Melbourne author Jeff Sparrow’s latest book takes him a long way from his previous ‘radical’ histories. After becoming fascinated by the mummified head of a Turkish solder in World War I, discovered in a country town recently, Sparrow embarks on a quest to find out how hard it is for humans to kill. Being fascinated, for better or worse, by the reality of genocide, I tackled Killing: Misadventures in Violence with a sense of anticipation. I was not let down.
Sparrow is a fine stylist, with a sure sense of pacing, eloquence to spare, and a self-deprecating voice that suits Killing perfectly. Moving along a continuum, he becomes a roo shooter’s assistant for a day, then tours an abattoir, before turning to the killing of humans. How does a human being come at the task of killing others and what is the impact later? Skilfully meshing research reading into investigative journalism, Sparrow interviews executioners, death row wardens, experts on killing, Iraqi vets, and others, all the time plagued by nightmares and uncertain of his assignment. His insights into the industrialization and hiding of killing, into post-killing psychic damage, into human psychology, are hard won and tentative, but it was the journey that taught me most. I didn’t come away from this profound book with any new magical ‘recipes’ to reduce violence and prevent genocide, but I was most moved by the horrible depths Jeff Sparrow went to to illuminate the darkest of subjects. As he puts it in the middle of Killing: ‘When you stared into the abyss, sometimes the abyss stared back at you.’