supergran71
5th January 2008, 18:15
The Kindness of Strangers – Kate Adie – Autobiography
Blurb
Kate Adie has reported memorably and courageously from many of the world’s trouble spots – Norther Ireland, Tiananment Square and the 1991 Gulf War among others – since she joined the BBC in 1969. The Kindness of Strangers offers a compelling combination of vivid frontline accounts and evocative writing, laced with the nitty-gritty of everyday life travelling the world by cattle truck and armoured vehicle, without even a bath after a night of shell-fire.. She takes us behind the camera into the somewhat crazed world of broadcasting, where studios disintegrate during transmission and a well-aimed potato can put paid to a reporter’s best efforts. Kate is sharp and funny, and The Kindness of Strangers is full of insights into the modern world of news where reporting the facts, is not as simple as it might seem.
I think the above describes this book perfectly. The way she writes about her experiences is very descriptive and she laces it with some very funny anecdotes, some of which I found very funny especially the ones about the BBC. Something I liked was the way she didn’t resort to writing a journal, ie keeping everything in sequence, in the order in which she travelled to the various places. She writes loosely about her experience in one place and will sometimes refer back to another war zone. This resulted in keeping the book interesting and flowing. She expresses her belief that a reporter must keep their humanity, especially when reporting on some of the horrific scenes she must have seen, where she opined that a reporter had to keep emotion under control, in order to keep the report clear. I found her account of the Tiannaman Square massacre the most horrific to read and her meetings with Colonel Gadafi in Libya the most amusing. I recommend this book.
I have always admired Kate Adie and that admiration has now deepened into the utmost respect. I now find myself thinking about her experiences when watching the current correspondents reporting from places like Pakistan, Kenya and Afghanistan. She has made me more aware.
Blurb
Kate Adie has reported memorably and courageously from many of the world’s trouble spots – Norther Ireland, Tiananment Square and the 1991 Gulf War among others – since she joined the BBC in 1969. The Kindness of Strangers offers a compelling combination of vivid frontline accounts and evocative writing, laced with the nitty-gritty of everyday life travelling the world by cattle truck and armoured vehicle, without even a bath after a night of shell-fire.. She takes us behind the camera into the somewhat crazed world of broadcasting, where studios disintegrate during transmission and a well-aimed potato can put paid to a reporter’s best efforts. Kate is sharp and funny, and The Kindness of Strangers is full of insights into the modern world of news where reporting the facts, is not as simple as it might seem.
I think the above describes this book perfectly. The way she writes about her experiences is very descriptive and she laces it with some very funny anecdotes, some of which I found very funny especially the ones about the BBC. Something I liked was the way she didn’t resort to writing a journal, ie keeping everything in sequence, in the order in which she travelled to the various places. She writes loosely about her experience in one place and will sometimes refer back to another war zone. This resulted in keeping the book interesting and flowing. She expresses her belief that a reporter must keep their humanity, especially when reporting on some of the horrific scenes she must have seen, where she opined that a reporter had to keep emotion under control, in order to keep the report clear. I found her account of the Tiannaman Square massacre the most horrific to read and her meetings with Colonel Gadafi in Libya the most amusing. I recommend this book.
I have always admired Kate Adie and that admiration has now deepened into the utmost respect. I now find myself thinking about her experiences when watching the current correspondents reporting from places like Pakistan, Kenya and Afghanistan. She has made me more aware.