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readingbowls's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
4.75
I felt a real connect with the author. This attests to the excellent writing and human story of being trapped inside a system with no control that works for your demise. Maintaining his hope and imagination and humanity Ray makes this a compelling and fulfilling read
Death row
- book club on death row
- Escapism
- Changed white man previously kkk
- He doesn’t think it matters who is innocent bc they’re all in there together
- When one inmates dad dies they all give him food
- Violence useless. Cooperation the only way
- Free will ?
- The defence lawyer and judge had been friends all along
- System was rigged
- Prayed to forgive himself
- It takes so long
- He is the guards fave bc he is kind
- He worked in service of others cooking and visiting other inmates
- Relationship w guards is so tricky they’re friends who laugh but then they execute them
- So men have been executed in the time he’s been there
- Hope strength his mother and friend and attorney to get him thru
- Threatened w execution every day
- On his release Comfort cusses him anxiety prefers to sleep on bathroom floor
- Makes alibis for every day he lives
- Trusts only his friend lester and Bryan
eleanora0901's review
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.75
shaila_m's review against another edition
5.0
The beginning was a little confusing it felt as if it was a complaint book, however it did caught my attention. I kept reading and the more I read the more tears there were in my eyes. It is a heartfelt story and a very personal one too. I highly recommend this book, it is one of those everyone should have read at least once.
libraryhat's review against another edition
emotional
informative
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
4.0
Beautifully written. A really hard story to hear as a white woman in the north. But I've learned a lot from Ray about hope, stamina for good, and the power of choosing positivity. No person should ever have to go through what anyone on the row is going through. Why do we let this happen? What am I going to do next?
celia_lane's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
5.0
mugsandmanuscripts's review against another edition
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.75
"When you are hanging at the end of your rope, does it really matter what color the hand is that reaches up to help you?"
If you want to be humbled, read this book. If you want to be angry, read this book. If you want to know what the resilience of the human spirit looks like, read this book. If you want to know how asinine and racist the Alabama state judicial system is, read this book (to date, almost a decade after Ray's release, Alabama still has not admitted wrongdoing nor offered a single penny of renumeration to the man from whom they stole 30 years).
Seriously, this book hits on a lot of themes. Injustice is probably the biggest, but it finds company with hope, healing, faith, and forgiveness. Ray shows us how humanity can live even in the most inhumane circumstances.
The heartwarming and heart-wrenching aspects of Hinton's story are juxtaposed seamlessly throughout this memoir. On the one hand, he tells us about how he "escapes" into different places within his mind (the celebrity marriages he has, the places he travels, illustrious sports careers, etc.) and how this gets him through his years on Death Row. On the other, if you have any background in trauma, it's hard to read that without recognizing the disassociation and PTSD. He talks about starting a prison book club and having discussions about race, violence, guilt, injustice, and many other topics with dozens of men on death row, but he also talks about how those same men all still end up walking to the death chamber.
In one of the depictions I find most moving, he describes how the whole floor of inmates bangs and yells and makes as much noise as they can from their cells when an inmate faces their execution so that the inmate will know he's not alone, that he mattered. It's a moving picture of solidarity, found family, and brotherhood even amongst men who could have been enemies. But he also describes the sounds of the generator and the lingering smell of burnt flesh following the execution. It's powerful.
I don't feel like I can add much to the conversation other than to say that anyone reflecting on the death penalty should have this on their reading list. For every 8-9 people executed in the US, another is exonerated. Roughly 4% of the people sentenced to death are innocent. That means that this is not an isolated incident. Even if one thinks that capital punishment is just, it'd be pretty difficult to argue that the death penalty is.
The only quip I have about this book is that I wish the very final section were longer; I wanted to hear more about his post-prison life. I wanted to see more of his acclimatization (or non-acclimatization) to the world outside. I don't think this man owes healing to anyone (except maybe himself), and given his extremely long and traumatic experience, I would expect that his adjustment has been difficult. I'd just like to hear more about that part of the journey.
If you want to be humbled, read this book. If you want to be angry, read this book. If you want to know what the resilience of the human spirit looks like, read this book. If you want to know how asinine and racist the Alabama state judicial system is, read this book (to date, almost a decade after Ray's release, Alabama still has not admitted wrongdoing nor offered a single penny of renumeration to the man from whom they stole 30 years).
Seriously, this book hits on a lot of themes. Injustice is probably the biggest, but it finds company with hope, healing, faith, and forgiveness. Ray shows us how humanity can live even in the most inhumane circumstances.
The heartwarming and heart-wrenching aspects of Hinton's story are juxtaposed seamlessly throughout this memoir. On the one hand, he tells us about how he "escapes" into different places within his mind (the celebrity marriages he has, the places he travels, illustrious sports careers, etc.) and how this gets him through his years on Death Row. On the other, if you have any background in trauma, it's hard to read that without recognizing the disassociation and PTSD. He talks about starting a prison book club and having discussions about race, violence, guilt, injustice, and many other topics with dozens of men on death row, but he also talks about how those same men all still end up walking to the death chamber.
In one of the depictions I find most moving, he describes how the whole floor of inmates bangs and yells and makes as much noise as they can from their cells when an inmate faces their execution so that the inmate will know he's not alone, that he mattered. It's a moving picture of solidarity, found family, and brotherhood even amongst men who could have been enemies. But he also describes the sounds of the generator and the lingering smell of burnt flesh following the execution. It's powerful.
I don't feel like I can add much to the conversation other than to say that anyone reflecting on the death penalty should have this on their reading list. For every 8-9 people executed in the US, another is exonerated. Roughly 4% of the people sentenced to death are innocent. That means that this is not an isolated incident. Even if one thinks that capital punishment is just, it'd be pretty difficult to argue that the death penalty is.
The only quip I have about this book is that I wish the very final section were longer; I wanted to hear more about his post-prison life. I wanted to see more of his acclimatization (or non-acclimatization) to the world outside. I don't think this man owes healing to anyone (except maybe himself), and given his extremely long and traumatic experience, I would expect that his adjustment has been difficult. I'd just like to hear more about that part of the journey.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Racism, and Murder
Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Racial slurs
barnes_and_noel's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0