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Three Years in Hell
Three years in the troubled British Isles from the bestselling author of Heroic Failure. In 2011 Queen Elizabeth made her first ever state visit to the Irish Republic. It was a great, moving occasion. In settling once and for all its relationship with Ireland, Britain was also settling its relationship with the rest of the world, taking its place as a normal, equal democracy. It was not to last.Then came the 2016 referendum, and so beganThree Years in Hell
454 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 5, 2020
56 people are currently reading
242 people want to read
About the author
Fintan O'Toole
58 books356 followersFintan O'Toole is a columnist, assistant editor and drama critic for The Irish Times. O'Toole was born in Dublin and was partly educated at University College Dublin. He has written for the Irish Times since 1988 and was drama critic for the New York Daily News from 1997 to 2001. He is a literary critic, historical writer and political commentator, with generally left-wing views. He was and continues to be a strong critic of corruption in Irish politics, in both the Haughey era and continuing to the present.
O'Toole has criticised what he sees as negative attitudes towards immigration in Ireland, the state of Ireland's public services, growing inequality during Ireland's economic boom, the Iraq War and the American military's use of Shannon Airport, among many other issues. In 2006, he spent six months in China reporting for The Irish Times. In his weekly columns in The Irish Times, O'Toole opposed the IRA's campaign during the Troubles in Northern Ireland.
information from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fintan_O...
O'Toole has criticised what he sees as negative attitudes towards immigration in Ireland, the state of Ireland's public services, growing inequality during Ireland's economic boom, the Iraq War and the American military's use of Shannon Airport, among many other issues. In 2006, he spent six months in China reporting for The Irish Times. In his weekly columns in The Irish Times, O'Toole opposed the IRA's campaign during the Troubles in Northern Ireland.
information from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fintan_O...
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
August 30, 2021
The real tragedy of this book is that it's too true to be read by many. O'Toole is easy to read, funny and insightful. But his brilliant points about Brexit and - perhaps more importantly - the strange English attitude towards it are simply too depressing to engage with more than once.
A brilliant account of the utterly counter-intuitive movement that was the United Kingdom's departure from the European Union...
A brilliant account of the utterly counter-intuitive movement that was the United Kingdom's departure from the European Union...
July 12, 2021
This was very righteous and quite interesting but it was incredibly repetitive. I know it's a collection of columns but it felt like he made the same points over and over again across some of them so might have benefited from some more editing. Or maybe it was an analogy for the repetitive tedium of Brexit....
March 17, 2025
Was this book a bit repetitive? Yes. Is it universally accepted amongst (most) Irish people that Brexit was a terrible idea? Yes. A pristine example if one were needed of our neighbours being at it again.
O'Toole is a funny and clever writer which compensated for the fact that the book is just a collection of columns bemoaning the English political classes and their foolhardy decision to leave the EU.
O'Toole is a funny and clever writer which compensated for the fact that the book is just a collection of columns bemoaning the English political classes and their foolhardy decision to leave the EU.
December 20, 2024
Fintan O'Toole is a brilliant writer, intelligent, perceptive, thoughtful, amusing and a devastatingly accurate and hard hitting commentator on the absurdities of politicians of all parties and of the electorate that places and keeps them in power. His view of the Brexit saga is brilliant but incredibly sad to read, for me, but then not only Brexit but the years since 2016 and the leave vote have been a cavalcade of shocks and disillusion with the country I have spent most of my life in. The tawdry shambles of the Brexit saga was ghastly in the scale of mismanagement and lies and that it was almost immediately succeeded by the harrowing COVID years of even more grotesque mismanagement by the same lying coterie if mental midgets and liars is shocking, as is the fact that all those people are still running the country as of February 2024.
That Britain's political class would demean, debase, belittle and almost destroy through farce and incompetence just about anything was something no one expected, though maybe we should have (for those who don't know what I am talking about I refer them to any account of the ridiculous 50 day premiership of Liz Truss). So Fintan O'Toole's book is a look back not only to a political crisis but for many of us a painful time when we were forced to watch the country we had thought we knew and loved turn into something unrecognizable and ugly.
My only criticism is that Mr. O'Toole has written another book on the Brexit debacle 'Heroic Failure' which is more of a narrative then this work which is largely, but not exclusively, composed of his columns from the Irish Times. This means that there is repetition as is inevitable with republished journalism but he is still worth reading if only to be reminded of how utterly ghastly, stupid and wickedly dishonest almost everyone connected to Brexit were. That it is also reveals the complete stupidity of the same people is just icing on the cake. Never has electorate been lied too with such breathless insouciance as that of the UK was in both the lead up to the referendum and in the post referendum Brexit negotiations. That no one cares enough to vote against this shower of midgets and has left them in power for years is the saddest thing of all.
If you have read nothing by Fintan O'Toole previously and you have an interest in either recent UK or Irish history then he is an author you must read.
That Britain's political class would demean, debase, belittle and almost destroy through farce and incompetence just about anything was something no one expected, though maybe we should have (for those who don't know what I am talking about I refer them to any account of the ridiculous 50 day premiership of Liz Truss). So Fintan O'Toole's book is a look back not only to a political crisis but for many of us a painful time when we were forced to watch the country we had thought we knew and loved turn into something unrecognizable and ugly.
My only criticism is that Mr. O'Toole has written another book on the Brexit debacle 'Heroic Failure' which is more of a narrative then this work which is largely, but not exclusively, composed of his columns from the Irish Times. This means that there is repetition as is inevitable with republished journalism but he is still worth reading if only to be reminded of how utterly ghastly, stupid and wickedly dishonest almost everyone connected to Brexit were. That it is also reveals the complete stupidity of the same people is just icing on the cake. Never has electorate been lied too with such breathless insouciance as that of the UK was in both the lead up to the referendum and in the post referendum Brexit negotiations. That no one cares enough to vote against this shower of midgets and has left them in power for years is the saddest thing of all.
If you have read nothing by Fintan O'Toole previously and you have an interest in either recent UK or Irish history then he is an author you must read.
Read
April 27, 2020Najlepšie komentáre o Brexite, špeciálne ak vás baví UK politika.
May 10, 2020
I have read and listened to so much about Brexit - and Fintan O'Toole's "Heroic Failure" is probably my favourite book on this still incomplete saga. This book is made up of columns O'Toole wrote from 2016 to the end of 2019, mostly for the Irish Times. It is effectively a real-time commentary on Brexit as the shambles kept on unfolding and mutating. As it is made of multiple columns there is a great deal of repetition of particular phrases which gets a little frustrating - and the material would have been much more satisfying read in real time rather than as a collection. What is very interesting is the Irish perspective on Brexit - from Day 1 - which most in England never even thought about until long after the referendum. This makes is well worth reading for any Brexit enthusiasts.
May 7, 2020
Three years in Hell
As a person born in England of Irish parents I found this book absolutely compelling. As I have lived in Argentina for the last 18 years I also feel a third dimension, I no longer feel English nor Irish but more of an outsider looking in at England as it lurches from one disaster to the next. In the years since I left England I have seen a profound change in its people. I have friends of Irish parents who now echo the words of Tommy Robinson and Morrissey, all of that was unthinkable when I lived there.
This book dissects the chancer that is Boris Johnson and in the few months since the book was written Boris has already led his country to yet another disaster.
I highly recommend this book.
As a person born in England of Irish parents I found this book absolutely compelling. As I have lived in Argentina for the last 18 years I also feel a third dimension, I no longer feel English nor Irish but more of an outsider looking in at England as it lurches from one disaster to the next. In the years since I left England I have seen a profound change in its people. I have friends of Irish parents who now echo the words of Tommy Robinson and Morrissey, all of that was unthinkable when I lived there.
This book dissects the chancer that is Boris Johnson and in the few months since the book was written Boris has already led his country to yet another disaster.
I highly recommend this book.
August 7, 2025
Of the many takes on Brexit, O'Toole's is by far the most interesting and convincing. Brexit was in essence an English cry for attention. A cry that found its voice - unfortunately for the rest of us - in a nasty form of English Nationalism. " ... for centuries, English Nationalism has been buried in two larger constructs: the United Kingdom and the British Empire". As both these constructs weaken - in the case of Empire, disappear completely - the English have sought out a collective political identity. This process has proved not only difficult but often destructive.
Set against the rise of Trump populism - with its attack on liberal democracy - and the complexity of Irish history, Brexit has released forces that has torn the very fabric of UK society.
The first and obvious victim is the Conservative Party. Cameron, May and then "the dilettante faux aristocracy" and "winner of a Winston Churchill impersonation contest", the "lightweight" Boris Johnson.
O'Toole is at his scathing best when discussing the incompetence of the political class - both Tory and Labour - to grapple with Brexit. The complete lack of preparations for a Brexit victory - it couldn't be anything else as nobody really knew what Brexit meant - resulted in a global humiliation. It may have been just about possible to forgive them this negligence of unpreparedness if it hadn't been for the issue of Northern Ireland.
Nobody is better placed than O'Toole to discuss the complex machinations at play when it comes to Ireland's part in the Brexit negotiations. This insider knowledge elevates his take on the whole Brexit question to another level.
English history and identity, Irish history and identity, EU history and identity, and much more is addressed and scrutinised with a forensic eye and a lightness of touch that brings lucidity to the greatest upheaval in UK politics in my lifetime.
Like many people I get my news and current affairs from the BBC. During my lifetime this has served me very well. I still believe that the BBC reporting is of the very highest standard. When it comes to Brexit however the BBC has lacked clarity, prefering to adopt an obfuscation that can easily be interpreted as protecting the villains in the whole Brexit fiasco. In recent times they are repeating this mistake with its coverage of the Middle East, particularly the atrocities being carried out in the Gaza Strip. Watching seasoned journalists - Jeremy Bowen comes to mind - squirm is all too unedifying. Trendy podcasts don't cut it for this viewer.
I can't recommend Three Years In Hell highly enough.
Set against the rise of Trump populism - with its attack on liberal democracy - and the complexity of Irish history, Brexit has released forces that has torn the very fabric of UK society.
The first and obvious victim is the Conservative Party. Cameron, May and then "the dilettante faux aristocracy" and "winner of a Winston Churchill impersonation contest", the "lightweight" Boris Johnson.
O'Toole is at his scathing best when discussing the incompetence of the political class - both Tory and Labour - to grapple with Brexit. The complete lack of preparations for a Brexit victory - it couldn't be anything else as nobody really knew what Brexit meant - resulted in a global humiliation. It may have been just about possible to forgive them this negligence of unpreparedness if it hadn't been for the issue of Northern Ireland.
Nobody is better placed than O'Toole to discuss the complex machinations at play when it comes to Ireland's part in the Brexit negotiations. This insider knowledge elevates his take on the whole Brexit question to another level.
English history and identity, Irish history and identity, EU history and identity, and much more is addressed and scrutinised with a forensic eye and a lightness of touch that brings lucidity to the greatest upheaval in UK politics in my lifetime.
Like many people I get my news and current affairs from the BBC. During my lifetime this has served me very well. I still believe that the BBC reporting is of the very highest standard. When it comes to Brexit however the BBC has lacked clarity, prefering to adopt an obfuscation that can easily be interpreted as protecting the villains in the whole Brexit fiasco. In recent times they are repeating this mistake with its coverage of the Middle East, particularly the atrocities being carried out in the Gaza Strip. Watching seasoned journalists - Jeremy Bowen comes to mind - squirm is all too unedifying. Trendy podcasts don't cut it for this viewer.
I can't recommend Three Years In Hell highly enough.
February 15, 2021
This is a collection of articles and essays written by Fintan O’Toole, author of (among other books) ‘Heroic Failure’, the most clear-eyed analysis available of the driving forces behind Brexit. These snapshots, written without the benefit of hindsight, nevertheless show the same clear-sighted appreciation of the historical, political and personal motives driving the chaos in the three years since the Brexit referendum, and are therefore a must-read for anyone who (albeit perhaps belatedly) wishes to truly understand how we came to this point. Tim Shipman’s pair of hyper-detailed tomes on the intricate twists and turns of the referendum campaign and aftermath, ‘All Out War’ and ‘Fall Out’, may give a sense of what it was like to be in the thick of it, but it is to O’Toole’s more distanced and measured analysis to which we must turn to get the bigger picture.
The Irish remember the recent bloody consequences of their own nationalist project, and O’Toole identifies Brexit as a distinctly English (not British) nationalist project. He can see right through the false comparison of the EU as a colonising power, being a citizen of a nation which until relatively recently was actually part of the British Empire. He also slices easily through the Gordian knot of claim and counter-claim about the actual implications of the various Brexit possibilities (eg May’s deal vs Johnson’s deal, and the very important consequences of guaranteeing no border infrastructure on the island of Ireland, itself a consequence of the Belfast agreement).
One thing that comes through very strongly from O’Toole’s writing is that, even though some of the antics of the major players are ludicrous to the point of farce, he steadfastly points out the realities, and the inconsistencies on display, without allowing us to agree with the Johnsons and the Rees-Moggs that it’s all some comical game with no real consequences. He knows it’s deadly serious, and he’s not stooping to joke about it. Instead, one forms the impression of a world-weary Cassandra powerlessly watching our own English nationalism repeat the destructive mistakes of the Irish nationalism of the last century. We can only hope that the consequences are less bloody.
The Irish remember the recent bloody consequences of their own nationalist project, and O’Toole identifies Brexit as a distinctly English (not British) nationalist project. He can see right through the false comparison of the EU as a colonising power, being a citizen of a nation which until relatively recently was actually part of the British Empire. He also slices easily through the Gordian knot of claim and counter-claim about the actual implications of the various Brexit possibilities (eg May’s deal vs Johnson’s deal, and the very important consequences of guaranteeing no border infrastructure on the island of Ireland, itself a consequence of the Belfast agreement).
One thing that comes through very strongly from O’Toole’s writing is that, even though some of the antics of the major players are ludicrous to the point of farce, he steadfastly points out the realities, and the inconsistencies on display, without allowing us to agree with the Johnsons and the Rees-Moggs that it’s all some comical game with no real consequences. He knows it’s deadly serious, and he’s not stooping to joke about it. Instead, one forms the impression of a world-weary Cassandra powerlessly watching our own English nationalism repeat the destructive mistakes of the Irish nationalism of the last century. We can only hope that the consequences are less bloody.
March 28, 2023
Three Years in Hell - The Brexit Chronicles
by
Fintan O'Toole
I think the title tells you what O’Toole thinks of the entire escapade. And though it was quite entertaining for me, as an outside onlooker without any skin in the game, I wonder if it is really all as bad and terrible as he makes it out to be. However, I think there is little doubt that the whole process was handled rather inadequately and may have been done better (pun intended). Then again, even if this were a brilliant idea, the English needed to undo about half a century’s worth of bureaucracy within 2 years, which is exhausting and cumbersome in its own right.
Now the attentive reader might be bothered as to why I wrote “English” and not “British”. The book is to blame, as O’Toole makes a strong case for Brexit being a phenomenon largely fueled and misled by English, not British, nationalism. His arguments and descriptions bring some sort of late onset puberty to mind that leads many teenagers to make regrettable decisions out of spite and not because they are right. Now, I am unsure whether to really take everything here at face value, because if it were like he says it is, then it would be so thoroughly ridiculous that I’d be at a loss for words.
Reading “Three Years in Hell” is like seeing history unfolding in real-time, each chapter a snapshot of Brexit as it was happening. This is an account of history in the making, with all the nitty-gritty details that will be lost once Brexit makes it into the history books of our children. I am sure that it will be denoted with maybe one sentence: The UK left the EU on 31 January 2020 after nearly half a century of membership.
by
Fintan O'Toole
I think the title tells you what O’Toole thinks of the entire escapade. And though it was quite entertaining for me, as an outside onlooker without any skin in the game, I wonder if it is really all as bad and terrible as he makes it out to be. However, I think there is little doubt that the whole process was handled rather inadequately and may have been done better (pun intended). Then again, even if this were a brilliant idea, the English needed to undo about half a century’s worth of bureaucracy within 2 years, which is exhausting and cumbersome in its own right.
Now the attentive reader might be bothered as to why I wrote “English” and not “British”. The book is to blame, as O’Toole makes a strong case for Brexit being a phenomenon largely fueled and misled by English, not British, nationalism. His arguments and descriptions bring some sort of late onset puberty to mind that leads many teenagers to make regrettable decisions out of spite and not because they are right. Now, I am unsure whether to really take everything here at face value, because if it were like he says it is, then it would be so thoroughly ridiculous that I’d be at a loss for words.
Reading “Three Years in Hell” is like seeing history unfolding in real-time, each chapter a snapshot of Brexit as it was happening. This is an account of history in the making, with all the nitty-gritty details that will be lost once Brexit makes it into the history books of our children. I am sure that it will be denoted with maybe one sentence: The UK left the EU on 31 January 2020 after nearly half a century of membership.
September 20, 2023
Irish Genius
This collection of the fabulous Fintan's Irish Times columns on Brexit - from the vote to the actual leaving is a riot of scabrous wit, wonderful insights into the British character and blow by blow analysis of events. I have read other FOT books and follow him in the New York Review of Books and the Guardian and find him intelligent, entertaining and unusual.
From his perch, Brexit is all about the suicidal tendencies of English nationalism. Instead of dealing with its problems, the English have decided to blame Europe for its shortcomings and so many believe that once its shod of its continental 'masters', all will be well. This delusion has captured the country and is still in its thrall. In a way, Ireland and England have switched places. Ireland thought that England was its problem (and it mostly, was) just as England blame Brussels for everything. Except that it's all a pile of crap. It's fascinating to follow the drama, but suffice it to say, O'Toole's observations are trenchant, surprising and mostly, spot on. That they were written in real time is, frankly, amazing.
I always grab anything O'Toole writes because it always entertains and makes me laugh.
This collection of the fabulous Fintan's Irish Times columns on Brexit - from the vote to the actual leaving is a riot of scabrous wit, wonderful insights into the British character and blow by blow analysis of events. I have read other FOT books and follow him in the New York Review of Books and the Guardian and find him intelligent, entertaining and unusual.
From his perch, Brexit is all about the suicidal tendencies of English nationalism. Instead of dealing with its problems, the English have decided to blame Europe for its shortcomings and so many believe that once its shod of its continental 'masters', all will be well. This delusion has captured the country and is still in its thrall. In a way, Ireland and England have switched places. Ireland thought that England was its problem (and it mostly, was) just as England blame Brussels for everything. Except that it's all a pile of crap. It's fascinating to follow the drama, but suffice it to say, O'Toole's observations are trenchant, surprising and mostly, spot on. That they were written in real time is, frankly, amazing.
I always grab anything O'Toole writes because it always entertains and makes me laugh.
April 6, 2022
The individual columns are excellent and the analysis insightful, eye-opening and frequently very funny (albeit sometimes in a 'if you didn't laugh, you'd cry' kind of way), so on an individual columns basis my rating would be pretty much a 5. I've reduced the rating to reflect that reading them all back to back in the one volume can become quite repetitive (probably inevitably). I think that's a consequence of the collected articles format, rather than of the quality of the writing, which I think is great. Fintan O'Toole is comfortably the best and most interesting analyst of Brexit that I've read.
September 3, 2022
O'Toole's a very good writer, and it does show in this collection. However, the nature of this collection of newspaper columns means even he can get repetitive, going over the same points over and over again. It's useful as a historical artefact, reminding us of what was preoccupied the UK and Ireland in this period but if you want a book by him on Brexit and the British, go to Heroic Failure first.
November 3, 2021
This does not get less depressing with a bit of distance, sadly. Still an entertaining read and a nice tour through the history of this event. I loved the detail O'Toole goes into regarding Ireland, which I felt was missing in the discussions I'd watched.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 24, 2025
Hi! Your writing genuinely pulled me in, especially the way you handle emotional moments. A few scenes felt very visual to me.
I’m a commission-based narrative artist, and if you ever want to explore a comic or webtoon version, feel free to reach out.
📩 Discord & Instagram: lizziedoesitall
I’m a commission-based narrative artist, and if you ever want to explore a comic or webtoon version, feel free to reach out.
📩 Discord & Instagram: lizziedoesitall
July 20, 2020
An extensive analysis of the incoherent optical thinking regarding brexit
December 31, 2020
While still thoroughly enjoyable it is no Heroic Failure, go for that one if you haven't read it yet.
February 28, 2022
Thanks.....
Brilliantly informative. History of the UK's disastrous break with Europe, from outside. I'm impressed and awed by his literary power. Thanks Mr O'Toole.
Brilliantly informative. History of the UK's disastrous break with Europe, from outside. I'm impressed and awed by his literary power. Thanks Mr O'Toole.
November 16, 2023
Fascinating as it comes from the Irish viewpoint.
This is a comprehensive account of Brexit coming from a non-Anglo centric point of view and very well told it.
This is a comprehensive account of Brexit coming from a non-Anglo centric point of view and very well told it.
February 12, 2024
Too much repetition and a very narrow minded discussion.
August 27, 2024
Fintan is a nice writer but impossible to lose the sense of reading the same article over and over due to the repetition. DNF
April 6, 2021
It's my own fault, but I didn't realise this was just a compilation of articles written for the Irish Times and Guardian, and it really impacts the book when reading lengthier chunks. The lack of revisionism or hindsight bias competes with repeated themes and pithy phrases a few pages apart in forming my overall impression, and I think the repetition just wins out.
O'Toole is at least a decent columnist, talking about serious issues in a direct manner that is never too politically haughty and rarely boring. He does like to relate stories to classic novels perhaps a bit too often, and surely even regular readers of his columns got sick of the King Lear references even if they were months apart. Unless there was some serious editing (I'm not going to go back to check against his Guardian pieces) his characterisations are astute and have stood the test of time, and certainly give the impression he knows what he's talking about. The rise of the concept of English Nationlism is the sort of analysis I'd expected more of, a detached person's view on the underlying political swings.
Ultimately, this was a book and should be reviewed as one, and the repurposing of material is fine for columns in newspapers on different sides of the Irish Sea, but not great when read 3 pages apart. Lines like May building a brand on 'her personality when she hasn't got one' are only amusing the first time, and to be honest I didn't find his writing that funny despite the cover trading on such endorsement from his peers. Maybe you find criticism of Boris inherently funny, but why waste time reading serious thoughts when there are terrible memes on the internet that will do the same much more quickly?
As alluded to above, the positive of a column compendium is that these are real time thoughts rather than a hindsight-influenced narrative, so there is at least some intrigue in seeing whether my memory was playing tricks on me (and no, we really were that embarassing as a country). But the same repeated points on Northern Ireland's land and sea border implications didn't seem to add anything to the book and could have been cut in some places. It was an easy read, but it did have quite a bit of filler.
I expected a few things from this book, a slightly detached look at the UK, some sharp writing and a good story given the material. The wit wasn't enough to carry the similarities between some of the chapters, and as a result I thought it was a fairly average read, without the details and personilities of someone more connected like Tim Shipman, or the entertainment value of Marina Hyde.
O'Toole is at least a decent columnist, talking about serious issues in a direct manner that is never too politically haughty and rarely boring. He does like to relate stories to classic novels perhaps a bit too often, and surely even regular readers of his columns got sick of the King Lear references even if they were months apart. Unless there was some serious editing (I'm not going to go back to check against his Guardian pieces) his characterisations are astute and have stood the test of time, and certainly give the impression he knows what he's talking about. The rise of the concept of English Nationlism is the sort of analysis I'd expected more of, a detached person's view on the underlying political swings.
Ultimately, this was a book and should be reviewed as one, and the repurposing of material is fine for columns in newspapers on different sides of the Irish Sea, but not great when read 3 pages apart. Lines like May building a brand on 'her personality when she hasn't got one' are only amusing the first time, and to be honest I didn't find his writing that funny despite the cover trading on such endorsement from his peers. Maybe you find criticism of Boris inherently funny, but why waste time reading serious thoughts when there are terrible memes on the internet that will do the same much more quickly?
As alluded to above, the positive of a column compendium is that these are real time thoughts rather than a hindsight-influenced narrative, so there is at least some intrigue in seeing whether my memory was playing tricks on me (and no, we really were that embarassing as a country). But the same repeated points on Northern Ireland's land and sea border implications didn't seem to add anything to the book and could have been cut in some places. It was an easy read, but it did have quite a bit of filler.
I expected a few things from this book, a slightly detached look at the UK, some sharp writing and a good story given the material. The wit wasn't enough to carry the similarities between some of the chapters, and as a result I thought it was a fairly average read, without the details and personilities of someone more connected like Tim Shipman, or the entertainment value of Marina Hyde.
January 25, 2022
Disappointing
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