Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
No Sympathy Needed Here, 20 Jul 2007
Rachel North is a woman to feel sorry for. Three years after being the near-dead victim of a horrific rape, she found herself in a tube carriage, on 7th July 2005. The only thing which saved her from death was the crush of passengers between her and the suicide bomber a few feet away.
You would expect her story to make you cry, and feel immense pity.
I didn't. But I did find myself utterly gripped from the moment I started reading. I was carried along by this extraordinary woman's ability to tell a story, by wanting to know what would happen next - despite knowing most of it already.
And far from feeling pity I felt admiration, and was inspired. She has felt anger, of course she has. And despair, and fear, and sick dread. But she has never drawn the conclusion that Islam is to blame, and the last thing she wants is to fear her neighbours. And despite the pull of pessimism, she tries to focus on the people in the dark. Those fellow tube passengers who never even looked at each other until they faced that horror together and held each other's hands.
I consumed Out of the Tunnel eagerly, and what I got was an honest, touching and beautifully-written account, not just of suffering but of how to keep going and why, even if you have had your life threatened twice by random strangers, it's still worth trusting your fellow man.
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
Out of the Tunnel - A Review, 8 Jul 2007
This first book by Rachel North is excellent. I couldn't put it down and had to put other things on-hold until I had finished reading it and it's not often I can say that about a book. Rachel describes the horror and confusion of the London bombings of July 7 2005 in vivid detail. She also describes her struggle with the inevitable Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) that followed the bombings. Three years prior to being blown up on the London underground, Rachel had been viciously attacked, raped and left for dead in her home and this horrific episode is woven into the narrative. She was reading her own account of this assault in a magazine when her carriage exploded.
In fact I found the description of that brutal attack one of the most moving parts of the book and I was wincing as every blow was recounted. Much of the book though is about Rachel's coming to terms with both of these traumatic events and the title, Out of the Tunnel, is very apt. As the story progresses we see how these life-changing events transformed Rachel from helpless victim to strong campaigner and author. Rachel used the medium of blogging as part of her therapy and from this discovered and then honed her talent as a writer.
One of the things this book does well is highlight the problems of PTSD which are not well known. Rachel was fortunate enough not to suffer serious physical injury on July 7 (unlike 800 other survivors of that attack) but the survivor guilt and the flashbacks had a detrimental effect on her career, her personal life and general well-being. If the Out of the Tunnel helps people to better understand PTSD, then that alone is a valuable service.
This is a book I would recommend to anyone. Despite the awful experiences described, the overall message is positive. I was moved to the verge of tears on several occasions. Oddly, the times when I found my eyes welling up were when reading about the numerous acts of kindness from people either after the rape or in the aftermath of the bombings.
I urge people to read this book and I challenge anyone not to be moved by it.
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
A major talent: I hope she keeps writing, 25 Aug 2007
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