Reading 1001 discussion

Didn't find another thread for this book: so I guess I'm making this one!

This book was my TBR for this month: I was intrigued by it after seeing it in my old school library years ago and then found out about the movie. Wanted to finally read the book first.

It details Brendan Behan's time he spent in a Borstal (a juvenile detention center essentially) during WWII for his involvement in an IRA bomb plot. It covers his interactions with the other inmates, and focuses on his change in attitude about English people as a homogeneous enemy group after he realizes that working class folks from Ireland and England share a common humanity and struggle in many ways (especially compared to the English Elite).

I thought this book was both bleak yet hopeful, and the friendship between Brendan and many of the Borstal boys was charming. SUPER different from the movie though: which apparently was based on the theater adaptation. Brendan has a fling with both the warden's daughter (not present in the book), and his close mate Charlie (present in the book, with a deeper relationship only barely hinted at). Somehow the movie adaptation was both gayer and straighter than the book.

The book was great in it's own right though: I gave it 4 stars, and would recommend. It's an especially great piece for UK dialects as well. Interested in reading his other work now, and found out he also wrote "the Auld Triangle" about being incarcerated: which is one of my favorite songs!

Rating: 4 stars

This is an autobiographical account of Behan's own experiences of being incarcerated as a teenager, first in an adult prison, then in a boys' prison, then finally in a borstal (juvenile reform school). He was incarcerated for his involvement with a plot to bomb the Liverpool dock.

I enjoyed Behan's humor and hearing about the friendships he developed during his imprisonment. I also enoyed his use of the Irish dialect. I found it interesting that this book was banned in Ireland as being obcene.