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Road Trip To Hell
Rare Book
Paperback
First published May 16, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
October 14, 2011
This book was interesting but really, with so much coverage of the Iraq war from so many different sources I don't think the author actually adds anything. Towards the end of the book Hughes is embedded with the British army, a perfect time to get some real thoughts and feelings from the soldiers, instead he puts one page of a "self-interviewing Geordie" and that's it. I would've hoped he would have seen the opportunity and taken advantage of it, similar to Generation Kill, an amazing embedded journalist story who actually connects with the soldiers.
Another thing that really annoyed me was the way that Hughes and the cameraman, Julian were so insensitive. Hughes is constantly spouting about how offensive and rude the American soldiers are to the Iraqi civilians, and then they sit in the back of the car making jokes in very bad taste while their driver and translator sits in the front. At one point the driver actually tells them to shut up as they understand them-I hoped my stereotype of tabloid journalists wasn't true and at the beginning I was thinking it wasn't, then the crass, insensitive jokes started.
The book was okay, fairly interesting stuff but don't expect anything deep or any profound understanding of anyone in Iraq after, not even the foreign journalists and their practices.
Another thing that really annoyed me was the way that Hughes and the cameraman, Julian were so insensitive. Hughes is constantly spouting about how offensive and rude the American soldiers are to the Iraqi civilians, and then they sit in the back of the car making jokes in very bad taste while their driver and translator sits in the front. At one point the driver actually tells them to shut up as they understand them-I hoped my stereotype of tabloid journalists wasn't true and at the beginning I was thinking it wasn't, then the crass, insensitive jokes started.
The book was okay, fairly interesting stuff but don't expect anything deep or any profound understanding of anyone in Iraq after, not even the foreign journalists and their practices.
June 15, 2011
I can't recommend this book highly enough. A personal view of the Iraq conflict from before the US moved in up until the first elections over the course of approximately a dozen visits.
Hughes is a journalist, at the time working for the Daily Mirror, which got him access to a lot of places many people couldn't (or wouldn't) go. The book really gives you an insight into the work of a journalist and the newspaper industry as well as Hughes' own views and opinions on the conflict itself.
It is a very easy read, well paced and with virtually no fluff or padding. It's rare for me to go right through a book without skimming occasionally, and I read every single word of Road Trip To Hell (enough so to spot the three typographical errors).
What happened, and is continuing to happen, in Iraq is very important - to the people there and to the rest of the world. Road Trip to Hell is highly recommended as a way to balance the tabloid press and governmental viewpoints.
WARNING - one or two of the photos included are rather graphic. Don't leave it lying around where youngsters could flick through.
Hughes is a journalist, at the time working for the Daily Mirror, which got him access to a lot of places many people couldn't (or wouldn't) go. The book really gives you an insight into the work of a journalist and the newspaper industry as well as Hughes' own views and opinions on the conflict itself.
It is a very easy read, well paced and with virtually no fluff or padding. It's rare for me to go right through a book without skimming occasionally, and I read every single word of Road Trip To Hell (enough so to spot the three typographical errors).
What happened, and is continuing to happen, in Iraq is very important - to the people there and to the rest of the world. Road Trip to Hell is highly recommended as a way to balance the tabloid press and governmental viewpoints.
WARNING - one or two of the photos included are rather graphic. Don't leave it lying around where youngsters could flick through.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews