Borstal Boy
by Brendan Behan
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Book Summary Information
Author: Brendan BehanEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2000-01-01
ISBN: 1567921051
Number of pages: 386
Publisher: David R Godine
Book Reviews of Borstal Boy
Book Review: A beacon of hope about the nature of mankind
Summary: 5 Stars
This autobiographical account of Brendan Behan's arrest and imprisonment from 1939 until around 1943 in a British Borstal (youth correctional facility)is an outstanding piece of literature.
There are four primary strenghts to this great work.
First, the language is witty, charming, and creative. I found the mixture of Irish and British male adolescent working class slang to be musical and amusing. Behan had a wonderful sense of dialogue and the manner in which young men verbally duel with each other, striving for rank and dominance and friendship.
Second, the story is unique. A 17 year old IRA terrorist is arrested and sent to a youth facility full of adolescent petty criminals. The worlds of incarcerated vs. free; adult vs. adolescent; Catholic vs. Protestant; Irish vs. English: and criminal vs. political prisoner are just a few of the wonderful tensions and juxtapositions that Behan creates.
Third, is Behan's slow pace and ability to observe the most remote details, describe them uniquely, and then weave these streams of images together to create a world and to populate it with characters that ring true with every word.
Fourth, the story is a tremendous testament to the goodness of mankind. Underneath the tensions, the rivalry, the ideology, the story reveals the simple common kindness of mankind. Brendan Behan may have evoked this kindness through his own exceptional openness and acceptance of his fellowman or he may have observed this kindness through this insightful but possibly biased vision of the innate goodness of mankind; but, none the less, his faith in our sometimes distorted and crippled species shines through the autobiography like a beacon of hope.
I wish I could have given more than 5 stars to this superb work. Don't rush through this book. Let Behan take you into his experiences and his kind view of the world of man.
Summary of Borstal Boy
This miracle of autobiography and prison literature begins: "Friday, in the evening, the landlady shouted up the stairs: 'Oh God, oh Jesus, oh Sacred Heart, Boy, there's two gentlemen here to see you.' I knew by the screeches of her that the gentlemen were not calling to inquire after my health . . . I grabbed my suitcase, containing Pot. Chlor., Sulph Ac, gelignite, detonators, electrical and ignition, and the rest of my Sinn Fein conjurer's outfit, and carried it to the window..." The men were, of course, the police, who knew seventeen-year-old Behan for the anti-imperialist terrorist he was and arrested him. He spent three years as a prisoner in England, primarily in Borstal (reform school), and was then expelled to his homeland, a changed but hardly defeated rebel. Once banned in the Irish Republic, Borstal Boy is both a riveting self-portrait and a clear look into the problems, passions, and heartbreak of Ireland.Authors Books
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