Customer Reviews

Midnight Express

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

This legendary book (and later movie of the same caliber) has provoked and is still provoking so much off the point debate that it's hard to fathom.

A discussion about Turkey and its pros and cons belongs either in a different forum or upon a different book as a vehicle for argumentation. Even Hayes himself despite his martyrdom had said publicly after his escape to the States that his intention had never been a defamation of Turkey or the Turks. So lets leave it at that.

To the book itself, this is indeed a momumental reading describing the utter and surreal ordeal that Hayes, a convicted hash smuggler endured while incarcerated in the Turkish prison system. He describes a system which was designed (or left to its own devices?) to devalue human existence and destroy human dignity. In conditions mildly called appalling, Hayes went through 5 years of sheer soul and bodily torture until his incredible and unlikely escape which spared him life imprisonment.

He himself spares the reader none of all the disturbing details and descriptions as he unravels his nightmarish narrative. The Midnight Express is a book that punches hard at the incarceration system (as prisons in many other parts of the world are similar or worse) and the sheer disregard for human dignity. Credit to Hayes for not trying to redeem himself by claiming wrongful conviction. He accepts that he commited a crime according to that country's law and that he knew he was as he was commiting it. He doesnt accept (to put it again, VERY mildly) the severety of the penalty and the way it was carried out.

It's a book that will no doubt unnerve the reader who's unfamiliar with such literature or who's never given much thought to such issues. It's a scary experience even as an innocent turning of pages and will keep you hostage with its gloomy, borderline deathly and insane atmosphere. It will also provide some serious food for thought about the limits of human perseverence as a whole.

Written in a very direct and engaging style, Hayes proved a talent in writting and if you've read other such books you know that not everyone could achieve the level of directness and the effect of making you feel other the way he did.

Worthy of its fame by any standard. For anyone interested in a similar and perhaps even more disturbing book try the "Damage done" by Warren Fellows.

Many of the reviews that I have read about Midnight Express seem to focus on whether Billy Hayes was a smuggler or not, and, having established that he was then go on to tarnish everything he says and dismiss all that has happened to him. whether or not he was a possessor or a smuggler is irrevelant - it is almost certain that he was a smuggler, as he states in the book and film that he did it for money. The point that people seem to want to gloss over is that he spent far too long in a Turkish Hell-hole, with a regime that no-one deserves. I wouldn't subject my worst enemy to such a depraved and abused existence. The book by Mr Hayes and William Hoffer graphically depicts the Turkish mis-justice system for what it is. to serve an entire sentence only to have it re-heard and re-sentenced is cruel and barbaric. The Turkish prison system is accurately depicted in the book and film, as can be proved by reading any of the other books about prison regimes in many similar countries - not just Turkey. The book is quite excellent and one of the best reads that I can remember: it is just a pity that it is out of print, people will now be denied the chance to read and judge it for themselves. Anyone with current information on either of the authors please let me know; also if there is a copy for sale in a shop near Liverpool, England.

This is the vivid, detailed, and eye-opening autobiography of student dropout Billy Hayes, who relates his years from 1970-75 in the prisons of Turkey, where he was imprisoned for smuggling hashish. Captured at Istanbul airport by a random search, he has to learn to handle himself inside quickly if he is to survive. His case takes years to go through the courts, slowed down by the grinding wheels of the Turkish injustice system, crooked lawyers, and the bureaucracy found the world over in these cases. American status does not protect him, he is sentenced to life imprisonment, commuted to thirty years. There are graphic descriptions of everything that goes on: there are Turks, Europeans, one or two other Americans, and children all imprisoned together.

He has various plans for escape, the title of the book being his code word for his escape plan. His first plan revolves around getting a psychiatric discharge or escape from an easy prison. A couple of the other prisoners do escape, one by sheer cunning and the other by clever bribery. One or two fail spectacularly. One man is beaten so badly by the warders that he murders one of them when he is released and gets put straight back into the same prison, where now his status is much higher, as murder is considered a 'manly' crime there. Billy keeps himself going by correspondence with home and a past girlfriend, and adapting to but not succumbing to the prison regime. He has to learn to stay alive as a person and keep his humanity by forming friendships and alliances where he can.

One of the great ironies of being inside in Turkey for smuggling hash is that there is free availability of hashish and other drugs, which are used by all--police, prison guards, and prisoners alike. Eventually he is transferred to a low security island prison where he can steal a boat, row to the mainland, and escape to Greece. He returned home, much the wiser for his experiences, and co-wrote this book and also signed the Hollywood deal which led to the famous film of the same name. An exciting story, and an eye-opening account of the seamy side of Turkey.

Please note that at the time of Billy Hayes's story, Turkey was basically a dictatorship; just as Spain, Greece, Portugal, Russia, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, etc. were. 30 years ago Turkey along with the other countries just named all had dictators and were not 100% free societies. Therefore his portrait of Turkey and their justice system is true. One must remember however that a lot has changed since 30 years ago. This should make people be aware Turkey is not like this today. It was, however, like this in 1970. Therefore, judging the book by one's ideas of Turkey today is a faux pas. No one would judge Germany of today when reading William Shirer's The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. So beware that many reviews of this book are biased and based on their views of the Turkey of today and not of 1970. Also, be advised that any person who lived through Billy Hayes's horror would no doubt have formed strong opinions on an entire people and society especially when still fresh. Such angers only leave after generations of people. Lastly, though the movie is excellent and follows closely to the book in some cases, the movie screenplay was written by Oliver Stone who rewrites his work for his own agenda and also uses his work as propaganda for some unknown cause which only he knows in that mind of his. He has done so in this case, changing many things that the book says and creating completely fictional accounts that never happened to Billy Hayes.

This young man's adventures in a Turkish prison are simply fascinating, and told very well. This book is one of the few that I was sincerely sorry that it had to end. My only complaint is that it is a little too slick, a little too Hollywood-ready. It would be interesting to read an account that showed a little more of the warts-and-all detail of the experience. It's a pity that this is out of print. And in answer to one of the reviewers comments below about what this book says about Turkey, well, in my opiniion, this book is an attack on Turkey. The author has almost nothing good to say about Turkey, and he never loses an opportunity to slag it off. But I am definitely interested in finding books that portray modern Turkey, and other countries in this region, in a more positive light. There never was a region that more needed reabilitating in the world's eyes, than the middle east today, I believe. Another good reason to read this book is to show the difference between it and the popular film that was made of it. It was quite an eye opener to me to find that two of the most horrific and lurid episodes that occur in the movie, do not occur in the book, most notably, the disgusting tongue-biting-off sequence.

Great Read. I would suggest it to anybody. Watch when you pick it up. If you have plans in a few hours, then you might wanna set an alarm.

The real story ... not as exciting as the movie, but an honest portrayal of Billy Hayes' ordeal.

I think the movie should have been made like the book in the first place, but Oliver Stone wanted something much more sensationalistic and xenophobic. Not positive, but I'm quite sure one of the main reasons Billy wrote the book was so he could pay back his father for trying to get him out of Turkey. His family was not wealthy and borrowed on their house to give him money while he was in prison and for lawyer fees.

Even though this book has been out of print for awhile, I so wish they would have a remake that is at least 90% faithful to the book, especially the end

I COULDN'T READ THIS BOOK FAST ENOUGH. IT HAD ME ENTRALLED FROM PAGE ONE AND I HAD ALREADY SEEN THE MOVIE. OUR PRISONS ARE CAKE COMPARED TO OTHER PLACES IN THE WORLD. EXCELLENT BOOK!

This was a rare instance when I saw the movie before I read the book. The movie, although excellent, left me a little empty inside because I needed to know if the whole story had been told correctly. We all know, nine times out of ten, the book version of a movie is usually more accurate, has more detail, more events and incidents, more detail about the characters in the background such as parents etc., and is much more realistic. It was true with this story too! The book did turn out to be much more revealing and I found many incidents in the book which were not in the movie as I'd thought the case would be. The book is about a real life drug smuggling incident which occured in Turkey. Billy Hayes claimed it was the 'first' time he'd ever done such a thing but I have heard differently in the press. Anyway, Billy was caught with a moderate amount of drugs on his body. The same amount found on someone in the USA would probably result in a small fine if it were the person's first offense. That wasn't the case for Billy who after being questioned by the Turkish police for many hours, ended up in the most hellish prison with a wide assortment of inmates. There were even children in the prison who had been caught stealing. The book is a page turner which describes in great detail, the pure hell that Billy goes through as his ordeal unwinds. From his many court appearances to his daily problems of survival at the prison. If this book is true, then Billy went through the worst experience of a lifetime but if he's making the story sound a little more dramatic by telling lies to the reader, then I don't feel sorry for him at all. He broke the law and the law says, you must pay for your crimes. The problem I have with Billy's criminal act was the horrendous sentence he received for his crime for being in the wrong place. I do hope his story is truthful though otherwise, he made a lot of money off of the book and the movie rights from people like us who believed he'd been to hell and back. I've been hearing so many contradictory statements concerning his book that I have been wondering about it. Either way, whether you saw the movie or not, this book is a fantastic, page turner which will keep you on the edge of your seat! Then when you've read the book first (which I wish I'd done), then rent the video and see the movie! Talk about heartstopper!