What a Way to Go: The Guillotine, the Pendulum, the Thousand Cuts, the Spanish Donkey, and 66 Other Ways of Putting Someone to Death
by Geoffrey Abbott
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Book Summary Information
Author: Geoffrey AbbottEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2007-04-17
ISBN: 0312366566
Number of pages: 352
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Book Reviews of What a Way to Go: The Guillotine, the Pendulum, the Thousand Cuts, the Spanish Donkey, and 66 Other Ways of Putting Someone to Death
Book Review: Hideous, stomach churning, and very good.
Summary: 4 Stars
Geoffrey Abbott points out that there is no limit to Man's fiendish imagination, and his point is proven in this collection of horrible executions. It must have been an exhausting process for him to write this book. It is extremely thorough, extremely detailed, and impossible not to react to on physical and emotional levels while reading. His attempts at adding touches of humour here and there are appreciated, but do little to distract from the horrible tortures and deaths outlined in this book.
In gruesome detail, through eyewitness narratives and historical documents, there are plenty of horrific, nightmarish deaths here for anyone who is interested. A very thorough collection, including old favourites like the guillotine, broken on the wheel, gibbet and hung/drawn/quartered; newer ideas like the gas chamber and lethal injection; and then more "exotic" concepts: the brazen bull, the thousand cuts, the hideous 'scaphismus', fried to death, sawed in half... and this barely skims the surface. Oh, it's all here, and it is very well explained.
This being said, it's hardly a relaxing, bedtime read. It's very difficult not to project yourself into the different deaths, almost mentally weighing the pros and cons of which methods, should YOU have to face them, would be "preferable". It's hard not to pity the people who had to endure these tortures. It's hard not to wonder about the sanity of humanity in general back when public butchery was considered entertainment. It's hard not to feel very physically uncomfortable reading about these levels of physical suffering. At the same time it is absolutely fascinating.
Be prepared when you begin to read this book. Abbott doesn't dance around the subject, which is what makes this book great, but don't be surprised by it. If you read the chapter called "Twenty Four Cuts", you will be told very plainly which parts of the body are removed with each cut. As another reviewer mentioned - reading this book on the subway will definitely make you, or people who notice over your shoulder, uncomfortable. :)
A really good read, but be ready for it!
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