sections -- with their scenes of bloody anguish and teeming refugees in (check the boxes) Rwanda, Congo and Sierra Leone (as we move through the years -- I'm only surprised we didn't make it to Darfur) -- were, as noted, utterly trite in their overripe descriptions of jungle and sky and equally banal in their going for shock value descriptions of African cruelty, suffering, decay and hopelessness. Oh look -- a refugee camp, dead children! The horror, the horror (of witnessing these things and not having anything interesting to say).
Never fear though, as in all writing of this type, no African emerges as a real character -- though we have plenty of HIGHLY HIGHLY original and non-sterotypical brutal soldiers, slick diamond smuggling fixers and impoverished but noble old women w/ dying children -- the Africans and their suffering are only there as a backdrop for the booze-fueled sexcapades of the utterly jaded merry band of international journalists who roam the continent enacting their petty jealousies, professional and sexual. YAWN.
Rarely have I read a book where every image and phrase was so predictable and so much already part of our collective cultural imagination of these places and scenes. I actually laughed out loud when in the middle of the novel (surprise surprise, how meta), a character writes a book called Not Untrue and Not Unkind. So very clever.
The framing device set in Ireland never gets off the ground, and is frankly overly melodramatic for what turns out to be very little payoff (if Cartwright could blackmail the narrator, he never did). The Africa sections -- with their scenes of bloody anguish and teeming refugees in (check the boxes) Rwanda, Congo and Sierra Leone (as we move through the years -- I'm only surprised we didn't make it to Darfur) -- were, as noted, utterly trite in their overripe descriptions of jungle and sky and equally banal in their going for shock value descriptions of African cruelty, suffering, decay and hopelessness. Oh look -- a refugee camp, dead children! The horror, the horror (of witnessing these things and not having anything interesting to say).
Never fear though, as in all writing of this type, no African emerges as a real character -- though we have plenty of HIGHLY HIGHLY original and non-sterotypical brutal soldiers, slick diamond smuggling fixers and impoverished but noble old women w/ dying children -- the Africans and their suffering are only there as a backdrop for the booze-fueled sexcapades of the utterly jaded merry band of international journalists who roam the continent enacting their petty jealousies, professional and sexual. YAWN.
Rarely have I read a book where every image and phrase was so predictable and so much already part of our collective cultural imagination of these places and scenes. I actually laughed out loud when in the middle of the novel (surprise surprise, how meta), a character writes a book called Not Untrue and Not Unkind. So very clever.
October 4, 2010
Ed O'Loughlin's Not Untrue and Not Unkind was long-listed for the 2009 Booker Prize, and having finished it, I can only wonder what they were thinking.
It's fairly well-written, but it's one of the most boring and uninvolving novels I've read in a while. The exploits of a group of ex-pat journalists in the middle of various African wars of the late 20th century combined with a love-story (or a story of obsession) between the narrator, an Irish journalist named Owen, and the mysterious Beatrice, ought on the face of things, to be slightly more interesting than watching paint dry. But other than some great descriptive passages that probably came out of O'Loughlin's career as a journalist, this novel was filled with uninteresting, barely distinguishable characters, whose affairs and entanglements were not remotely interesting. The fabled Beatrice was utterly lifeless, so I didn't care even for a moment about Owen's obsession with her (for that matter, Owen himself barely had any distinguishing characterstistics). And the African backdrop was basically just an excuse to tell this boring, pointless story. In short, while certainly not the worst Booker Prize nominee I've ever read (that honor belongs to the ridiculous Child 44) Not Untrue and Not Unkind was utterly forgettable.
It's fairly well-written, but it's one of the most boring and uninvolving novels I've read in a while. The exploits of a group of ex-pat journalists in the middle of various African wars of the late 20th century combined with a love-story (or a story of obsession) between the narrator, an Irish journalist named Owen, and the mysterious Beatrice, ought on the face of things, to be slightly more interesting than watching paint dry. But other than some great descriptive passages that probably came out of O'Loughlin's career as a journalist, this novel was filled with uninteresting, barely distinguishable characters, whose affairs and entanglements were not remotely interesting. The fabled Beatrice was utterly lifeless, so I didn't care even for a moment about Owen's obsession with her (for that matter, Owen himself barely had any distinguishing characterstistics). And the African backdrop was basically just an excuse to tell this boring, pointless story. In short, while certainly not the worst Booker Prize nominee I've ever read (that honor belongs to the ridiculous Child 44) Not Untrue and Not Unkind was utterly forgettable.
March 2, 2014
This book sat on my shelf for so long the store at which I bought it is no longer in business.
And when I picked it out of my unread stack, I wondered what lead me to buy it in the first place.
The writing is impressive. The stories of the wars are told with distance and dispassion as a journalist would tell them. The violence and atrocities are all the more terrifying because of that.
The characters of the roving journalists who meet covering the wars in Africa are well-developed and help tell the story while not being the total story themselves.
The overall story arc of the relationships among the journalists comes to a climax in an ambush which could have been avoided if not for petty jealousy - personal, not professional jealousy.
The ending is perfect. a stunning achievement.
And when I picked it out of my unread stack, I wondered what lead me to buy it in the first place.
The writing is impressive. The stories of the wars are told with distance and dispassion as a journalist would tell them. The violence and atrocities are all the more terrifying because of that.
The characters of the roving journalists who meet covering the wars in Africa are well-developed and help tell the story while not being the total story themselves.
The overall story arc of the relationships among the journalists comes to a climax in an ambush which could have been avoided if not for petty jealousy - personal, not professional jealousy.
The ending is perfect. a stunning achievement.
December 18, 2011
Not great and not awful.
Pretty banal, didn't like a single character, didn't care whether they died or not, big whatever.
Pretty banal, didn't like a single character, didn't care whether they died or not, big whatever.
August 18, 2017
It felt a lot longer than its 288 pages. I listened to the audiobook read by Gerard Doyle. He wasn't bad, but I don't think that he was given much material to work with.
It starts with a death. One Cartwright, a newspaper editor in Dublin is found dead. The person who finds him, a reporter called Owen Simmons, finds a dossier on Cartwright's desk and remembers his life as an intrepid war reporter in Africa. It's mostly a group of journalists and photographers covering Africa's wars when Iraq and Afghanistan weren't a thing yet, and it's mostly told in vignettes. I mean, there are overlaps. They see the same faces covering the same stories and naturally they either become friends or frenemies depending on who is sleeping with whom.
It took a long time in the telling, and not involving, since it was only a little personal. There are tales told second hand and third hand, and some actual war stories make an appearance, but there's nothing much to show the personalities involved. I knew, based on what was told that Owen did a terrible thing because he was in love with (maybe) a lady named Beatrice, who was interested him until she wasn't. I'm really not sure if the other reporter Owen felt jealous about was involved with Beatrice or not, because it wasn't even spoken of much in the first place. But then he does this thing, and I was left confused, because in the portrayal of jaded journalists, I think the author went too far. Because I didn't realize that Owen felt that level of passion.
It was all disappointing too. All the buildup leads to yet another man who has some growing up to do despite all that he's seen and done. I think it would have worked better as the author's own memoir of his African experiences, without the superfluous love story, or a narrator like Owen.
It starts with a death. One Cartwright, a newspaper editor in Dublin is found dead. The person who finds him, a reporter called Owen Simmons, finds a dossier on Cartwright's desk and remembers his life as an intrepid war reporter in Africa. It's mostly a group of journalists and photographers covering Africa's wars when Iraq and Afghanistan weren't a thing yet, and it's mostly told in vignettes. I mean, there are overlaps. They see the same faces covering the same stories and naturally they either become friends or frenemies depending on who is sleeping with whom.
It took a long time in the telling, and not involving, since it was only a little personal. There are tales told second hand and third hand, and some actual war stories make an appearance, but there's nothing much to show the personalities involved. I knew, based on what was told that Owen did a terrible thing because he was in love with (maybe) a lady named Beatrice, who was interested him until she wasn't. I'm really not sure if the other reporter Owen felt jealous about was involved with Beatrice or not, because it wasn't even spoken of much in the first place. But then he does this thing, and I was left confused, because in the portrayal of jaded journalists, I think the author went too far. Because I didn't realize that Owen felt that level of passion.
It was all disappointing too. All the buildup leads to yet another man who has some growing up to do despite all that he's seen and done. I think it would have worked better as the author's own memoir of his African experiences, without the superfluous love story, or a narrator like Owen.
January 9, 2017
:(
This was quite awful, really.
The plot was vague and basically nonexistent up until the last few pages.
The characters were remarkably unlikable, which actually makes the fact that the majority of them died seem less hard-hitting than it should have been.
The main character (the narrator) recounts a very boring and emotionally detached lead-up of interactions with these people he's basically forced to know ("friends by association" except the friend that's forcing them all to be friends isn't a person and is instead their really terrible job and their mutual despair of life and mild addiction to cigarettes and drinking) and ends with him seeming to have no remorse or regrets of how he ever acted or of how he may have gotten everyone else killed on accident bc he was sorta jealous maybe.
And, oh yeah, the reason he starts this recount of memories is because his mean and controlling coworker has just committed suicide, and in place of a note there's a folder containing a thorough collection of pictures and articles from the main character's past. It's never explained why though.
I don't know how to feel.
It almost seems as if all the negativity of the story should have some profound life lesson. But I don't see it. It's just sad and unavailing.
Despite how terrible it is overall though, it is written really well. (confusing?) I mean, as in: the phrasing, sentence-by-sentence structure, the placement of words, the words used, it's all rather beautifully done. I just wish something better came out of it as a whole.
(and oh there's also lotsa swearing and empty romantic relationships, js, not a fan)
This was quite awful, really.
The plot was vague and basically nonexistent up until the last few pages.
The characters were remarkably unlikable, which actually makes the fact that the majority of them died seem less hard-hitting than it should have been.
The main character (the narrator) recounts a very boring and emotionally detached lead-up of interactions with these people he's basically forced to know ("friends by association" except the friend that's forcing them all to be friends isn't a person and is instead their really terrible job and their mutual despair of life and mild addiction to cigarettes and drinking) and ends with him seeming to have no remorse or regrets of how he ever acted or of how he may have gotten everyone else killed on accident bc he was sorta jealous maybe.
And, oh yeah, the reason he starts this recount of memories is because his mean and controlling coworker has just committed suicide, and in place of a note there's a folder containing a thorough collection of pictures and articles from the main character's past. It's never explained why though.
I don't know how to feel.
It almost seems as if all the negativity of the story should have some profound life lesson. But I don't see it. It's just sad and unavailing.
Despite how terrible it is overall though, it is written really well. (confusing?) I mean, as in: the phrasing, sentence-by-sentence structure, the placement of words, the words used, it's all rather beautifully done. I just wish something better came out of it as a whole.
(and oh there's also lotsa swearing and empty romantic relationships, js, not a fan)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 11, 2021
Beautiful writing in the debut novel of a real journalist who worked for the Irish Times filing copy from war zones. He draws us into the world of a tiny breed of rootless war reporters who drift in and out of each other's lives in DRC, Sierra Leone, South Africa and Bosnia. Through a series of intersecting memories that slowly coalesce into our protagonist's post-traumatic syndrome, we live banal and dreary hotel life, only enlivened by hardcore drinking and transitory, impossible love affairs; the daily grind of filing stories on third-world coups and militia violence on portable satellite phones from low-tech grimy cities. Spliced among the lifestyle portraits are brutal, vivid episodes where villagers are massacred for seemingly random causes and child soldiers are seized from their homes and weaponised by warlords. All these events take place in real-world, historical context.
Meanwhile, editors in New York have their eye on the copy and images most of us simply consume over breakfast before heading to the office. Ultimately, the reporters are numbed and live a half life that suppresses their emotions with devastating personal consequences: blown away in random acts of violence or surviving, desensitised, to appraise the meaty remnants of their editor's suicide with nothing more than a calm appraising eye. O'Laughlin's writing is as fluid and compelling as it is damning. He makes real the violence that insults humanity from corners of the world many believe don't signify. Read it and ask some hard questions.
Meanwhile, editors in New York have their eye on the copy and images most of us simply consume over breakfast before heading to the office. Ultimately, the reporters are numbed and live a half life that suppresses their emotions with devastating personal consequences: blown away in random acts of violence or surviving, desensitised, to appraise the meaty remnants of their editor's suicide with nothing more than a calm appraising eye. O'Laughlin's writing is as fluid and compelling as it is damning. He makes real the violence that insults humanity from corners of the world many believe don't signify. Read it and ask some hard questions.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 7, 2017
"But only in chess do people resign when they know things are hopeless. In life we use up all our pieces first".
Owen Simmons, a journalist, has spent several years reporting from Africa (specifically Zaire and Sierra Leone during the conflicts of the late 1990s/early 2000s). He is now working in Dublin and has come into possession of a file found in the effects of his recently deceased boss. There's a photograph in the file - it shows group of journalists and photographers in Sierra Leone, and they were all friends or colleagues of Owen. Owen himself took the photo, and seeing it prompts him to think back upon those days in bloody, corrupt, violent and unpredictable Africa. Without sentimentality, with wry and occasional humour, yet often rather coldly, the story is told of those years and companions. The tone is bleak and cynical, reflecting emotions hardened like stone ... beautifully written. Not quite sure why there are so many negative reviews for this book, but it is rather dark and ominous. I rank it with some of my favourite books about (real and metaphorical) Africa: The Darling by Russell Banks, The Grass is Singing by Doris Lessing, The Heart of the Matter by Graham Greene. I can't wait to read more by Ed O'Loughlin.
Owen Simmons, a journalist, has spent several years reporting from Africa (specifically Zaire and Sierra Leone during the conflicts of the late 1990s/early 2000s). He is now working in Dublin and has come into possession of a file found in the effects of his recently deceased boss. There's a photograph in the file - it shows group of journalists and photographers in Sierra Leone, and they were all friends or colleagues of Owen. Owen himself took the photo, and seeing it prompts him to think back upon those days in bloody, corrupt, violent and unpredictable Africa. Without sentimentality, with wry and occasional humour, yet often rather coldly, the story is told of those years and companions. The tone is bleak and cynical, reflecting emotions hardened like stone ... beautifully written. Not quite sure why there are so many negative reviews for this book, but it is rather dark and ominous. I rank it with some of my favourite books about (real and metaphorical) Africa: The Darling by Russell Banks, The Grass is Singing by Doris Lessing, The Heart of the Matter by Graham Greene. I can't wait to read more by Ed O'Loughlin.
February 16, 2019
“Not Untrue & Not Unkind” was Ed O’Loughlin’s debut novel. He called upon his own experiences as a foreign correspondent to assemble and relate the story of Owen Simmons – a journalist reporting on the tumultuous and at times horrific African wars. That backdrop is contrasted with Simmons later years as an editor back at the U.S. newspaper where he got his start and where the death of a crusty journalism veteran tests his humanity.
Only someone who has lived the dangerous and emotionally scarring life of a foreign correspondent could create this type of character so convincingly. Simmon’s experiences in Africa have the ring of truth and hard won knowledge.
This novel is necessarily slow moving and ponderous as it reflects the brutality of warn-torn Africa, the political forces at play and its effect on those dedicated to chronicling its landmark events. If you favour books that move along at a good pace, this novel is probably not for you.
But if a darkly authoritative account of friendship, rivalry and betrayal among a group of journalists and photographers appeals to you, you may appreciate it.
In short, “Not Untrue & Not Unkind” is not for everyone, but rewarding for those who stick with it.
Only someone who has lived the dangerous and emotionally scarring life of a foreign correspondent could create this type of character so convincingly. Simmon’s experiences in Africa have the ring of truth and hard won knowledge.
This novel is necessarily slow moving and ponderous as it reflects the brutality of warn-torn Africa, the political forces at play and its effect on those dedicated to chronicling its landmark events. If you favour books that move along at a good pace, this novel is probably not for you.
But if a darkly authoritative account of friendship, rivalry and betrayal among a group of journalists and photographers appeals to you, you may appreciate it.
In short, “Not Untrue & Not Unkind” is not for everyone, but rewarding for those who stick with it.
November 25, 2017
"Not Untrue and Not Unkind" is a fictional treatise on the life of a foreign correspondent. Dealing mainly with the ever changing scenarios that is Africa, O'Loughlin's prose is both descriptive and lyrical, at times. The hardest thing I had trouble with, were his segue ways between the protagonists life in Britain and his travails in Africa. His breaking up of a contiguous time line was confusing and uneven. Perhaps a more consistent approach to the story would have been better served. All in all, a compelling story into an area of life, both vocationally and geographically, that I found interesting and a good read.
December 5, 2025
A haunting read; much of it written in stunning prose and the scenic descriptions and images are unforgettable. These counterbalance the gruesome descriptions of violence, conflict and genocide.
The novel is slow to get going, but it's well worth persevering with it. I found the insights it gave into the world of journalism and war correspondents quite fascinating!
The novel is slow to get going, but it's well worth persevering with it. I found the insights it gave into the world of journalism and war correspondents quite fascinating!
August 14, 2018
I chose this from a holiday bach bookshelf, mainly based on the Africa link. It was a good read - but just not gripping enough. It wallowed in war journalism just a fraction too long for me.
January 5, 2020
Journalists covering various wars in Africa. Very well writes, but then I love a bit of politics. You get involved with the characters.
May 17, 2020
A very cool detached book. I persisted with it but I kept finding other things to do to avoid it.
February 2, 2022
Just so dry and dull. The women all merge into one as they're not given any individual characteristics. I finished it but it was a real slog.
May 4, 2022
I can't even say this was a brave first attempt on the author's part. I found it simply unreadable. Gave up on page 50.
August 17, 2011
"I feel slightly guilty about giving it two stars as it wasn't a bad book it just had few redeeming features. It was quite frankly a bit dull - with no characters to sympathise with as they were all a bit irritating. The back drop of Africa has been done so many times before there wasn't really much here that was originial.
At times it felt more like the authors memoirs than a fiction book which makes me wonder how appropriate the Booker nomination is - I don't think it is likely to be shortlisted.
The best bits of the book were those that revolved around Cartwright (easily the best character in the book) but these were few and far between."
At times it felt more like the authors memoirs than a fiction book which makes me wonder how appropriate the Booker nomination is - I don't think it is likely to be shortlisted.
The best bits of the book were those that revolved around Cartwright (easily the best character in the book) but these were few and far between."
January 18, 2013
I have very mixed feelings about this book, but on the whole I thought it was a well written and ultimately honest attempt to address the unreal situation of some believable (if unlikable and in a couple of cases clichéd) Westerners trying to deal with several realities of late C20th Africa - described more vividly than is comfortable for armchair travellers or current affairs analysts. The Dublin sections add little to the tale. The novel is clearly pretty autobiographical, and I think the author, who probably started out as something of a prima donna, had to confront some very hard truths to produce this.
February 23, 2011
Owen Simmons is the main character in this book about foreign correspondents and photographers. He is a newpaper man from Ireland who travels to Africa to report in the Congo. He meets journalists and photographers from all over the world. They become family during the trials they encounter.
The reason I did not give it a higher mark is because it left me with so many unanswered questions. His love interest Beatrice and his boss at the paper, Cartwright left me wondering about their parts in the story.
The reason I did not give it a higher mark is because it left me with so many unanswered questions. His love interest Beatrice and his boss at the paper, Cartwright left me wondering about their parts in the story.
August 4, 2014
Like many others that have reviewed this book I found it quite boring. I struggled to remember characters; because they didn't grab me, they weren't memorable; and I struggled to remember what the plot actually was. In the end we went a very long way around to get to what was actually something very real, complex and gripping and I would've loved to read more about.
That being said the novel is full of patches of fantastic writing, you just have to wade through lots of boring and cliched writing to get to it.
That being said the novel is full of patches of fantastic writing, you just have to wade through lots of boring and cliched writing to get to it.
July 16, 2010
This is O'Loughlin's first novel. Somewhat Heminwayesque in that it takes place in Africa during there seemingly endless civil wars. There is a cast of jounalists and photographers from various countries going from one war zone to the next getting their stories. The main character, Owen, has a short affair with a female journalist from the U.S. and France. It's kind of "what's it all about, Alfie" in message.
August 2, 2010
eh.
Long (and great) on detail, but short on everything else. There just wasn't enough character or clear narrative to really improve my opinion of the book. Perhaps that was a deliberate style choice, but it seemed a major omission to me. I'm rather surprised it made the list for the Booker last year (although this was not my least favourite of last year's list).
Long (and great) on detail, but short on everything else. There just wasn't enough character or clear narrative to really improve my opinion of the book. Perhaps that was a deliberate style choice, but it seemed a major omission to me. I'm rather surprised it made the list for the Booker last year (although this was not my least favourite of last year's list).
July 10, 2012
Technically well written, with some sensitive and lyrical writing, and some interesting insights into life as a war-zone reporter. However ultimately this is a rather cynical, sad and depressed novel, and did not engage me as a reader. If the point of view had been from Beatrice rather than Owen it might have been more interesting and vital.
November 27, 2016
I'm not sure how I feel about this now I've finished it. It's well-written and the parts about the reporting of various African conflicts feel authentic. But I found the protagonist to be an unsympathetic character, lacking in warmth, and I want entirely sure what motivated any of the other characters. So - an interesting book, with an un-engaging lead.
October 13, 2013
This book left me uncomfortable - uncomfortable, yet genuine relationships, uncomfortable environments, and the occasional uncomfortable cliche. That's why you should read this book - it leaves you deeply invested in the philosophy of everything you may find discomfort in.
September 16, 2009
This was okay, but seemed to be missing something. More later.
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