Borstal Boy (A Nonpareil book) [Paperback]

Brendan Behan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1991 | ISBN-10: 0879234156 | ISBN-13: 978-0879234157

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.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Autobiographical work by Brendan Behan, published in 1958. The book portrays the author's early rebelliousness, his involvement with the Irish Republican cause, and his subsequent incarceration for two years in an English Borstal, or reformatory, at age 16. Interspersed with tales of brutality are anecdotes about dramatic and musical pastimes and Behan's gardening and handicraft activities. The book is notable for capturing the immediacy of conversation among the inmates. -- The Merriam-Webster Encyclopedia of Literature

From the Publisher

8 1.5-hour cassettes --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 386 pages
• Publisher: David R Godine Pub (April 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0879234156
• ISBN-13: 978-0879234157
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,014,445 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A beacon of hope about the nature of mankind, February 18, 2005

By 

C. B Collins Jr. (Atlanta, GA United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Borstal Boy (Paperback)

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.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars tragicomedy about a young ira boy and his experiences, May 4, 1999

By 

RON "sirron" (VALLEY CENTER, CA USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Borstal Boy (Paperback)

Borstal Boy makes me laugh out loud and also reminds me of my time in the British Royal Navy. One of the young Brendan Behan's fellow prisoners in the English young peoples' prison is a sailor named Charlie. The book shows some of the horrors of prison life but also a lot of the camaraderie that goes on whenever boys get together. Brendan Behan is very humorous, especially when writing about his court appearances, and when he's singing in prison. His descriptive language is brilliant, this from the first page, "A young one, with a blonde, Herrenvolk head and a B.B.C. accent shouted, 'I say, greb him, the bestud.' I have read this book at least four times, and will continue to be entertained by the wit and skill of the author. GREAT READ!!!

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An epic page-turner, August 3, 1998

By 

James G. Mundie (Philadelphia, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Borstal Boy (A Nonpareil book) (Paperback)

In the annals of Irish literature about the Troubles and personal accounts of IRA involvement, Behan's autobiographical work stands alone. The text is at once witty, engaging, hilarious, sad, and enlightening.

Arrested at a young age in Liverpool with the makings of a bomb, his youth saves him from the usual grim prison sentence faced by Irish terrorists in England. Young Brendan is sent instead to borstal, a sort of English detention center for juvenile delinquents.

Behan emerges from the experience a changed man with reconsidered ideas about the world in which he lives.

This book is simply the most interesting account of prison life I have ever read. This text is the sort that one will return to again and again in the run of the years.