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3.97 AVERAGE
3.97 AVERAGE
Despite this being a book about a young Behan's time in prison, it's an oddly warm and endearing experience. There's sections which drag a bit, to be sure, but by and large this is a great memoir. The prisons Behan spends time in work as an on-the-nose metaphor for Britain itself, and the way Behan interweaves song into the prose so as to make the two inseparable is really nice, but the most memorable thing about this work is easily the characters.
By the end of it, the group of young men who Behan considers himself "chinas" with feel not only like his friends, but yours as well. Behan's intelligent but always down-to-earth writing style captures these people and this place perfectly; by the end of this you'll be wishing you could have sat down with Behan and talked with him as if he were an old friend of yours. It's an experience bordering on magical, and a book I'll probably end up rereading.
By the end of it, the group of young men who Behan considers himself "chinas" with feel not only like his friends, but yours as well. Behan's intelligent but always down-to-earth writing style captures these people and this place perfectly; by the end of this you'll be wishing you could have sat down with Behan and talked with him as if he were an old friend of yours. It's an experience bordering on magical, and a book I'll probably end up rereading.
Behan’s semi-autobiographical story of life in a youth prison is a surely a classic for a reason. Divided into three sections, one for each of the locations he was held at, is the story of a young IRA man who finds comradeship with the English working class boys imprisoned with him. The story is intensely human and told with Behan’s brilliant prose. The story itself ought to be taken with a pinch of salt of course, Behan reminds us routinely that a lie in the service of a good story is no great sin, and this surely is a great story!
Behan navigates these violent institutions by being everyone's friend and when his lies contradict then he just blarneys the hell out of everyone, although he does get into a few scraps and there are IRA lines he will not cross. Most conflicts seem to end with "Ah, you're alright, Paddy." I would like to someday read this again much slower and jot down all the books he mentions and also some of the funnier expressions and proverbs he comes out with. I realize I also need to learn how to pronounce these Gaelic words even if I don't know their meaning, especially when they pop up in an otherwise English bit of doggerel. Most of the boys in Borstal come from rough backgrounds and speak strange regional working class dialects from the 1940s. For example, although it was clear from the context that 'china' meant best friend, it took me some fifty pages or so to realize it's because 'china plate' rhymes with mate. It also was a bit of an "aha" for me when I realized that 'flowery' meant prison cell. If there is an audio book of Behan or some other actual Irish person reading this, that would be fantastic.
A really interesting account that made me laugh out loud a couple of times. Always at it.
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
I never finished but it needed to be handed back to the library and it was way too boring for me to actually attempt to finish it when I don't have to
