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One Day in My Life by Bobby Sands: Diary of an Irish Republican Hunger Striker
Bobby Sands was 27 years old when he died. He spent almost nine years of his life in prison because of his Irish republican activities. He died, in prison, on 5 May 1981, on the sixty-sixth day of his hunger strike at Long Kesh Prison, outside Belfast. This book documents a day in the life of Bobby Sands. It is a tale of human bravery, endurance and courage against a backdrop of suffering, terror and harassment.
118 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1983
37 people are currently reading
1076 people want to read
About the author
Bobby Sands
12 books38 followersRobert Gerard Sands (Irish: Roibeárd Gearóid Ó Seachnasaigh, commonly known as Bobby Sands; (9 March 1954 – 5 May 1981) was an Irish volunteer of the Provisional Irish Republican Army and member of the United Kingdom Parliament who died on hunger strike while in HM Prison Maze.
He was the leader of the 1981 hunger strike in which Irish republican prisoners protested against the removal of Special Category Status. During his strike he was elected as a member of the United Kingdom Parliament as an Anti H-Block/Armagh Political Prisoner candidate. His death resulted in a new surge of IRA recruitment and activity. International media coverage brought attention to the hunger strikers, and the Republican movement in general, attracting both praise and criticism.
He was the leader of the 1981 hunger strike in which Irish republican prisoners protested against the removal of Special Category Status. During his strike he was elected as a member of the United Kingdom Parliament as an Anti H-Block/Armagh Political Prisoner candidate. His death resulted in a new surge of IRA recruitment and activity. International media coverage brought attention to the hunger strikers, and the Republican movement in general, attracting both praise and criticism.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 80 reviews
February 28, 2014
The book isn't remarkably artful. That's not its purpose. The daily routine in Long Kesh was brutal, and we know now that horrible things were done to prisoners and civilians during the Troubles. For a very long time, many people couldn't believe that such things could be true of British authorities. The density of hardship in Sands' Day is grueling, and the structure of his narrative is solid. We understand that this day is every day. The book is an excellent companion to Steve McQueen's movie Hunger, but Sands' book gives important details about hunger in the time before the strikes and about the comradeship of people who were isolated in their cells but managed to share news, tobacco, language, and music. The sturdy determination of the prisoners against the relentless miseries perpetrated by their jailers is a microcosm for the larger and longer struggle.
July 7, 2009
Very gritty account of just one day in the Long Kesh Prison. As I was reading this book I found myself shocked by how barbaric the prison wardens were, recalling images that seemed more befitting of a Nazi concentration camp than a British-run prison. Ironically, Bobby Sands had the same thought, as he expressed towards the end of the book: “It reminded me of a clip of film I once saw, when I was young, of a Nazi concentration camp in winter and I remember, although young, feeling shocked but also secure in my place by the fire, thinking that that type of place was a horror of the past and could not nor ever would be allowed or tolerated again, least of all in Ireland and never upon me.”
The impression this book made on me was how institutionalized evil can exist everywhere, even among “civilized” populations, people "just like us".
The impression this book made on me was how institutionalized evil can exist everywhere, even among “civilized” populations, people "just like us".
October 15, 2024
Ο Μπόμπυ Σαντς, μαζί με άλλους εννιά συντρόφους του, πέθαναν το 1981 από απεργία πείνας στις φυλακές του Λονγκ Κες της Βόρειας Ιρλανδίας. Η απεργία πείνας ήταν η συνέχεια και η κλιμάκωση της διαμαρτυρίας τους που ξεκίνησε από το να μην δεχτούν να φορέσουν την στολή της φυλακής. Αίτημά τους ήταν να υπάρξει ο στοιχειώδης σεβασμός των ανθρωπίνων δικαιωμάτων στις φυλακές του αγγλικού κράτους σε σχέση με τους ιρλανδούς πολιτικούς κρατούμενους. Ο Σαντς στο ημερολόγιό του αναφέρει όλη αυτήν την κτηνώδη συμπεριφορά των αγγλικών αρχών ως προς εκατοντάδες ιρλανδούς -άντρες και γυναίκες, συμπεριφορά για την οποία κανείς δεν απόρησε όταν συνέβαιναν στην Ελλάδα επί δικτατορίας, αλλά που συνέβησαν στην Αγγλία της Θάτσερ και πιο πριν των Εργατικών, δηλαδή σε μια τυπικά δημοκρατική χώρα. Οι περιγραφές του είναι συγκλονιστικές, η παρουσιάση των συναισθημάτων του με ειλικρίνια, η τραγωδία να ζεις ολόγυμνος με μια κουβέρτα, μέσα σε ένα κελί με περιττώματα και ούρα, υπό φοβερό ψύχος και συνεχείς ξυλοδαρμούς και ξεφτιλιστικές συμπεριφορές από την μεριά των δεσμοφυλάκων, είναι πολύ βαριά για τον δέκτη της αφήγησής του. Η υπόθεση των συνθηκών διαβίωσης των κρατουμένων ανά τη Βόρεια Ιρλανδία έφτασε στην επιτροπή ανθρωπίνων δικαιωμάτων της ΕΟΚ και στην Κομισιόν, οι οποίες έβγαλαν πόρισμα ότι δεν υπάρχει κάποια τραγική παραβίαση.
Η ιταλική έκδοση περιλαμβάνει μια εισαγωγή στην ιστορία των Ταραχών (The Troubles) της δεκαετίας του '70 στη Βόρειο Ιρλανδία και στους αγώνες των πολιτικών κρατουμένων, το ημερολόγιο του Μπόμπυ Σαντς στη φυλακή και το ημερολόγιο της απεργίας πείνας (όσο άντεξε να γράφει) και κλείνει με ένα χρονικό και λεπτομερείς παραπομπές-σημειώσεις.
Η ιταλική έκδοση περιλαμβάνει μια εισαγωγή στην ιστορία των Ταραχών (The Troubles) της δεκαετίας του '70 στη Βόρειο Ιρλανδία και στους αγώνες των πολιτικών κρατουμένων, το ημερολόγιο του Μπόμπυ Σαντς στη φυλακή και το ημερολόγιο της απεργίας πείνας (όσο άντεξε να γράφει) και κλείνει με ένα χρονικό και λεπτομερείς παραπομπές-σημειώσεις.
April 14, 2010
I find all of Bobby Sands' writings beautifully written, evocative, intelligent yet for the people. Such a pure dead brilliant man, essentially self-taught, his gifts came naturally.
If we have the courage and the open mind to truly delve into his work, we can see the pain, the passion, the belief, the love of his country and her people.
The daily life of these men was unimaginably grotesque. Beatings, worse forms of torture, living in tiny cells often with windows boarded up and ineffective air ventilation amongst the remnants of rotting food, human waste, unwashed, unclothed, foam mattresses soaked in the squalor.
What strength to endure this. Freezing in the winter, swelterng in summer, the overwhelming stench. Not just for days, weeks or months, but for years on end they lived this way.
And this beautiful soul in a cruel, repressive world, expressed his heart and soul on tiny bits of toilet or ciagrette paper with a pen refill all of which had to be well hidden and smuggled out or in.
His are words to be cherished as remarkable and as there will be no more.
If we have the courage and the open mind to truly delve into his work, we can see the pain, the passion, the belief, the love of his country and her people.
The daily life of these men was unimaginably grotesque. Beatings, worse forms of torture, living in tiny cells often with windows boarded up and ineffective air ventilation amongst the remnants of rotting food, human waste, unwashed, unclothed, foam mattresses soaked in the squalor.
What strength to endure this. Freezing in the winter, swelterng in summer, the overwhelming stench. Not just for days, weeks or months, but for years on end they lived this way.
And this beautiful soul in a cruel, repressive world, expressed his heart and soul on tiny bits of toilet or ciagrette paper with a pen refill all of which had to be well hidden and smuggled out or in.
His are words to be cherished as remarkable and as there will be no more.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 27, 2019
★★★☆☆ 3.5 stars
December 1, 2019
"Ο πόνος βρίσκονταν παντού. Αυτό είναι πάντα το αποτέλεσμα των βρομερών κολασμένων μπουντρουμιών -σπαραγμός και θλίψη."
"Ήμουν σκελετός συγκρινόμενος με το πώς ήμουν πριν, αλλά δεν πειράζει. Τίποτα δεν πειράζει στην πραγματικότητα, παρά μόνο να μην λυγίσουμε."
"Ήμουν σκελετός συγκρινόμενος με το πώς ήμουν πριν, αλλά δεν πειράζει. Τίποτα δεν πειράζει στην πραγματικότητα, παρά μόνο να μην λυγίσουμε."
May 16, 2012
Finished reading this a few weeks ago, extremely topical in the midst of thousands of prisoners who just came off hunger strike in Palestine and in the era of thousands of prisoners in the belly of the beast of U.S. imperialism who have been on hunger strike periodically over the last year or so. I must mention and honor Christian Gomez, a prisoner in California who died while on hunger strike in California in February. Of course there are significant differences between the national liberation struggle in Ireland in the late 1970s/early 1980s and mass incarceration in the U.S.A. in 2012, but the story of Bobby Sands is extremely relevant to the current state of affairs under the domination of capitalism-imperialism throughout the world. There are particularities to the differences between the conditions and policies of British colonialism and imperialism captured in Bobby Sands writings, inscribed on toilet paper in Long Kesh prison, and the unprecedented racist system of mass incarceration in the United States, wherein five times the number of Black men are imprisoned in contemporary American than were incarcerated under Apartheid in South Africa. But the story of the conditions that these men faced in Long Kesh, the daily and routine brutality and inhumanity faced by the historically unrivaled gulag of mass incarceration in the United States, unfortunately are common features of the carceral state of late modern capitalism-imperialism. And the similarities to the conditions in Palestine are even more striking. I apologize for the limitations of my analysis, but the biographical experience of Bobby Sands in the Long Kesh concentration camp should be required reading for any human being, and should be an inspiration to determined struggle against this capitalist-imperialist system and for the liberation of all humanity.
November 28, 2022
Bobby Sands is revealed as a true and exemplary revolutionary: poet, songwriter, lover of his family, dedicated to Socialism, sense of humor, passionate admirer of James Connolly.
Purchased at the Sinn Fein Bookstore in Belfast, it is a quick read at only 48 pages.
Purchased at the Sinn Fein Bookstore in Belfast, it is a quick read at only 48 pages.
January 8, 2022
Ah giusto dimenticavo: Tiocfaidh ár lá e odio profondamente Margaret Thatcher
January 6, 2016
H Block, non lontano da Belfast.
Il 5 maggio 1981 Bobby Sands muore a soli 27 anni (di cui 14 trascorsi in carcere) dopo quasi 70 giorni di sciopero della fame.
Il motivo della sua protesta era l'abolizione della cosiddetta "categoria speciale", categoria che in passato era stata riservata anche ai prigionieri politici e a tutti coloro che, come lui e i suoi compagni di reclusione, si erano battuti a favore dell'indipendenza irlandese.
Abolendo questa categoria, era stato denigrato a semplice prigioniero, additato come un criminale qualunque. E invece Sands era un freedom figther. Uno dei tanti Irlandesi morti sognando un'Irlanda libera ed indipendente, un futuro in cui non hanno mai smesso di sperare.
Questo libro raccoglie le sue memorie del periodo trascorso in carcere: racconta le angherie subite dai secondini e i periodi di sciopero ("No-wash protest" e "Blanket protest"), racconta le loro reazioni (come i colloqui e le lezioni di Gaelico per non farsi capire dalle guardie carcerarie) e riunisce una serie di poesie scritte dallo stesso Sands.
Un libro crudo, a tratti, proprio perché reale, che fa riflettere e meravigliarsi della crudeltà degli uomini.
Il motto di Bobby Sands e degli altri Hunger strikers?
Tiocfaidh ár lá
Il nostro giorno verrà
Il 5 maggio 1981 Bobby Sands muore a soli 27 anni (di cui 14 trascorsi in carcere) dopo quasi 70 giorni di sciopero della fame.
Il motivo della sua protesta era l'abolizione della cosiddetta "categoria speciale", categoria che in passato era stata riservata anche ai prigionieri politici e a tutti coloro che, come lui e i suoi compagni di reclusione, si erano battuti a favore dell'indipendenza irlandese.
Abolendo questa categoria, era stato denigrato a semplice prigioniero, additato come un criminale qualunque. E invece Sands era un freedom figther. Uno dei tanti Irlandesi morti sognando un'Irlanda libera ed indipendente, un futuro in cui non hanno mai smesso di sperare.
Questo libro raccoglie le sue memorie del periodo trascorso in carcere: racconta le angherie subite dai secondini e i periodi di sciopero ("No-wash protest" e "Blanket protest"), racconta le loro reazioni (come i colloqui e le lezioni di Gaelico per non farsi capire dalle guardie carcerarie) e riunisce una serie di poesie scritte dallo stesso Sands.
Un libro crudo, a tratti, proprio perché reale, che fa riflettere e meravigliarsi della crudeltà degli uomini.
Il motto di Bobby Sands e degli altri Hunger strikers?
Tiocfaidh ár lá
Il nostro giorno verrà
November 3, 2012
Ore 13:30 sala mensa: uno dei luoghi in assoluto meno adatti alla lettura.
Sedie che si spostano, colpi sul pavimento, odori che distraggono, parole che coinvolgono, forchette che tintinnano; un rumore continuo che non lascia pace.
Eppure basta leggere le prime poche righe del racconto in prima persona di Bobby Sands per avere una sensazione strana.
E’ come se una mano invisibile avesse girato una manopola e abbassato il volume della stanza.
Il silenzio dell’allodola è un film italiano del 2005 che cerca di rendere un’idea delle condizioni a cui venivano sottoposti i prigionieri irlandesi nelle prigioni inglesi.
Ci riesce tutto sommato abbastanza bene, ma non si sofferma quasi per nulla sugli aspetti esterni della cosa, né tantomeno riesce a trasmettere le sensazioni e le difficoltà psicologiche dei carcerati.
Nel libro Un giorno della mia vita, invece, avviene esattamente questo, perciò andrebbe letto subito dopo aver visto il film, in maniera tale da riuscire a ben immedesimarsi sia negli aspetti psicologici (fonte libro) che in quelli pratici delle condizioni delle celle e dei trattamenti (fonte film).
La metafora con l’allodola che dà il nome al film è ben spiegata all’inizio del secondo capitolo:
Una volta mio nonno mi disse che imprigionare un’allodola è uno dei crimini più crudeli perché l’allodola è tra i simboli più alti di libertà e felicità.
Sovente parlava dello spirito dell’allodola riferendosi alla storia di un uomo che aveva rinchiuso uno dei suoi tanti amati amici in una piccola gabbia.
L’allodola, soffrendo per la perdita della sua libertà, non cantava più a squarciagola, né aveva più nulla di cui essere felice. L’uomo che aveva compiuto tale atrocità, così come la definiva mio nonno, esigeva che l’allodola facesse ciò che lui desiderava: cioè cantare più forte che poteva, obbedire alla sua volontà, cambiare la sua natura per soddisfare il suo piacere e vantaggio.
L’allodola si rifiutò.
L’uomo allora si arrabbiò e diventò violento. Cominciò a far pressioni sull’allodola affinché cantasse, ma inevitabilmente non ottenne alcun risultato.
Così ricorse a mezzi più drastici.
Coprì la gabbia con un telo nero privando l’uccello della luce del sole. Le fece patire la fame e la lasciò marcire in una sporca gabbia, eppure lei si rifiutò ancora di obbedirgli,
Alla fine l’uomo la uccise.
Come giustamente diceva mio nonno, l’allodola possedeva uno spirito: lo spirito di libertà e di resistenza. Desiderava ardentemente essere libera e morì prima di essere costretta ad adeguarsi alla volontà del tiranno che aveva cercato di cambiarla con la tortura e la segregazione.
Io sento di avere qualcosa in comune con quell’uccello, con la sua tortura, la sua prigionia e la morte a cui alla fine andò incontro.
…
Ora mi trovo nel Blocco H dove mi rifiuto di cambiare per adeguarmi a coloro che mi opprimono, mi torturano, mi tengono prigioniero e vogliono disumanizzarmi.
Al pari dell’allodola non ho alcun bisogno di cambiare.
E’ la mia ideologia politica e i miei principi che i miei carcerieri vogliono mutare. Hanno distrutto il mio corpo e attentato alla mia dignità.
Se fossi un prigioniero comune mi presterebbero pochissima o nessuna attenzione, ben sapendo che mi conformerei ai loro capricci istituzionali.
Ho perso oltre due anni di condono. Non me ne importa nulla.
Sono stato privato dei miei vestiti e rinchiuso in una cella fetida e vuota dove mi hanno fatto patire la fame, picchiato e torturato.
Come l’allodola anch’io ho paura che alla fine possano uccidermi. Ma, oso dirlo, allo stesso modo della mia piccola amica possiedo lo spirito di libertà che non può essere soppresso neppure con il più orrendo dei maltrattamenti.
Certamente posso essere ucciso, ma fintantoché rimango vivo, resto quello che sono, un prigioniero politico di guerra e nessuno può cambiare questo.
Questo il sentimento e la convinzione di Bobby Sands in una delle sue lettere firmate con pseudonimo “Marcella”, stesso nome della sorella, nel 1979.
Ora il mio pensiero è questo: non è importante leggere questo libro perché si debba essere d’accordo con le idee e i principi di Bobby Sands e perché sia importante che l’Irlanda, Ulster compreso, abbia una vera e definitiva indipendenza, niente di tutto ciò.
La vera importanza sta nel fatto che questo libro e questa storia si intrecciano inevitabilmente con altre completamente diverse come contesto, ma decisamente simili come contenuti, vale a dire I racconti della Kolyma di Shalamov, i libri di Primo Levi oppure qualsiasi testo parli di oppressioni da parte di uni su altri.
In questi tempi difficili sempre più spesso capita di sentire affermazioni pesanti nei confronti di qualche categoria o di qualche etnia diversa dalla nostra, generalizzando in questo modo le responsabilità e fornendo magari un alibi psicologico per aderire a movimenti estremisti senza considerarli tali.
Invece la responsabilità è sempre individuale e ciascuno dovrebbe rispondere personalmente di quello che fa senza potersi coprire dietro ideologie o altre forme di alibi che possano farlo sentire come un semplice ed innocente esecutore di ordini.
Detto questo, per entrare nel merito della questione e cercare di capirne qualcosa di più sulla problematica irlandese, consiglio anche questa volta, come già in passato alcune letture e visioni da fare in quest’ordine:
1 – libro Storia dell’Irlanda – Robert Kee (Bompiani 1995)
2 – film Il vento che accarezza l’erba – Ken Loach 2006 (Palma d’Oro Cannes)
3 – libro Una stella di nome Henry – Roddy Doyle (Guanda 2010)
4 – film Michael Collins – Neil Jordan 1996 (Leone d’Oro Venezia)
5 – film Il silenzio dell’allodola – David Ballerini 2005
6 – libro Un giorno della mia vita – Bobby Sands (Feltrinelli 1996)
7 – film The Hunger – Steve McQueen 2008 (Camera d’Oro Cannes)
Tempo di lettura: 6h 05m
http://ferdori.wordpress.com
Sedie che si spostano, colpi sul pavimento, odori che distraggono, parole che coinvolgono, forchette che tintinnano; un rumore continuo che non lascia pace.
Eppure basta leggere le prime poche righe del racconto in prima persona di Bobby Sands per avere una sensazione strana.
E’ come se una mano invisibile avesse girato una manopola e abbassato il volume della stanza.
Il silenzio dell’allodola è un film italiano del 2005 che cerca di rendere un’idea delle condizioni a cui venivano sottoposti i prigionieri irlandesi nelle prigioni inglesi.
Ci riesce tutto sommato abbastanza bene, ma non si sofferma quasi per nulla sugli aspetti esterni della cosa, né tantomeno riesce a trasmettere le sensazioni e le difficoltà psicologiche dei carcerati.
Nel libro Un giorno della mia vita, invece, avviene esattamente questo, perciò andrebbe letto subito dopo aver visto il film, in maniera tale da riuscire a ben immedesimarsi sia negli aspetti psicologici (fonte libro) che in quelli pratici delle condizioni delle celle e dei trattamenti (fonte film).
La metafora con l’allodola che dà il nome al film è ben spiegata all’inizio del secondo capitolo:
Una volta mio nonno mi disse che imprigionare un’allodola è uno dei crimini più crudeli perché l’allodola è tra i simboli più alti di libertà e felicità.
Sovente parlava dello spirito dell’allodola riferendosi alla storia di un uomo che aveva rinchiuso uno dei suoi tanti amati amici in una piccola gabbia.
L’allodola, soffrendo per la perdita della sua libertà, non cantava più a squarciagola, né aveva più nulla di cui essere felice. L’uomo che aveva compiuto tale atrocità, così come la definiva mio nonno, esigeva che l’allodola facesse ciò che lui desiderava: cioè cantare più forte che poteva, obbedire alla sua volontà, cambiare la sua natura per soddisfare il suo piacere e vantaggio.
L’allodola si rifiutò.
L’uomo allora si arrabbiò e diventò violento. Cominciò a far pressioni sull’allodola affinché cantasse, ma inevitabilmente non ottenne alcun risultato.
Così ricorse a mezzi più drastici.
Coprì la gabbia con un telo nero privando l’uccello della luce del sole. Le fece patire la fame e la lasciò marcire in una sporca gabbia, eppure lei si rifiutò ancora di obbedirgli,
Alla fine l’uomo la uccise.
Come giustamente diceva mio nonno, l’allodola possedeva uno spirito: lo spirito di libertà e di resistenza. Desiderava ardentemente essere libera e morì prima di essere costretta ad adeguarsi alla volontà del tiranno che aveva cercato di cambiarla con la tortura e la segregazione.
Io sento di avere qualcosa in comune con quell’uccello, con la sua tortura, la sua prigionia e la morte a cui alla fine andò incontro.
…
Ora mi trovo nel Blocco H dove mi rifiuto di cambiare per adeguarmi a coloro che mi opprimono, mi torturano, mi tengono prigioniero e vogliono disumanizzarmi.
Al pari dell’allodola non ho alcun bisogno di cambiare.
E’ la mia ideologia politica e i miei principi che i miei carcerieri vogliono mutare. Hanno distrutto il mio corpo e attentato alla mia dignità.
Se fossi un prigioniero comune mi presterebbero pochissima o nessuna attenzione, ben sapendo che mi conformerei ai loro capricci istituzionali.
Ho perso oltre due anni di condono. Non me ne importa nulla.
Sono stato privato dei miei vestiti e rinchiuso in una cella fetida e vuota dove mi hanno fatto patire la fame, picchiato e torturato.
Come l’allodola anch’io ho paura che alla fine possano uccidermi. Ma, oso dirlo, allo stesso modo della mia piccola amica possiedo lo spirito di libertà che non può essere soppresso neppure con il più orrendo dei maltrattamenti.
Certamente posso essere ucciso, ma fintantoché rimango vivo, resto quello che sono, un prigioniero politico di guerra e nessuno può cambiare questo.
Questo il sentimento e la convinzione di Bobby Sands in una delle sue lettere firmate con pseudonimo “Marcella”, stesso nome della sorella, nel 1979.
Ora il mio pensiero è questo: non è importante leggere questo libro perché si debba essere d’accordo con le idee e i principi di Bobby Sands e perché sia importante che l’Irlanda, Ulster compreso, abbia una vera e definitiva indipendenza, niente di tutto ciò.
La vera importanza sta nel fatto che questo libro e questa storia si intrecciano inevitabilmente con altre completamente diverse come contesto, ma decisamente simili come contenuti, vale a dire I racconti della Kolyma di Shalamov, i libri di Primo Levi oppure qualsiasi testo parli di oppressioni da parte di uni su altri.
In questi tempi difficili sempre più spesso capita di sentire affermazioni pesanti nei confronti di qualche categoria o di qualche etnia diversa dalla nostra, generalizzando in questo modo le responsabilità e fornendo magari un alibi psicologico per aderire a movimenti estremisti senza considerarli tali.
Invece la responsabilità è sempre individuale e ciascuno dovrebbe rispondere personalmente di quello che fa senza potersi coprire dietro ideologie o altre forme di alibi che possano farlo sentire come un semplice ed innocente esecutore di ordini.
Detto questo, per entrare nel merito della questione e cercare di capirne qualcosa di più sulla problematica irlandese, consiglio anche questa volta, come già in passato alcune letture e visioni da fare in quest’ordine:
1 – libro Storia dell’Irlanda – Robert Kee (Bompiani 1995)
2 – film Il vento che accarezza l’erba – Ken Loach 2006 (Palma d’Oro Cannes)
3 – libro Una stella di nome Henry – Roddy Doyle (Guanda 2010)
4 – film Michael Collins – Neil Jordan 1996 (Leone d’Oro Venezia)
5 – film Il silenzio dell’allodola – David Ballerini 2005
6 – libro Un giorno della mia vita – Bobby Sands (Feltrinelli 1996)
7 – film The Hunger – Steve McQueen 2008 (Camera d’Oro Cannes)
Tempo di lettura: 6h 05m
http://ferdori.wordpress.com
May 24, 2023
Harrowing
January 13, 2014
Questo libro può suscitare una gamma di emozioni che va dalla rabbia, al senso di impotenza al sentimento di fratellanza verso un popolo oppresso.
Bobby, esponente dell’IRA, viene arrestato nel 1976 e condannato a 14 anni di carcere nonostante non ci siano prove. Trascorre gli ultimi anni della sua vita nel blocco H del carcere di Long Kesh e in questo diario, redatto su carta igienica con un refil, descrive le raccapriccianti pratiche a cui è sottoposto in quanto prigioniero irlandese: perquisizioni anali, botte, brutalità di vari tipi da parte dei secondini. A tutto questo si unisce la protesta dei prigionieri irlandesi (blanket protest) per il mancato riconoscimento dello status di prigionieri politici oltre che per le durissime condizioni carcerarie.
Malgrado queste poche pagine vengano scritte in una cella puzzolente, con i vetri rotti e i muri coperti di escrementi, ne viene fuori il ritratto di un grande uomo che si sta battendo per un ideale di giustizia che gli urge dentro. Malgrado stremato dalle percosse, dalla lontananza dei suoi cari e dalle orribili condizioni di vita (serve un certo stomaco per leggere questo libro), Bobby è un amico, un fratello, per gli altri carcerati irlandesi come lui, cerca di essere compagnia per tutti loro (pur essendo in isolamento): condivide sigarette, recita con tutti il rosario in gaelico, tiene lezioni in lingua irlandese e canta canzoni che lui stesso compone per tenere alto il morale. Mosso da questo grande ideale, Bobby decide consapevolmente di iniziare lo sciopero della fame che, già sa, lo porterà alla morte come era già successo ai suoi amici hunger strikers,. L’unica tristezza: aver spezzato il cuore della sua povera madre che non vuole che il figlio si sacrifichi per la causa nazionale. Eppure, dentro una situazione che schiaccerebbe tutti, Bobby è libero: “Se non riescono a distruggere il desiderio di libertà non possono stroncarti. Non mi stroncheranno perché il desiderio di libertà e la libertà del popolo irlandese sono nel mio cuore. Verrà il giorno in cui tutto il popolo irlandese avrà il desiderio di libertà. Sarà allora che vedremo sorgere la luna”.
Tiocfaidh ar là, Bobby.
Bobby, esponente dell’IRA, viene arrestato nel 1976 e condannato a 14 anni di carcere nonostante non ci siano prove. Trascorre gli ultimi anni della sua vita nel blocco H del carcere di Long Kesh e in questo diario, redatto su carta igienica con un refil, descrive le raccapriccianti pratiche a cui è sottoposto in quanto prigioniero irlandese: perquisizioni anali, botte, brutalità di vari tipi da parte dei secondini. A tutto questo si unisce la protesta dei prigionieri irlandesi (blanket protest) per il mancato riconoscimento dello status di prigionieri politici oltre che per le durissime condizioni carcerarie.
Malgrado queste poche pagine vengano scritte in una cella puzzolente, con i vetri rotti e i muri coperti di escrementi, ne viene fuori il ritratto di un grande uomo che si sta battendo per un ideale di giustizia che gli urge dentro. Malgrado stremato dalle percosse, dalla lontananza dei suoi cari e dalle orribili condizioni di vita (serve un certo stomaco per leggere questo libro), Bobby è un amico, un fratello, per gli altri carcerati irlandesi come lui, cerca di essere compagnia per tutti loro (pur essendo in isolamento): condivide sigarette, recita con tutti il rosario in gaelico, tiene lezioni in lingua irlandese e canta canzoni che lui stesso compone per tenere alto il morale. Mosso da questo grande ideale, Bobby decide consapevolmente di iniziare lo sciopero della fame che, già sa, lo porterà alla morte come era già successo ai suoi amici hunger strikers,. L’unica tristezza: aver spezzato il cuore della sua povera madre che non vuole che il figlio si sacrifichi per la causa nazionale. Eppure, dentro una situazione che schiaccerebbe tutti, Bobby è libero: “Se non riescono a distruggere il desiderio di libertà non possono stroncarti. Non mi stroncheranno perché il desiderio di libertà e la libertà del popolo irlandese sono nel mio cuore. Verrà il giorno in cui tutto il popolo irlandese avrà il desiderio di libertà. Sarà allora che vedremo sorgere la luna”.
Tiocfaidh ar là, Bobby.
August 18, 2017
Have you ever read a memoir- a true account of a person's experiences and fervently wished that it was fiction. You pray that somehow..anyhow...at the end of it you would discover that it is a 'story' an artistic indulgence...a work of imagination. This much needed solace is denied to you in works such as One Day in My Life by Bobby Sands. It is raw, brutal, and heartbreakingly real. And it is poignantly simple: A human being just like us, in a world just like ours, had to undergo an experience that we cannot imagine, leave alone attempting to endure. For his pain, his fear and his struggle defies the mortal range.
Bobby Sands weaves this tale with an aching sincerity- there is no self-pity, no rancour. There are just moments of downright vulnerability interceding moments of sheer heroism. You squirm, you wince, you skip some parts and read the others with dread. Page after page unfolds a horror that overshadows the previous ones- and you find yourself wishing that this day of his ENDS because that is just enough for any man to take in a day! It was a relief when I got to the last pages of his memoir-and found myself wanting some fresh air ! And then it struck- I found READING about one day of his life so difficult- a man LIVED this tale- EACH day.
Bobby Sands weaves this tale with an aching sincerity- there is no self-pity, no rancour. There are just moments of downright vulnerability interceding moments of sheer heroism. You squirm, you wince, you skip some parts and read the others with dread. Page after page unfolds a horror that overshadows the previous ones- and you find yourself wishing that this day of his ENDS because that is just enough for any man to take in a day! It was a relief when I got to the last pages of his memoir-and found myself wanting some fresh air ! And then it struck- I found READING about one day of his life so difficult- a man LIVED this tale- EACH day.
August 2, 2025
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FROM BOOK: The Passenger #17 Irlanda (William Atkins, Ursula Barry, Sara Baume, Mark Devenport, Catherine Dunne, Brendan Fanning, Keiran Goddard, Caelainn Hogan, Manchán Magan, Colum McCann, Lyra Mckee, Mark O'Connell, Lisa McInerney, Mirko Zilahy)
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WANT TO READ BOOK:
- Il prezzo dell'innocenza (Gerry Conlon)
- Anni Rubati (Paul Hill)
FROM BOOK: The Passenger #17 Irlanda (William Atkins, Ursula Barry, Sara Baume, Mark Devenport, Catherine Dunne, Brendan Fanning, Keiran Goddard, Caelainn Hogan, Manchán Magan, Colum McCann, Lyra Mckee, Mark O'Connell, Lisa McInerney, Mirko Zilahy)
___________________________________
WANT TO READ BOOK:
- Il prezzo dell'innocenza (Gerry Conlon)
- Anni Rubati (Paul Hill)
June 16, 2015
Bobby Sands, heroic man Of real integrity
The story is an all engrossing example of human bravery. It seems nearly unfathomable that human beings are capable of such horrible torture....... but, in the end, it is a true story of heroism. Proof that men are made in the image of God, and that some fall far from that image. Bobby Sands was a revolutionary, paving the way for the freedom of his Countrymen with not only his life, but also sacrificing even his humanity while somehow holding his dignity .
The story is an all engrossing example of human bravery. It seems nearly unfathomable that human beings are capable of such horrible torture....... but, in the end, it is a true story of heroism. Proof that men are made in the image of God, and that some fall far from that image. Bobby Sands was a revolutionary, paving the way for the freedom of his Countrymen with not only his life, but also sacrificing even his humanity while somehow holding his dignity .
February 26, 2014
A great insight into the life of isolation and determination that Bobby indured while on hunger strike, his poetry is a must read for anyone.
January 13, 2025
Every time I feel down I think of Armagh, and James Connolly. They can never take those thoughts away from me
August 26, 2020
3.5 This man at 27 was already in prison for fighting for the freedom of his country; I'm 29 and what am I even doing!?
This book should be read by everyone just to have an idea of how prisoners were treated when Ireland was fighting for its independence, war prisoner in particular. It was heart-breaking because no human being should be treated like that and I'm sure in prisons nowadays also there are those kinds of tortures. And the powers that cops were given in those circumstances, to arrest, to not trial people, anything bad you can think of...absolutely disgusting.
The second part of the book is an excursus of the most meaningful happenings in Ireland reguarding inmates, from '71 to '81 and it's useful to contextualize Bobby Sands' diary. The diary itself is pretty short, I thought there was going to be more.
This book should be read by everyone just to have an idea of how prisoners were treated when Ireland was fighting for its independence, war prisoner in particular. It was heart-breaking because no human being should be treated like that and I'm sure in prisons nowadays also there are those kinds of tortures. And the powers that cops were given in those circumstances, to arrest, to not trial people, anything bad you can think of...absolutely disgusting.
The second part of the book is an excursus of the most meaningful happenings in Ireland reguarding inmates, from '71 to '81 and it's useful to contextualize Bobby Sands' diary. The diary itself is pretty short, I thought there was going to be more.
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September 20, 2024My Irish professor recommended this to me after I shared poetry by Palestinian prisoner Nasser Al-Shawish, saying it resembled the writing of Bobby Sands. It's heartbreaking to reflect on how colonialism has brutalized people across the world—there's nothing more brutal than colonialism. The saddest part of this book, for me, was when Bobby's mother would say that, at least, his situation was better than those buried in Milltown Cemetery, only for him to end up being buried there himself.
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November 24, 2024Awful read, although it's only 100 pages long I found it never-ending and hard to believe it's about one day...
October 28, 2020
One of the most inspiring books I've ever read.
September 5, 2021
I have read “A Day in My Life” by Bobby Sands MP
This book is remarkable for many reasons. It is remarkable with how it was written. It was smuggled out of prison on cigarette papers and discovered years after the author’s death. The subject matter of the book is remarkable in that it describes the hell of living through a prison system designed to degrade and torture it’s prisoners. It’s author is unique in that he remains the only convicted terrorist in Britain to be elected as a Member of Parliament.
The subject matter of the book is very simply a description of a day in prison through the perspective of Bobby Sands. The main riff of this book is a series of degrading torture and debasement at the hands of the prison guards. The bass line is a steady rhythm of strong comradeship mixed with a relentless determination to outmanoeuvre and stand up to the guards and the system and stand up for one’s beliefs.
At the time of writing Bobby Sands was a Provisional IRA prisoner on the blanket and slop protest. The protestor prisoners were protesting against the British Government revoking their political prisoner status. To make a political point the British Government implemented a policy of “recriminalisation”, putting paramilitary prisoners into the same category as regular criminals, including forcing them to wear prison clothes. In protest at this the PIRA prisoners only wore blankets instead of prison clothes, leading the authorities to refuse to “slop” (take the contents of prisoner’s toilets out of the cells) the prisoner’s cells. In return the prisoners resorted to spreading their excrement on walls and pouring their urine under their prison doors into the main halls to spite the guards.
This book is harrowing from beginning to end. But the comradely spirit between the prisoners and their ingenuity in setting up language classes, look out cells and a system of passing items between cells despite one’s political views does make one feeling impressed.
But overall as a British citizen this book makes interesting reading, but not entirely comfortable reading. Especially when one considers that our country bred the oppressive society that Sands grew up in.
"They have nothing in their whole imperial arsenal that can break the spirit of one Irishman who doesn't want to be broken."
Bobby Sands MP
This book is remarkable for many reasons. It is remarkable with how it was written. It was smuggled out of prison on cigarette papers and discovered years after the author’s death. The subject matter of the book is remarkable in that it describes the hell of living through a prison system designed to degrade and torture it’s prisoners. It’s author is unique in that he remains the only convicted terrorist in Britain to be elected as a Member of Parliament.
The subject matter of the book is very simply a description of a day in prison through the perspective of Bobby Sands. The main riff of this book is a series of degrading torture and debasement at the hands of the prison guards. The bass line is a steady rhythm of strong comradeship mixed with a relentless determination to outmanoeuvre and stand up to the guards and the system and stand up for one’s beliefs.
At the time of writing Bobby Sands was a Provisional IRA prisoner on the blanket and slop protest. The protestor prisoners were protesting against the British Government revoking their political prisoner status. To make a political point the British Government implemented a policy of “recriminalisation”, putting paramilitary prisoners into the same category as regular criminals, including forcing them to wear prison clothes. In protest at this the PIRA prisoners only wore blankets instead of prison clothes, leading the authorities to refuse to “slop” (take the contents of prisoner’s toilets out of the cells) the prisoner’s cells. In return the prisoners resorted to spreading their excrement on walls and pouring their urine under their prison doors into the main halls to spite the guards.
This book is harrowing from beginning to end. But the comradely spirit between the prisoners and their ingenuity in setting up language classes, look out cells and a system of passing items between cells despite one’s political views does make one feeling impressed.
But overall as a British citizen this book makes interesting reading, but not entirely comfortable reading. Especially when one considers that our country bred the oppressive society that Sands grew up in.
"They have nothing in their whole imperial arsenal that can break the spirit of one Irishman who doesn't want to be broken."
Bobby Sands MP
February 4, 2016
Alabdalla1
Nooruddin Alabdalla
Waldorf – Hour 5
ELA 11
3 February 2016
Bobby Sands showcases poverty by describing what he has been through in prison. An example would be when Sands described his cell at night, “My three flimsy blankets were no match for the bitter, biting cold that came creeping through the bars of my window, situated above my head.”(25) the reader sees that while he was in prison he lacked many comforts. The reader sees that Bobby Sands is going through great struggles to survive in his cell. Another place where the reader sees the results of poverty is when Bobby is being beaten by the prison guards (28). When Bobby says, “Within a few seconds, in the midst of the white flashes, I fell to the floor as blows rained upon me from every conceivable angle,”(28), Bobby reveals how he has been through torture and struggle in prison with nobody there to help him survive. Another place where the reader sees struggle, is when bobby is in his prison cell disgusted from his surroundings in the beginning of the book. When Bobby says,” Piles of rubbish lay scattered about the cell and in the dimness dark, eerie figures screamed at me from the surrounding, dirty, mutilated walls.”(25) Bobby projects the struggle he and other people have to go through while they are being held in prison either for life sentence or just temporary. Bobby shows how prisons can be worse than living on the streets being homeless.
Nooruddin Alabdalla
Waldorf – Hour 5
ELA 11
3 February 2016
Bobby Sands showcases poverty by describing what he has been through in prison. An example would be when Sands described his cell at night, “My three flimsy blankets were no match for the bitter, biting cold that came creeping through the bars of my window, situated above my head.”(25) the reader sees that while he was in prison he lacked many comforts. The reader sees that Bobby Sands is going through great struggles to survive in his cell. Another place where the reader sees the results of poverty is when Bobby is being beaten by the prison guards (28). When Bobby says, “Within a few seconds, in the midst of the white flashes, I fell to the floor as blows rained upon me from every conceivable angle,”(28), Bobby reveals how he has been through torture and struggle in prison with nobody there to help him survive. Another place where the reader sees struggle, is when bobby is in his prison cell disgusted from his surroundings in the beginning of the book. When Bobby says,” Piles of rubbish lay scattered about the cell and in the dimness dark, eerie figures screamed at me from the surrounding, dirty, mutilated walls.”(25) Bobby projects the struggle he and other people have to go through while they are being held in prison either for life sentence or just temporary. Bobby shows how prisons can be worse than living on the streets being homeless.
May 22, 2020
(This is the same review I wrote on Amazon a few years ago)
Bobby Sands will forever remain an icon of human resistance and an inspirational figure of the power of self-belief.
'One Day in my Life' is an insightful account of suffering and determination. Its brutally frank, yet elegantly poignant, depiction of the horror Sands and his fellow freedom fighters endured for their cause is infinitely haunting ... but also incredibly uplifting.
And against all odds, the fact this book even exists at all is nothing short of a miracle.
An amazing read.
Bobby Sands will forever remain an icon of human resistance and an inspirational figure of the power of self-belief.
'One Day in my Life' is an insightful account of suffering and determination. Its brutally frank, yet elegantly poignant, depiction of the horror Sands and his fellow freedom fighters endured for their cause is infinitely haunting ... but also incredibly uplifting.
And against all odds, the fact this book even exists at all is nothing short of a miracle.
An amazing read.
August 21, 2022
There is a reason why Northern Ireland hasn’t still accepted Britain’s accession, no one likes to be separated from rest of the family and be torn apart.
Bobby sands, this book narrates the single day of his life as political Prisoner under British regime. Really can be really different from what is shown in the media. Revolutionaries like Bobby sands and other cameramen of his, went out and fought the tyranny.
This book has given me an inspiration to read more about Irland revolution and struggles they are facing. And why still Ireland is not a unified nation.
Bobby sands, this book narrates the single day of his life as political Prisoner under British regime. Really can be really different from what is shown in the media. Revolutionaries like Bobby sands and other cameramen of his, went out and fought the tyranny.
This book has given me an inspiration to read more about Irland revolution and struggles they are facing. And why still Ireland is not a unified nation.
January 20, 2021
This is not an easy read, you'll look at the inhumanity of man, the solitude and strength of an individual. Regardless of your political views, this is a testament of human spirit where you fully give yourself and endure hardships you couldnt imagine in your lifetime.
Fighting for a belief and a freedom that took so much from so many on all sides.
A great political activist, whose life was short but so meaningful.
Fighting for a belief and a freedom that took so much from so many on all sides.
A great political activist, whose life was short but so meaningful.
June 29, 2022
I have another copy of this book, but haven't read it since high school. My mom and I are going to a bobby sands memorial this weekend so I figured it was worth a reread. It's horrid what the pow's went through, and it hurts to think about especially because my dad and one of my uncles were in there too.
June 12, 2022
This book took me forever to read because it was so emotional.
What happened to these men and boys was a war crime.
What happened to these men and boys was a war crime.
September 22, 2022
This book changed my life. I'm an activist because of it. Bobby, I only wish I could've met you. The prose is lyrical, visceral, and will stay with you long after you finish.
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