An Evil Cradling

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You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice. I believe that the author was trying to portray a story that was as close to the truth as he could get and as boredom was the over-riding feature of his confinement then it would not do justice to him or his imprisonment if it were 'jazzed up'for an audience. There's also enough insight into his behaviour that makes me realise he's probably grown up a fair bit and stopped doing several of the things that I thought were particularly inappropriate for the circumstances.

It is difficult to separate the ratings for the book as a book from the ratings of the story: of the immense suffering of a man held captive for four and a half years in appalling and brutal conditions. There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data. This book stands up with the classics of prison literature, one of those books that makes you look at even the most mundane example of your daily life and see your freedom in new and appreciative light. Because he was travelling on both Irish and British passports, the Irish government made numerous diplomatic representations for his release, working closely with the Iranian government.With musings on politics, philosophy and religion and the human capacity for love - and evil - this book is a very important and moving read.

Perhaps it's the urgency, the sincerity with which he offers; perhaps it breaks down some barrier of time and place. It’s tinged with black humour here and there, and a great deal of reflection and self-examination as he observes himself and his reactions, determined to stay strong. Keenan's experience of kidnap by Shia Moslem fanatics in the 1990's was as horrific as it was utterly senseless. Scarcely two weeks after his arrival, he was kidnapped by fundamentalist Muslims and was subsequently imprisoned in a solitary confinement compression chamber, six feet.He didn’t think he would be there for long; he felt that his captors had made a mistake, and kept insisting that he was not English but Irish. Keenan’s mind went mad – and then, as only very few minds can do, he coerced himself out of that madness and became sane again.

Pride is all very well and good if you're trying to stop yourself from being completely dehumanised and broken down by extremists holding you hostage, but I think it should be combined with picking one's battles. I can see why rationalising their actions in such simplistic, definitive ways may be a necessary part of his healing -- to apply narrative to such brutality -- but overall I find it an unfortunate writing choice that weakens the overall narrative, and my trust in him as a narrator.I was very interested in the details given, both the practical reality of his days and his methods of survival and why it was effective.

Like a good meal or sermon, you want to glean every last nuance and morsel from it ensuring that nothing is lost, that it all sinks in. Writing with such focus on self-reflection and reprocessing of events is less interesting to me than straightforward fact.Afterwards he accepted a teaching position at the American University of Beirut, where he worked for about four months. At the same time, I don't think he could have written this book without being upfront and honest about all aspects of himself. This book is an inspiration; I so admired Brian for his determination and humanity throughout and I still do. Throughout the isolation, degrading treatement and abuse, Brian never lost his compassion for others "We cannot know ourselves or declare ourselves human unless we share in the humanity of another". Also extraordinary how restrained he is about John’s personal information and things they must have thought or felt about each other.