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Our discussion of Brainwash by Dominic Streatfeild

We met last night to discuss Brainwash by Dominic Streatfeild, and had a pretty lively discussion.  Here is some of what readers had to say:

  • One person started our discussion by saying, "I liked it more than I thought I would."  She didn't like the title, and didn't really like the beginning of the book, but then found it got better past the third chapter.   This sentiment was echoed by other readers, who agreed that the first parts of the book were not as enjoyable as subsequent chapters.
  • One reader stated that the cover, itself, was a real turn-off, and that she initially didn't want to read the book.  We had some general discussion about the cover art, and how it seems to imply that the material would be focused on torture.   One of our members said she had seen an alternate cover, which I've included here.  It is interesting to compare the two, and think about how the paperback cover might have appealed more to readers.   However, it was interesting to talk about how just a cover can really have an impact on readers, especially combines with the subject material and title of this book.   One reader said that the combination made her think that the book would be more about cults, so she then found the first part of the book (which focused on LSD) to be unexpected.
  • We also talked about the author's writing style.  One reader noted that he liked the author's writing style, where he would introduce an example of the topic, and then get into the "yeah, but..." of it, where he would detail the kinds of problems and issues that occurred.    Another person said that she liked how much research the author put into the book, and how it was well balanced between this research and anecdotal information.  For her, this made the book a really interesting read.
  • All of us said we were a little surprised by how crazy some of the things that the CIA did seemed.  As one person stated, "Who are these people?!"  One reader mentioned the information on page 331 about the remote-controlled cat to be really funny and kind of unbelievable.  Readers mentioned some of their favorite chapters, or parts of the book, and we talked about how the book was not only informative, but scary, as well.   One reader said, "It's an informative kind of disturbing," which other people agreed with.   
  • We also talked about how some of the material in the book really didn't seem that shocking.   For example, people mentioned TV shows like 24 and Homeland, where interrogation techniques are part of the storyline.  Some of us wondered if back when the book was first written, or published, if some of the material in the book would have been more shocking or disturbing to readers.
  • A few readers brought up the Epilogue of the book, and how thought-provoking it was.  We talked about how the author brings things around in a more personal way, to ask the reader their own feelings about whether the end can justify the means, and in what kind of situations.

Overall, we found the book to be thought-provoking, and found that we had a great discussion.    We welcome more discussion, so please feel free to leave a comment!

 

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