| Title | : | The Missing |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0571215602 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780571215607 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | - |
| Publication | : | First published January 1, 1995 |
The Missing Reviews
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A different sort of book, unique among those that I have read. Starts as a biography of a childhood in the west of Scotland, which was of interest as that's where I grew up at a similar time. But then skews into an essay on missing people in Britai n in the late 80s and early 90s, leading to the gruesome discoveries in Glouchester of the victims of Fred and Rosemary West. The edition I read also added a mid-2000s musing on the spread of CCTV, surveillance and the internet on society, which has turned out to be prescient. Plenty of intriguing thoughts to ponder.
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Brilliant book part biography, part autobiography part investigative journalism. I am more familiar with O'Hagan's writing through the pages of London Review of Books. As a critic and a journo/pampleteer he is never afraid to ruffle a few feathers on both the right-on Left and toe-the-line Right. His long article on Grenfell Tower pointed out things that other people had failed to address and as such put himself in the firing line of both the residents who escaped the inferno and the investigators of the tragedy. The points he raised were valid and needed to be said.
This starts out with a familial biography investigating his past in Glasgow and the disappearance (through drowning when his ship was torpedoed) of his grandfather. This particular incidence and expression of 'Missing' leads him into examining other 'missings' in his own personal past when the family had moved to the new Ayrshire coastal town of Irvine.
These autobiographical sections lead into the real meat of the story which is an investigation into the murders perpetrated by Fred and Rosemary West and the missings and disappearances associated with their multiple murders and burials. Always the thinking writer rather than the reporter, for which he is often mistaken by the inhabitants of Gloucester when he was investigating the case and working on 'The Missing'. This in itself, though far from being the usual tabloidese 'News of the World' shocker makes for an interesting read and leads O'Hagan into an investigation of the blind anomie which our society has evolved into. The Wests could only get away with the multiple killings and rapes and abuse that they did because we live in a society which is not interested, doesn't want to become involved, wants to lead it's own life and appears to be afraid to speak out when something is not right, afraid to point out the Emperor's bare-arsed new clothes. As the saying goes..... just move along, nothing to see here.
The natural step on from this is to investigate the vast numbers of missing persons or 'mispers' as per official jargon which predominantly end up in London but which have now become part and parcel of the homeless of every city in the United Kingdom. EVERY city. Not just London. And which has seen massive growth in numbers from the 1960s onwards. Many are never reported missing and so do not even show up on statistics. Some want to disappear for one reason or another. All appear to end up emotionally and physically damaged. Who are these people and what drove them to embark on their disappearance? What gives in the lack of community that can allow this to happen?
This is a hard book to classify in terms of what kind of writing it is. Documentary? Autobiography? Journalism? Memoir? Expose? Critical Writing? Does it matter. O'Hagan's writing is as ever challenging and excellent and like the very best of writers he makes you think beyond, outside of the written text. I suppose the only other kind of book I can imagine coming close to this kind of work would be
George Orwell's
The Road to Wigan Pier and
Down and Out in Paris and London. The same kind of intensity pervades the text. In the same way that those two books spoke, The Missing is about the dispossessed and the underclass, those that are easily overlooked by the mainstream because they live on the peripheries.
This is a dark book. A dark book that illuminates a dark side to what we have allowed society to become. What is 'home' and what drives people from it. Where are the Missing? -
This was... not what I was expecting. I thought it would be a book about how and way people end up missing, but the first part was mainly about the author's family and childhood with a few very tentative links to the subject of people going "missing" (a grandfather who was lost at sea and a little boy who went missing from the author's childhood estate). There were a few interesting bits about the history of Glasgow, but mainly I wondered what the point was. The second part of the book was entitled "The Missing" and I thought it would start getting to the point then, but it didn't really. A large chunk of the second book was dedicated to the victims of Fred and Rosemary West, but still managed to only skirt the issue. Then he referenced a few conversations he'd had with homeless people, some of whom are officially missing.... and that was it. A disappointing book!
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I love this book. it explores the idea of being missing as you might guess from the title. However it is a meditation rather than a logical exploration. It encompasses personal biography, psychogeography, crime reporting focussing on the victims rather than the criminal and much more. O'Hagan thinks about and around the concept of missing in an thoughtful and intelligent way which seems all the more relevant today when, with the omnipresence of technology, it would seem almost impossible to be missing.
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A unique and fascinating book that has me pondering the nature of identity, self-hood, community and recognition. And a bonus a conjuring of 70s childhood. Recommended.
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Another book brilliantly written by Andrew O'Hagan. Thought provoking and chilling. In a world where we are so busy being watched and watching there remain legions of the unmissed.
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Compelling throughout and an absolute journey.
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This book, part-memoir and part-true crime, really gripped me. It traces the author's interest in those who go missing, from the reason his family moved from Glasgow (where violence, and the disappearances of young women, made his parents look to raise their children somewhere safer), to disappearances which touched his childhood in Ayrshire, to his adult life as a journalist in England covering various missing cases and the murders of Fred and Rosemary West. I've read one of O'Hagan's fictional works, and it was interesting to read about his childhood and further back to the generations before him who lived in the East End of Glasgow. As a native of the West of Scotland myself, that appealed to me. But actually I think it would be an interesting read for those who aren't as familiar, as the sectarianism and the Bible John murders - particularly in O'Hagan's telling - are intriguing. This is not a salacious book, and I really appreciated how O'Hagan focuses on the victims and those left behind. Particularly where those missing have been victims of violent crime, he gives them their names and talks about their lives rather than their demises - he doesn't even use the name Bible John, and his discussion on the Wests is focused far more on those who they abused. He is compassionate and introspective in the telling, and I think that's what made this feel very human.
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Part memoir, part social commentary, this book is about missing people in Great Britain. It's a bit dated because it was written before the internet came into widespread use, but much of what it says still applies. The book is not about specific cases so much as the phenomenon in general. O'Hagan, a journalist, interviewed runaways and homeless people in addition to law enforcement officials as part of his research. Much of what he says, especially about the people who die and are left undiscovered in their apartments for months, makes for very depressing reading. This book is well worth the time to look at and fostered greater awareness in myself, although I knew a great deal about missing people already.
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105. The Missing by Andrew O'Hagan. An examination of the concept of missing, trying to disappear and trying to find someone. He talks about his grandfather who was lost at sea during World War II, and continuing sense of loss in the family decades later. He also discusses the disappearance of a young boy in his neighbourhood, the murder of Jamie Bulger by two preteen boys and the women killed and disposed of by Fred and Rosemary West. Some of this has particular resonance for the Canadian reader: the Pickton murders, the missing and murdered aboriginal women and the CBC radio podcast, Someone Must Know Something about the disappearance of a child in the Kawarthas, who disappeared without a trace. While there is no plot, it is gripping.
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This a most interesting book on many levels... it covers every aspect of missing people from missing them to them being missing. It is a book which has stayed in my mind since I first read it... and things staying in your mind is an aspect of O'Hagan's book; and as a demonstration of the point he makes, I had misremembered the content, or remembered it in a different way, creating my own version in my head. I don't think I've explained this very well, but read the book and you will understand what I'm getting at!
The book ranges from 19th century Glasgow, to the dreadful murders by Fred and Rosemary West... and much in between about O'Hagan's own childhood.
A fascinating read. -
The first part of the book is about the author's childhood in Glasgow (with occasional references to people going missing); the second part is about people who have gone missing - this is done in a very 'brief' way and the subjects aren't given much depth. The book seemed a bit aimless to me with no real point - I don't understand what the author was trying to achieve in writing the book. The largest part on one particular subject is the Fred & Rose West murders but if you want to read about this subject properly I would recommend the Gordon Burn book 'Happy like Murderers'.
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This is a brave book in an original voice. O'Hagan travels deep into the lost places of our dystopia, searching for the many who no longer belong. Makes me think of the opening lines of Dante's Inferno: "Midway through the journey of our life, I found myself in a dark wood, where the right path was wholly lost and gone." Only here O'Hagan's guides are grieving parents, disappeared kids, forgotten elders, drugged out runaways, and his own burdened conscience. This isn't a call to action, it's a deeply personal meditation, and a dirge.
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Very well done. I loved the way it was both a journalistic investigation into missing persons as well as a personal exploration of why they matter to the author. I liked the shifts in time and place, and the real sense that we are learning and engaging more with the subject just as O'Hagan does. I liked too the slight overlaps with the talk of Glasgow buildings he dealt with in 'Our Fathers' - it reinforced the sense of his honesty and authenticity as a writer.
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This is probably the best book by O'Hagan.
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interesting, disturbing, well written and incredibly overlooked here in the states
