Customer Reviews:
A Fascinating Diary.......2004-03-23
This book is a fascinating voyage through one of the great 19th Century Southern political minds; perhaps second only to John C. Calhoun. Alexander H. Stephens was a strange little man, never weighing more than 100 pounds, and standing only 5' 7" tall; but "Little Aleck" had the heart of a lion. He was possessed of a small head with protruding ears and piercing black eyes. Trained as a lawyer, with a frail almost boyish figure, he never married and was totally devoted to his half-brother, Linton, who served in the Georgia Legislature, on the Georgia Supreme Court and as a Confederate officer, and whose family Alexander Stephens adopted as his own.
This diary covers Stephens experiences as a prisoner after the War Between the States had ended. The War basically ended in April, 1865, but Stephens who had served as the Vice President of the Confederacy, had already gone home to Crawfordville, Georgia, his home town. On May 11, 1865, Tim, one of his servants, came running into the parlor saying: "Master! Yankees have come! a whole heap are in town, galloping all about with guns." Thus Stephens, who unlike other Confederate cabinet officials had never attempted to flee to the sanctuary of another country, came to be a prisoner. He was transported to Fort Warren in Boston Harbor and thus begins this diary.
Throughout the diary, Stephens was indignant that he was even a prisoner, for in his mind (he was probably right) he had done nothing wrong. He had always acted according to the principles of the United States Constitution to which he was totally devoted. He had served 16 years in Congress and had retired in 1859, and when the War started in 1861 he was called upon to serve the Confederacy. As he repeatedly points out the States created the Federal Government, not the other way around. The Federal Government's rights were limited. He had served as a Whig in Congress in the beginning of his career and served with Lincoln who also served as a Whig in the 30th Congress in 1847, when Lincoln served his only term in Congress before becoming president in 1861. Stephens felt he knew Lincoln well and this may be one of the reasons he was elected vice president of the Confederacy, in addition to the fact that he cautioned against secession and for this reason it was felt perhaps he may have had gained some influence with Lincoln.
In any case, the diary covers everything about his life at Fort Warren, where after an initial period of discomfort and apprehension (there was the possibility he may be hanged), he was treated rather kindly by his captors. Stephens read and discusses such books as the Bible, Prescott's Conquest of Mexico, Swedenborg's Doctrine Concerning the Lord, Cicero on Duties, Cicero on Oratory, Aristotle on Economics, Aristotle on Politics, and so forth demonstrating that he was a true intellectual. He discusses the food he ate, his living conditions, and people he met and dealt with such as his guards, other prisoners, and even the little girl who was the daughter of one of his wardens who would bring him flowers and thrust her little hand through the bars to put them in a little flower pot in his cell. Stephens only spent four months and nineteen days in prison. His treatment was much less harsh than that of Jefferson Davis who served two years at Fort Monroe. In the end, like Jefferson Davis and others, he was released and not prosecuted for any offenses. It has been said this was because in truth they had committed no offenses and acted against the Federal Government in much the same way the leaders of the 13 Colonies had acted against the Crown when the 13 Colonies sought their independence from England and thus could not have been convicted of anything.
All in all, a wonderful diary; I have not enjoyed reading a diary as much since I read James Boswell's London Journal 40 years ago.
Fort Warren's last prisoner.......2002-11-19
This is a reprint of the original diary kept by Stephens while at the fort. It is the only book still in print that was written at Fort Warren. If you had a Confederate relative imprisoned at Fort Warren, this gives a terrific insight to the daily routine at the famous bastille.
Average customer rating:
- Kazunomiya
- Kazunomiya: Prisoner of Heaven
- One of the greatest eras of change!!
- This is the best one out!
- Good Job!
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Kazunomiya: Prisoner of Heaven, Japan 1858 (Royal Diaries)
Kathryn Lasky
Manufacturer: Scholastic Inc.
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ASIN: 0439164850 |
Book Description
Kazunomiya, along with her royal family, is thought to be a divinity, descended from the goddess of the sun, and she lives an extremely sheltered life. However, when a Japanese general signs a treaty with the white-faced men from America, uncertainty and turmoil erupt in the kingdom. But the external threats do not compare to the tangled intrigue, romance, and politics that dominate the imperial palace, as wives and queens plot to destroy Kazunomiya and her mother.
Customer Reviews:
Kazunomiya.......2006-10-26
Hello there.I absoloutly loved this book. I think it should be a movie it was that good. Learing about Kazunomya was great. I love the way Katheryn Lasky included so much! This is her best book I've read. This book is about a young girl who goes through many obstacles. She is engaged to Arisugawa and falls in love with him. Then later has to marry another person! This is a grat book for anyone to read.
Kazunomiya: Prisoner of Heaven.......2006-05-18
This book begins with references to several Japanese customs, such as tea ceremonies and brush painting. More of these references repeatedly show up on almost every page of the book. This makes for a very breezy read.
This book was very educational because, unlike some of the other Royal Diaries titles, I didn't know who Princess Kazunomiya. Truth be told, I didn't learn much about how she was significant from reading her "diary." The book does serve as a nice sojourn into the forgotten history of Japan, and that element was very informative. I learned a lot from reading the book.
This book serves as a welcome addition to the fantastic Royal Diaries series. Fans of the series should not pass this one by.
One of the greatest eras of change!!.......2005-07-16
12 year old, Kazunomiya is a virtual prisoner living in luxury behind the vast walls of the Japanese Palace.She is born in the year of the fire horse, which is a bad omen, especially when her father died after her birth, so they made her elder her age by one year.Kazunomiya, who lives her methodical life behind the palace walls, is going to find a new change in her life.
Paled skin people called, Americans are appearing at the Japanese boundaries and accepting trading rights from the Japanese.It is at this time too that Kazunomiya learns that her prince, she had known all her life was not going to marry her.Her half-brother the Emperor, wants her to marry the young Shogun of Japan, who is pathetic and stupid.Kathryn Lasky has created a beautiful character within the pages of this book, I sincerely congratulate her!
This is the best one out!.......2005-03-22
Hi. I loved this book so much. It really blew me away. Lasky's books are all really good but this is the best! I have always really liked Japanese culture and when I saw this book I said, "I got to get it! "Set in 1858, a few years after Japan's treaty with the Americans or "White Faced Devils" This book is about Kazunomiya princess of Japan. Her mother was the Emporer's favorite misstress, but she is not the favorite of others. The Empress Mother hates the mother and plots to rid of her for good. She always thinks of ways to insult the mother rudley. Kazunomiya's half brother is the new emporer and has made her a marrage proposal to a Prince whom she loves. Then Kazunomiya meets the future shogun of Japan, a boy named Yoshi about her age who she dislikes, but ends up becoming friends with him. When the old shogun dies, Yoshi becomes the new one. Kazunomiya's birthday has been changed so that she may be conpadable with her Prince and she is clearly mad about that. This book stands out in good way and is well worth the money.
Good Job!.......2005-02-27
When I first saw this book in the library, I was skeptical. Most of the new Royal Diaries books haven't been that great lately, but I checked it out anyway.
I was shocked! This book is so good! The author, Kathryn Lasky, has once again written a diary that I believe is bound to be a best-selling novel.
I won't go into the details of the story, since most other reviewers do, but I will say, this has everything. Romance (but not too much), treachery, friendship, sorrow and happy times.
A must read!
Average customer rating:
- Augustus Hill's Diary
- Not quite what I was expecting.
- Never ceases to amaze
- One of the best books I have read
- Nothing New
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OZ: Behind These Walls: The Journal of Augustus Hill
Augustus Hill
Manufacturer: HarperEntertainment
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Oz - The Complete Sixth Season
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ASIN: 0060521333 |
Book Description
OZ: Behind These Walls is the secret journal of Augustus Hill, the show's wheel-chair bound main character. He's been keeping a diary about Oz for the past 5 years and wrote a letter requesting that if he should die, the book be published to show the world what goes on behind the walls of Emerald City.
In his book, Augustus postulates on all aspects of Oz life - the rapes, lies, sex, stabbings, drugs, lost time, love and murder. With each entry, he highlights major events that have happened and offers his particular take on it. As the publisher of his book, we've taken Augustus' journal and added our own editorial sidebars -- some on OZ itself, with R.I.P pages and Poet's poetry -- others on various prisons and prison policies from around the United States, to give the reader a more indepth view of real prison life.
The book also includes an Epilogue by Tom Fontana, creator of OZ, and an Episode Guide of the last 5 seasons of this groundbreaking show. Last but not least, the story behind the book is written into every new episode of the final season of OZ, making it not only a great fan keepsake, but a publishing event.
Customer Reviews:
Augustus Hill's Diary.......2005-06-29
I loved this book. I am a fan of Oz but not a huge fan. The book gave a strong voice to the show and I loved that way the diary of Augustus Hill illuminated the episodes and the shows without being a plain episode guide. It was well written and absorbing. I thought it was quite entertaining and led me to understand better. There are also non-fiction excerpts from books, newspaper articles, etc. which illuminate how the prison system in America functions. Good book. A good read.
Not quite what I was expecting........2003-11-09
I've been a huge Oz fan for many years now and it greatly excited me to get this book, but I was sadly disappointed with it after reading the first 20 pages. This book is nothing but an extended episode guide, which is something you can find anyplace for free online. It also has detailed describtions of each episode until the end of Season 5, but unfortuanately, it looks like most of these describtions were just blatantly copied off of hbo.com and placed into this book. If even a die-hard Oz fan like myself didn't enjoy this, then I'm not sure you will either.
Never ceases to amaze.......2003-06-20
I'm currently reading the book. It's good so far, but a lot WAS left out b-c it's only from Augustus' point of view. A lot of good stuff is missing. It's interesting seeing things from Augustus' view. It's good and I am able to understand better what Augustus means b-c I watched all 6 seasons.
One of the best books I have read.......2003-03-25
With this book you enter the mind of Augustus Hill, a wheel chair bound inmate who is also the narrator. It clearly depicts life in a prison. OZ: Behind These Walls: Journal of Augustus Hill lets you become part of an experimental lab inside Oswald State Correctional Facility known as Emerald City. It is an accurate description of what goes on behind jail bars from rape to sex to murder and drugs. You will truly feel like you are amidst the inmates. It is written in such a way that you "get to know" each character. Everything from what they did to get into Emerald City to the day-by-day trials and tribulations that they face on a day-to-day basis. When something happens to one of the characters you feel almost as if it happened to someone in your family.
Leo Glynn is the warden at Oswald State and Timothy McManus runs and created Emerald City. They worked together because they wanted to make a better living environment for prisoners who had capabilities of rehabilitation. Sister Peter Marie is the psychologist that works with Father Ray Mukada to help rehabilitate the inmates. Gloria Nathan is the doctor for the inmates and creates jobs for them so they are doing something positive with their time.
The best emotion depicted in this book is FEAR. Fear of living, fear of dying, and fear of fear itself. Augustus explains this through his eyes with each word he writes. As a wish he asks to have this book published so people can see what goes on behind the walls of a prison.
I enjoyed this book because of how detailed it was and how well it was written. I didn't get the chance to watch the show on HBO so it was a privilege to read about it and imagine it in my own way. This book also gives out interesting facts about court cases and prisons that a lot of people wouldn't know about. OZ: Behind These Walls will keep you wanting more to the point you will not want to put this book down. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading about prisons or prisoners. There is not another book like this and I think publishing this book made a great way to remember the show and keep its memory alive.
Nothing New.......2003-03-15
I bought this book knowing it was a marketing tie-in for HBO, so I suppose I shouldn't be disappointed. But I was. Augustus Hill's "journal" is really just an extended summary of Oz episodes, without any of the new stories or new insights I'd been hoping for. And because it's all told from Hill's point of view, some story lines (like the Beecher/Keller story that's a big draw for many Oz fans) are only treated very briefly. The writing style is almost painfully dull, which is strange given the relatively good writing of the show and the strong narrative voice the show gave to Hill's character. I also found the book's chronology very peculiar, perhaps because the events of Oz's short, 8-episode seasons had to be spread out into a continuous narrative.
On the plus side, it's a handsomely produced book, on a nice glossy paper stock with plenty of photos. I liked the occasional sidebars about the real world of American prisons, though sometimes these felt a bit preachy (and I'm a liberal, generally in agreement with the politics of the show, and the book).
It's a shame this book isn't better; it's not much of a farewell to a landmark show.
Book Description
Four years after the legendary 1964 bus trip immortalized in Tom Wolfe's Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, Ken Kesey began serving time in San Mateo County Jail for pot possession. Transferred to an experimental low-security "honor camp" in the redwood forest, he spent six months clearing brush and immersing himself in the life of the jail community, attempting to "bring light and color" to it. "This is crazier here than the nuthouse ever was," Kesey noted, and proceeded to record the scene in numerous notebooks, illustrated with intense and brilliantly colored artwork.
Upon returning to Oregon, Kesey turned the raw notebook material into an illustrated collage that stretched across dozens of 18" x 23" boards. Upon realizing that publication of the elaborate, handwritten book was more than his publisher was willing to attempt, he put it aside. Almost thirty years later he returned to the project and brought it to completion during the final years of his life. Fans of Ken Kesey's singular American voice will rejoice to hear it again in this unique and long-overdue volume. Those unfamiliar with Kesey's artwork are in for a revelation.
Customer Reviews:
Ken Kesey's time in jail.......2006-08-09
This tall tale from the late sixties concerns Ken Kesey's six month stint in jail, his 'straight time'.
In some respects this journal is a art deco paisley snapshot of an uncomfortable moment in Kesey's life. Like Leary, Ken had a good time tuning in, turning on, and dropping out, but the sub-text of this cheerily defiant counter-culture rave, like the poem at the beginning of Demon Box, is that he paid for it dearly.
That aside, Ken's writing in the jail journal as in Demon Box, was pretty damn good. Reading his clean, wry, and self-reflective prose, I wish he had continued to turn out this kind of writing (Perhaps he did?). One can only imagine the blog he would have put out.
In short, popular culture depicts the later Kesey as a kind of burnt out counter-culture warrior but these two bits of writing suggest otherwise.
An Immediate Work of Art, An Important Piece of History.......2005-07-07
The main question examined in this boisterous, original work of art is when you should "hold your mud." Ken Kesey - Hippie Number One - spent the summer of love incarcerated for a drug conviction. He was America's most promising young novelist when he announced that he was taking an indefinite break from writing novels. His first creative work after this was an unfinished marathon film of a bus ride to Furthur. What he produced next was an amalgam: a personal collage that grabs the reader's eyes and heart on every page.
If Kesey's Jail Journal had been published in its entirety when it was finished, (instead of decades later with some pages lost to prison guards) it probably would have been a sensation. At least it would have gotten a wide audience to see how a blend of images and words could be more immediately affecting and powerful than straight prose. Most pages of printed text are accompanied by that text incorporated into a collage drawing he made in jail. These pages appear like displays of Japanese Calligraphy at the Met. The words are given extra meaning by how they are presented visually.
His illustrations are disarming and masterful. The accompanying text tells easily understood stories in simple, poetic prose. These are seemingly small snippets of life, but Kesey uses them to demonstrate the power structures, personal motivations, and racial tensions underlying every interaction. Kesey wants to create, be free and play - but he must hold his mud enough to keep from losing all of his privileges; along with the book that he is making - which begins to have an importance of its own.
Every page of this book is an ode to the artistic spirit. In prison and at a work camp, Kesey has to contend with the whims of guards and their rules in order to keep his book alive as he creates it. On some pages, he has more varied materials to draw with than on others. The dance between Kesey's creative impulse and the repression of the state institution plays out within and above the book. The effect is a touching display of creativity rising above the obstacles it encounters.
Anyone who wants to have a discussion or book group on "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" should read this genre-busting book. From the institutional setting; from the imprisoned individuals who have transgressed society's mores; from the blunt way rules are imposed on the deficient; from the wily, red-haired, Oregonian protagonist; from the detailed look at the daily mechanisms of an on-going power structure; all the way down to the farcical (and mandatory) group meetings: there are numerous parallels to Kesey's first novel.
But this was Kesey's real life, not McMurphy's fictional morality play. Kesey has a wife and kids on the outside. He does not reach a point (like McMurphy does in "Cuckoo") where he sees a moral imperative to throw himself into a bitter and mortal struggle on behalf of his fellow inmates. In his Jail Journal, the real Kesey is careful to hold his mud: keeping a lid on his emotions, allowing guards to paint over his decorated shed, at times hiding and smuggling his book.
While he looks out for himself, he looks out at others and provides touching portraits of interesting characters he meets.
Kesey is a master at understanding power and how it is used and abused. His Jail Journal (which the publisher, holding his mud, calls "Kesey's Jail Journal" instead of its real title, "Cut the M************ Loose") is a universal description of the struggle of the individual against the institution. (played out externally against the power structure's guardians and within the individual who pits his courage and principles against his pragmatic self-preservation)
It is also an important document of its time. Kesey sees and unflinchingly displays the divisiveness of race - the veneer of calm on the surface with root conflicts simmering below. Kesey also demonstrates the distrust of the establishment towards drugs, and how conservatives viciously defended the status quo on day-to-day behavior in the sixties. His fate and his evolving ideals serve an important counter-point to the standard tales of reckless freedom and blindness to consequence that are often set in the summer of 1967.
Highly recommended.
a little piece of furthur.........2005-02-23
i love the artwork in this book - and keyz's letter to a friend named jerry at 710 ashbury street certainly doesn't hurt at luring your attention.. i bet even if you couldn't read you could find something stimulating about this book - check it out
Very interesting narrative from a great writer.......2004-06-24
I recently saw the original Jail Journal on display in Eugene, Oregon at an art museum. It was filled with excellent illustrations (very 60s, of course) and some wonderful diary entries by Kesey (who really has a way with words). I had a great time reading the pages, which were arranged on the walls in order, and am going to be pruchasing this book so I can have a version at home to look at in the future.
A Journey To Another Time and Another Place.......2003-12-01
Get ready for quite a trip...this really isn't a book, it's a time machine. Fasten your seat belt and enjoy the journey, courtesy of the one and only Ken Kesey.
Many of the icons of the counterculture movement spent 1967's famous Summer of Love in places like Swinging London, Monterrey or Haight-Ashbury. Kesey was far removed from the heart of the action during those months--he was serving out a jail sentence for his conviction on a marijuana possession charge. Thanks to his lack of a previous record, Kesey was able to do most of his time in a sheriff's honor camp, an experiment in rehabilitation nestled in the California redwoods.
Kesey managed to keep a journal of his days in confinment, pouring forth his raw emotions, vivid dreams, sometimes gentle, sometimes agressive encounters with authority figures and fellow prisoners. He supplemented his writings with a series of vivid paintings and drawings that helped capture the chaotic nature of the experience.
After his release, Kesey had hoped to publish the journal, but found that the available printing technology couldn't do his illustrations justice. By the mid 1990s, he had revived the project, and was in the final stages of preparing it for publication at the time of his death in 2001. So, if you are a lover of Kesey's works, get this volume, read it, celebrate it, and hold it close. This is a stream-of-consciousness, often profane, nakedly honest record of a pivotal summer in one of the great creative lives of the 20th century.--William C. Hall
Product Description
Diary of a soldier and prisoner of war in the Rebel prisons. Gale Archival Editions: On Demand are digital copies of rare and out-of-print historical content. Delivered where and when you need them, Gale Archival Editions arrive complete with original fonts, marks, notations, punctuation and spelling, giving you the feeling of owning the original work. These images of original works—from the world's leading libraries—include everything from books to pamphlets, many with original illustrations, indexes, maps and other annotations. Sourced from Joseph Sabin's Bibliotheca Americana: A Dictionary of Books Relating to America from its Discovery to the Present Time (1868-1936), the Sabin American Civil War Collection includes thousands of titles on all topics related to the Civil War experience.
Book Description
John Ransom, Brigade Quartermaster of the Ninth Michigan Calvary, was only 20 years old when he became a prisoner of war in eastern Tennessee in 1863. He had everything to live for, and much to live with.
A war was on, and he was in it, and things were happening that seemed worth putting down from day to day. The result is a straightforward diary, free of the embroideries and purple passages of many an author of the time.
"One of the best first-hand accounts to come down to us from the Civil War, uncommonly rich in the love of life...a tale of adventure, of suspense, of fierce hate and great love. " --Bruce Catton
Customer Reviews:
A true diary.......2007-07-14
When I was encouraged to read this book I saw it as a bore. However, upon embarking on this read, I could hardly put it down. I was intrigued on a major level. I've been to the old prison site three times and this book really sets you up to visualize the prison the way it was. The prison is all sad, however I was very disturbed by the way the north treated the fellow who was in charge of the prison during it prime. This was unmitigated revenge and spite.
A positive spirit, despite the horror.......2005-08-03
Ransom was a member of the Ninth Michigan Cavalry during the Civil War when, in Nov. 1963, he was captured in eastern Tennessee; he spent the next year a prisoner in a number of Southern prison camps, most notably Andersonville. He was finally able to escape and make his way back to Union lines. What distinguishes this book is Ransom's humor in the face of such adversity: "July 26 - Ain't dead yet. Actually laugh at the Rebel who thought if I wasn't dead I had better get inside. Had an onion." He writes of the hardships, mainly hunger and disease, but also makes it clear that the prisoners, because of poor self-discipline and low morals (stealing from one another was rampant) made their bad lot even worse. Prisoner exchanges, once frequent early in the war, were just about suspended by this time, thanks to U.S. Grant's belief that they helped the South more than the North. At one point Ransom writes that about 130 prisoners a day were dying in camp, mostly from disease. An interesting book, lively and always in celebration of the living, at least in spirit.
Civil War atrocity.......2004-03-23
When one considers that John Ransom, at the time of his interment at Andersonville, was not a professional writer, and that much of his recounting of his horrible experiences was censored, this diary is compelling, gritty, gruesome, and all too credible. This unblinking look at a part of Civil War history that is often overlooked, captured my attention as few diaries have. (The diary of Anne Frank, of course, being the most engaging and heart-rending of the genre.)
The stories of mistreatment of the Union soldiers abound--by other Union soldiers as well as the Confederates! But no scourge was more frightful than the natural ones: the weather, insects, and contaminants were just as unfeeling and effective in their decimation of the prison population. This is not a diary for the weak-hearted. The constant tales of humiliation, hunger, and brutality, along with the growing list of Ransom's associates who were dying all around him, are incessant. Just when things get to their grimmest, the reader is treated to the suspense of Ransom's breakout and escape, which you have to read to believe. Whether you are a devotee of Civil War stories or not, John Ransom's "Andersonville Diary/Life Inside the Civil War's Most Infamous Prison" is a fabulous story of toughing it out in the worst of situations, and a thorough examination of one of the Civil War's darkest times and places.
Rocco Dormarunno, author of The Five Points.
Excellent diary, ABOMINABLE edition! Stay away!.......2003-09-08
John Ransom's own words could not be more moving, nor his character more sterling. Five stars for his work! However, ZERO stars for the publisher here. The "intro" by Bruce Catton is not even three full pages long, and lacks...well, nearly everything an intro should have.
There are no maps. There are few illustrations, apparently only reproductions of those included in Ransom's own publication after the war. There are no footnotes nor timeline. There is no index of names (genealogists beware!!!) nor of anything else, and there was no attempt to provide us with more detail on the individuals named other than Ransom's own contemporary concluding notes. There is nothing to tell us if Ransom ever returned to the South to "make millionaires" of the black slaves who helped him, as he had hoped. There is no death and discharge roll even for his own company, much less a larger view. There is no concluding note to reflect that Andersonville has become a national park, nor a word re its current state of preservation.
Shame, shame, shame on Catton and Berkley Books. Ransom's heroic work deserves much better, as does the memory of the tens of thousands of men (and at least two women, see the entry for December 23, 1863) who suffered and, in horrifying numbers, died at Andersonville. When a worthy edition comes out, buy it -- I surely will. Meanwhile, don't spend your money on this inferior edition of a great Civil War memoir.
WOW.......2003-02-12
This book was one of the first books I read about the Civil War. I could not put the thing down! It is not only a true story about the Andersonville Prison, but also a heck of a story showing courage and will! I recommend this book HEAVILY! A MUST READ
Book Description
This reprint is the journal of an Ohioan who served in the Ninth Alabama Regiment and rose from private to company commander. Describes participation in the battles of Seven Pines, Seven Days, and Fredericksburg, among others, and provides accounts of his capture at Gettysburg and his imprisonment on Johnson's Island in Lake Erie. Now with an index.
Book Description
Purgatory A Prison Diary, Volume 2 Jeffrey Archer New York Times bestselling novelist Jeffrey Archer shares his experience of prison life to critique the British penal system n August 9, 2001, twenty-two days after Archer-now known as Prisoner FF8282-was sentenced to four years in prison for perjury, he was transferred from a maximum security prison in London to HMP Wayland, a medium security prison in Norfolk. For the next sixty-seven days, as he waited to be reclassified for an 'open,' minimum security prison, he encountered not only the daily degradations of a dangerously overstretched prison system but also the spirit and courage of his fellow inmates. Purgatory: A Prison Diary, Volume 2 is Archer's frank, shock-ing, sometimes humorous, sometimes horrifying account of those sixty-seven days. Praise for A Prison Diary, Vol. 1: 'A tale that is not only important but true.' -The Washington Post 'The finest thing that he's ever written....riveting.' -Independent on Sunday (UK) 'Compelling reading....Archer knows how to tell a story.'-Houston Chronicle JEFFREY ARCHER became the youngest member of the House of Commons in 1969, was appointed Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party in 1985, and was elevated to the House of Lords in 1992. All of his story collections and novels-including most recently Sons of Fortune-have been international bestsellers. Archer is married, has two children, and lives in England. Memoir 0-312-33098-7 $25.95 $38.95 Canadian 61/8" x 91/4" / 320 pages Includes one 8-page color photo insert July
Customer Reviews:
An Insight Into What Life is Like Behind Bars for the Rich and Selfish.......2006-08-30
I read this trilogy out of order and Purgatory was the last one I read. The first I read was the finale Heaven which is where this edition leads up to. I must admit I have formed a totally different opinion of Archer than I had after reading Heaven. I actually felt sorry for him after Heaven but after reading the initial and more to the point this Volume II edition my opinion has drastically changed That empathy disappeared after the first diary series Hell, and has transformed into disgust with Purgatory as this edition highlights what a selfish and uncaring about his fellow man type of individual Lord Archer really is.
His pathetic refusal to drink tap water (where does he think bottled water comes from anyway) and eat the every day food that every other prisoner does continues on from the first novel. He disgustingly avoids doing this in his new prison by purchasing with his money from the outside world additional water, chocolate and other food as well as phone cards, additional pillows, blankets, towels and other luxuries from the prison black market. He never once mentions remorse for these actions even though obviously his supplier Dale isn't going to the local Tesco Supermarket and purchasing these items. Obviously other prisoners are either swapping these items for drugs or being severely beaten and threatened for them and having to do without just so Archer can be more comfortable and not have to lower himself to do things like drink tap water. Even though he always has visitors he has no problem with purchasing phone cards the same way even though the victims' phone cards he is using may have no other way to communicate with their loved ones. When he is caught by the prison officials he tries to evoke the feeling of pity for him from his readers for these repulsive actions, it is just disgraceful!
If he'd at least acknowledged the detrimental outcomes for others as a result of his selfish behaviour I would have at least given him some credence but he never mentions this once in his diaries. He is however quick to criticise any prison official who doesn't provide him with special treatment such as the guard who told him he could be put on report for going into the enhanced wing that every other prisoner has to wait three months or so on good behaviour to visit, let alone live there which he shortly there after is granted. I find it hard to fathom how he constantly complains about the papers saying he is given special treatment when that is exactly what happens and he uses the media as an excuse for everything such as demanding his own cell, as his cell mates will talk to the papers if he has to share. He never once criticises himself or his actions for being in prison, always maintaining he is a victim and his sentence will be overruled in the near future which history has proven never happened.
Other unique aspects of this edition to the others are that Archer befriends a Columbian prisoner to get the prisoner's brother smuggle out an emerald from his homeland and sell it to Archer so he can save ten to twenty thousand pounds. He also wanted a painting from a Columbian artist at a much cheaper price as his prison buddy's relatives knew the Columbian family selling it and could convince them (which obviously would have involved threatening them) but thankfully this turned out to be all talk. Either Archer is extremely naive and stupid from living such a privileged and sheltered life, or an extremely selfish individual prepared to live of the misery of others to further himself and live more comfortably. Obviously Britain doesn't have the law that criminals can't profit from their crimes that Australia and other countries do. Although this does result in an interesting look for readers into prison life for the wealthy. It is just a shame Archer is allowed to make money from these books. Surely he could donate proceeds to a childrens' hospital or victims of crime groups or something but I guess as he proved by actions in this book, he has no conscience.
Easy Read, Insightful.......2005-09-18
I have to disagree with some of the other reviews. I find this book very easy to read, not boring at all. I could not put it down.
I'm no big fan of Jeffrey Archer, but this Second Book does go into more of the dark side of British Jails and Prisons. The drugs, the violence.... the way the inmates stick together, swapping Mar's bars for Phone Cards.. Very good.
it makes me feel better.......2005-03-12
archer has written a book that gives us a clear insite into the workings of a c-cat prison its easy reading with interesting characters full of dark humour a bit showy when he states that he can do 2000 miles or kms on a rowing machine(they are really hard and tiring) in 10 minutes though read them from the start as you won't have experiences hell and you know that would be cheating
Dear Diary: Today I used the rowing machine.......2005-02-13
Prison is boring, unpleasant. This book is boring, but not unpleasant. That is the lesson learned from reading this book. Archer spends so much of his time objecting to and fighting his conviction to really analyze prison life other than to make a few facile observations on the unintended consequences of some laws and prison practices.
Archer has a few admiring reviews. From the Independent on Sunday: "The finest thing that he's ever written." From The Washington Post: "A tale that is not only important but true." These read more like sarcasm than praise. Just read them again, and scratch your head.
Archer has written some readable fiction. I've read and enjoyed many of his novels and short stories. He can write well enough. Regardless of your perspective on whether or not he should be in jail, or deserved to be convicted, my conclusion is that Archer should stick to fiction.
Best Prison Diary Ever .......2004-07-24
While passing through the airport in London two years ago I had a six hour layover and decided to look around the bookstore where I found a book called "Prisoner FF8282" by some author named Jeffrey Archer.
Since I speak english (American) and am not English I did not know who this Sir Archer is or was. I, however, purchased the book, and, proceeded up to the BA business lounge where I proceeded to begin, reading this book. I, did, finish, the first book "Prisoner FF8282" before I arrived on my nonstop, flight to New York. Sir Archer is a great, author, who, knows, how, to write, a, diary, of, the, workings, and, goings, on, inside, prison. I took pause, upon, arriving home to, re-read, the book and enjoyed it, even, more, the, second, time.
Now, out comes the second Prison Diary from Archer. Again,,, I loved the second installment. In it he details his stay at the second prison called Wayland that sounds pleasant but is far from it. Several House of Lords Sirs visited Sir Archer and were shocked to find that the food was bad, the bedding dirty, and two inmates have to share each cell.
Mr. Archer ended up involved in several fights where he had to defend himself from advances from other inmates. In one horrible incident Mr. Archer had to use a snooker ball (pool ball for we American's)) in a white sock to keep a mentally retarded (his wording, not mine) inmate from entering his cell and having his way. Keep in mind that Mr. Archer is 73 years old and had every right to protect his and what is his.
Jeffrey Archer is to be applauded for his writing skills and dedication to sit each day and document the cummings and goings inside the three prisons.
Each book in the series has received five plus stars from the New York Prison Diary Book Reading Club that I volunteer for.
Should you ever find yourself convicted and on the way to prison the ten books in this series are must read to know the in's and out's of prison routine and unroutine and how to get through your sentance without being violated or made to do things that you generally wouldn't do, even if paid.
I highly recommend this book to all Amazon customers that read books. This book and the other nine in the series are gripping.
I would recommend that you purchase each of the ten in the series... all are well worth reading.
Average customer rating:
- Realistic Experience of a prisoner of concience
- Prebendal Forces and the Stars of Hope
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Detained: A Writer's Prison Diary (African Writers)
Ngugi Wa Thiong'o
Manufacturer: Heinemann
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Binding: Paperback
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Customer Reviews:
Realistic Experience of a prisoner of concience.......2003-02-22
This book was a good expose on the experiences of one of the many Kenyan prisoners of concience. Ngugi manages to paint a picture of the beginings and subsequent life experiences of a detainee in very good detail. I recommend this book to every one and especially Kenyans who are interested in having a first hand detail of the life of a detainee.
Prebendal Forces and the Stars of Hope.......2000-08-27
Ngugi Wa Thiongo is a foremost African author. He has written widely on literary themes and their implication for daily living. He is one of the few authors who have published remarkably in an African language. The only remarkable author from that part of the world is the young, vibrant but now deceased Okot P'Bitek. Ngugi's Detained relishes his ugly and unwarranted prison experiences under the rein of Jomo Kenyatta- an African nationalist who started well burt due to reactionary influences became derailed and unfocused in his vision for the young state. The literary vocation of Ngugi- especially his plays and the critical message that relates to existential situation of poverty and the empowerment of the people was seen as anti-establsihment. He was as a consequence picked up, as is normally the case- an inherited genetic legacy from the colonial era- and dumped into prison. The supposition that the state was almost the exclusive reserve of the sole African-King-leader/head of state provided spurious but not juridical legitimacy to such practices. The book is a reflection of an author who struggled but managed to preoccupy himself while in prison. The author is not alone, in fact he mentioned the experiences of Wole Soyinka as recorded in "The Man Died." This book draws on the historical processes of resistance, and popular empowerment to denounce bourgeois elitist African leaders who had deemed the dreams and aspiration of independence- but forget that Ngugi himself in his book; "Weep not Child" documents the struggles of the Mau Mau resistant movement against colonial rule. Now, in the aftermath of the struggle, one oppressor is simply replaced for another except for skin pigmentation that merely makes the difference. Indigenous colonialism. This book, is an old but yet the insights and vision raised therein remains critically relevant to the struggles of individuals and groups as in their attempt to shrug off oppression, they are crushed by repression into silence in the womb of the bestial prison machinery. These gory institutions is truly meant to crush and recrush its subjects into dehumanized existence. Only very few are lucky to get out to tell their tales- like Ngugi. Others are not so lucky we only get to hear from them- through smuggled materials from prison. Ngugi offers us insights as to the dynamics of prisons as a mechanism of dismantling- if not eliminating- political opponents into resignation or death. But yet they are many who resists the temptation and that is how belligerent political prisoners can be. Even in freedom Ngugi tells the tale of his dispossession-as the possibility of work- a sure means to survival- was denied him. Freedom comes with strings- accept it or reject it- or even fight against it- and that is why being free outside the world of the prison is such a splendid thing. Ngugi equally makes a connection between the multinational or capitalist interests who are intent on submerging the hard-fought gains of independence, with economic subjugation with the attempt to dissipate the so-called radical element that stand in their way and their assumed ability to make and reproduce money and profit. What a shame!!! This book is a very revealing and insightful book. Every reader is bound to reap something good and exciting from Ngugi's experience, and the situation of bondage to which the third world-especially African nations- are held. Nevertheless, people like Ngugi and his future acolytes hold up a vision of hope for the continent and her people. Up goes the torch and there to illumine the darkness. Read on and savour its sweetness!!!
Customer Reviews:
Fantastic Read.......2005-10-08
The more I read this book, the more I understood how important it was for the erstwhile military junta of the time to eliminate Dr. Kenure SAro-Wiwa. This book is a blinding shot in the eye for anyone who was in one way or the other called out for acts the author painstakingly makes the reader to personify. It delves into all manners of "human's inhuman to human," if I dare call it so. Read this, especially if you wish to know the state of the current Africa, using Nigeria as a backdrop, in relation to the rest of the world.
Epic.......2003-04-14
This story will go down in history - have the courage to read this book and pass it on.
RJS
A Respledent Classic against imperial and local oppressors.......2000-08-27
This is a classic text that chronicles the degrading and dehumanizing process of intimidation of by a dictatorial regime embedded in repressive antics and deviously blood-thirsty. This book comes from the lived experience of Ken Saro-Wiwa, Nigeria's foremost environmentalist and literary writer. He, it was who led his Ogoni people to challenge the environmental degradation of their environment by the Anglo-Dutch Shell corporation through gas flaring, oil spillage and soil degeneration, and the exploiting gimmicks of a militarized centralist and thievery regime. In this work Saro-Wiwa, chronicles his role,in the evolution of the history of the struggles for relevance and records the methods of organization and mobilization of the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP)into a vibrant, virulently vocal and highly feared movement. This work derived from the author's contact with the evil of human authority, hence it is a direct a product of his experiences with the malevolent human-evil-forces that were unlynched against him and the struggle. The expereinces reminisced here is just one of his many in the series of unwarranted detentions in the hand of the evil regimes of Ibrahim Babangida and Sani Abacha in unkempt cells of the Nigerian security apparatus in different cities of Nigeria. On another occassion- the detention from which he smuggled this book out to be printed- he would not come out alive. He would be "judicially murdered" by the junta whose guns were brought by the sweat of humble and victimized tax-payers like Ken- representative of repressed Nigerians- and from the money derived from oil that springs from underneath his Niger-Delta homeland-including his Ogoni group. Ken did not leave out the Nigerian Police and their inhumanity- dogs who devour the flesh of other dogs- in fact they act like "vulture." A loaded term in Ogoni parlance! This work goes to show the plight of minorities within such colonial contraptions as the Nigerian nation state, under the dominating rule of a northern hegemony and a limited military clique in collaboration with their favor and fund-questing (fat-bellied) civilian cronies. This goes to further prove the fact that colonialism subjugated many ethnic groups under a contraption that was never dialogued nor radically sanctioned.Is it any surprise that Somali, Rwanda, Burundi, Zaire, Sierra Leone have gone on ruptured by the thunders of machine guns! In this vein the book brings to the fore the problem of such political hypocrisy as such as the overtly caricatured Federalism which is practiced by the Nigerian government. In a way Ken Saro-Wiwa, credenced the fact that all ethnic nationalities must radically be allowed to shape their destiny and control their resources. Further, this book reveals the filthy environmental practices of the multinationals who without regards to safety measures and ecological ethics endanger the lives of people in the orgy for profit-making. Profit-making predominates in the psyche of the multinations in deterrence for the sanctity of the human life! Double business and ethical standards-one for Africa another for the West- in fact Ken calls this "environmental racism." This book is a resplendent classic, and it is essentially valuable for all those who want to educate themselves on one of the most forceful and feared Social, ethnic and environmental movements that has arisen in post-colonial Africa today. In fact, the book goes to show the courageous fights of minorities and social movements towards advocating and ensuring changes. Ken Saro-Wiwa its author was crudely exterminated with eight others on a farce of a trial- a militarized set-up tribunal of the despised tyrannt of Sani Abacha in 1995. Saro-Wiwa is dead but remains a living-dead, an ancestor of a sort for the many social movements that revolves around emphasizing rural development and sound environmental norms and sanctity for the community where companies are located that are emerging in Nigeria today, and it would not be an overstatement to add Africa. His ideas and views radiates and takes on flesh in this little book. Buy one today, read and digest it and realize what a portent book it is, and know why the author was most few by a modern day dictator, who feared men and women of ideas than he feared the men and women who hold the guns! Happy reading! Bon voyage!
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