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| Borstal Boy | 
 enlarge | Author: Brendan Behan
Publisher: David R. Godine Publisher
Category: Book
List Price: $16.95 (€13.39)
Buy New: $8.00 (€6.32)
You Save: $8.95 (€7.07) (53%)
Buy New/Used/Collectible from $5.00 (€3.95)
Avg. Customer Rating:  (10 reviews)
Sales Rank: 254514
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 386
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 8 x 5.9 x 1.2
ISBN: 1567921051
Dewey Decimal Number: 365.94264
EAN: 9781567921052
ASIN: 1567921051
Publication Date: January 2000
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Brendan Behan was an Irish playwright and novelist, as well as a youthful revolutionary. In 1939, at age 16, he was arrested in Liverpool with a suitcase full of high explosives. BORSTAL BOY is the autobiographical record of Behan's experiences from that day through his imprisonment, trial, remand to reform school and final release. Schools for delinquents in England are called Borstal Institutions, and Behan's account of his years as a "Borstal Boy" is told in vigorous, dramatic prose.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 5 more reviews...
"The Compliments Pass When The Quality Meet" May 4, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Brendan Behan's memoir of his time incarcerated in England , is a comical, sympathetic and humanistic work of art. As a young IRA member arrested in Liverpool at the age of 16 in possession of explosives he demonstrated a remarkably fatalistic viewpoint for someone so young and seemed to take in the experience as an observant participant in a human drama without a hint of self pity.
As he begins in a remanded prison before his transfer to London and ultimately to a Borstal (reform school) he meets with a variety of characters both fellow prisoners and "screws" or guards and they populate his story that also includes incredibly detailed descriptions of the routine of a life behind bars.
Behan became famous as a playwright and notorious drinker in his later years and died tragically young apparently from years of heavy drinking. He is a writer of great insight and power and should not be missed by anyone interested in Irish literature.
The more I know him, the more I regret that he's gone September 7, 2006
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
There are several excellent reviews for this title, so I won't attempt to reinvent the wheel with mine.
The best I can say is that with each page of this incredible book, I find myself closer to a person I never thought I'd like, let alone truly love.
When all is said and done, Brendan Behan is not about The Cause or The Revolution or liberalism or conservatism or anything. Brendan is a human being, in it for Brendan and his best interests. But don't let this make you think that he is a selfish being. Quite the contrary... Brendan finds the humanity in others, far away from the propaganda and agendas he's been fed since infancy. And in that, Brendan finds the humanity in himself.
He's been gone now for... well, longer than I care to believe. But in this, his most powerful and insightful work, he speaks to an audience that is far from outdated, saying the things he feels and believes, with an honesty that most of us wish we had, but work far too hard to conceal. His candidness speaks to our deepest secrets, and opens up a self-awareness in those who wish to explore it.
I am an avid reader, 40 years and going... and I count this as my single favorite book. That is not a distinction given lightly.
Brendan Behan may not be here now, but his message of humanity and humor and growth is ageless. I can only hope that more people take a moment to read it.
A beacon of hope about the nature of mankind February 19, 2005
22 out of 24 found this review helpful
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.
breath-takingly funny October 31, 2002
11 out of 14 found this review helpful
I was epecting something a little more politically polemic or bleak, but this account is hysterically funny and inspired. Behan's writing is always vital, his grasp of dialogue perfect, but this novel enjoys a pacing brilliance I dared not hope from a playwright. Most dramatists have trouble with narrative prose because the rhythms are different, but not so with this account of his jail time as an adolescent in England.
Brilliant one-of-a-kind memoir February 22, 2001
13 out of 15 found this review helpful
I'm an avid reader and can't believe I overlooked this book for so long. Perhaps I dismissed Behan as a professional Irishman, known more for his carousing than for his writing. What a mistake! This memoir is profound, profane, funny and, ultimately, humane. Read this book now; you're in for a treat.
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