Even better second time

An intelligent account of the madness that is Brexit by a well informed Irish writer of merit. He sees it as an almost entirely English movement- which is completely right. A drive towards an exclusive nationalist ideology, an attempt to feel exceptional, led by 2 of the least trustworthy people in UK; Farage who stoked the uneasiness in Tory party, plus the buffoon as he correctly describes Johnson) who is now PM of UK. He has a good writing style and a pleasing voice.

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Lyrical and brutal

A lyrical, beautiful and brutal dissembling of the illogical zugzwang that is the #Brexit fantasy of the irrational English nationalist.

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5 people found this helpful

A fascinating series of vignettes

This is a really interesting series of snapshots of the Brexit process, taking us from just before the result of the referendum, to the point where it became clear that the British public would not be given a chance to confirm their decision.

Each article is well written and filled with witty and thought provoking observations, many of which would make their way into Heroic Failure in a more developed form.

As a "frame by frame" view of the first three years of the whole sorry saga, this book really helped me recontextualise the experience from the point of view of a non-Brit, and show how this English psychodrama appears to our nearest neighbours.

However, don't go into this expecting a sweeping narrative. These are stand alone articles. Ideas are repeated and further developed throughout the events, and if your read/listened to Heroic Failure, you will get some déjà-vu.

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7 people found this helpful

Revelatory.

A fascinating listen. Some of Fintan's observation were purely prophetic and, now that Brexit is unfolding, can be seen to be so. One of my favourite audiobooks so far.

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2 people found this helpful

Dreadfully embarrassing

the quiet and clear presentation of a calamitous moment in UK history makes it all the more effective. no ranting. Just a simple exposition of the lies which encouraged the bigotry which brought about end of British influence while the grownups stood and watched in near silence. Masterful.

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8 people found this helpful

One of the finest writers of our time

There aren't many opinion writers in the English-speaking world whose columns you can assemble, post-event, into a book. O'Toole is that writer. He has been proven wrong on a couple of details (Trump did indeed build that wall, or at least parts of it), but mostly his eloquent and clear-sighted observations from across the Irish Sea of four years of the great British nervous breakdown have aged incredibly well. I look forward to - and dread - the next instalment.

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Brexit through an Irish lens

An Irish perspective of Brexit that challenges British identity and exposes Brexiteers English Nationalist farce.

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Extraordinarily detailed, amusing & thoughtful

Fintan weaves extraordinary insights, depths and layers into this work, which is put into historical and international contexts, while amusing and sometimes shocking you.

I see one of the reviews below as accusing the author of being a Boris Johnson hater, but there's absolutely no hate or aggression here and since it refers to the period of Mrs May's premiership, I don't believe they have even read or listened to this excellent book.

More likely, they are Brexiters, angry that this case should exist and that someone wrote and published it to reflect the grim contradictory shambles, the loss of rights, opportunities and wealth that they have caused us, the people who made the right decision in 2016.

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Essential for those looking for perspective

A superb diary of the absurd knots the 'English' government tied themselves in to solve an impossible puzzle set for themselves thanks to the promises of morality free chancers. It made me angry but it also made me chuckle (wryly). We still don't know how it will turn out at the time of writing this but it's been a hell of a downward spiral for us all.

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5 people found this helpful

To see ourselves as others see us

How the U.K was mislead by those who should know better .
And we’re happy to let it happen

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