Behan, Brendan

Average customer rating:

The more I know him, the more I regret that he's gone
A beacon of hope about the nature of mankind
breath-takingly funny
Brilliant one-of-a-kind memoir
tragicomedy about a young ira boy and his experiences

Borstal Boy
Brendan Behan
Manufacturer: David R. Godine Publisher
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1567921051

Book 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.

Customer Reviews:

The more I know him, the more I regret that he's gone.......2006-09-07

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 But in this, his most powerful and insightful work, he speaks to an audience that is far from outdated, saying the things he feels and believes, with an honesty that most of us wish we had, but work far too hard to conceal.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.......2005-02-19

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.......2002-10-31

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.......2001-02-22

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.

tragicomedy about a young ira boy and his experiences.......1999-05-05

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!!!

The Complete Plays: The Hostage, The Quare Fellow, Richard's Cork Leg (Black Cat Book)

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review of The Quare Fellow

The Complete Plays: The Hostage, The Quare Fellow, Richard's Cork Leg (Black Cat Book)
Brendan Behan
Manufacturer: Grove Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Borstal Boy
The Complete Plays of John M. Synge
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Brendan Behan: A Life
The Beauty Queen of Leenane and Other Plays

ASIN: 0802130704

Customer Reviews:

review of The Quare Fellow.......2005-06-11

This review is of the first play in the book, The Quare Fellow.

I highly recommend The Quare Fellow, the first play in the collection. I would like to see it performed. Behan's writing skills are comparable to those of Frank McCourt, author of Angela's Ashes: first rate.

I am not reviewing the entire collection because I haven't read it due to time limitations.

Brendan Behan's Island: An Irish Sketch-Book

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Brendan Behan's Island: An Irish Sketch-Book
Brendan Behan
Manufacturer: Little Brown and Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Borstal Boy

ASIN: 0316087734

Average customer rating:

Brendan Behan's Island An Irish Sketch-book
Brendan Behan
Manufacturer: Bernard Geis Associates
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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Borstal Boy
Behan Complete Plays

ASIN: B000EORLTU

Average customer rating:

Brendan Behan's New York
Brendan Behan
Manufacturer: Bernard Geis Associates Random House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B0000CMASV

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Borstal Boy.
Brendan Behan
Manufacturer: Kiepenheuer & Witsch
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 3462025449

Average customer rating:

Typical understated brilliance from Behan.
a scintillating set of Dublin vignettes

After the Wake
Brendan Behan
Manufacturer: O'Brien Press,The
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Short Stories | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0862780314

Customer Reviews:

Typical understated brilliance from Behan........2000-05-09

After The Wake is absolutely one of my favorite books; the stories are by turns poignant, hilarious, sad and knowing. This truly is Behan at his best, writing with the rhythmic language of the working class and with insight into human character few authors can equal. In addition, Behan's knack for setting a scene or introducting a character in very few words is in full flourish; I truly felt as if I KNEW the characters (their facial expressions, histories, bad luck - all of it) in a few short sentences. In short, After The Wake is excellent on all counts and is recommended not only as a stellar work of fiction, but also as a perfect introduction to the work of Brendan Behan.

a scintillating set of Dublin vignettes.......1998-04-26

Behan's collection of shorts, including the title story, evokes the richness of Irish language and humour that made Wilde, Shaw, and Behan such legends, without resorting to the didacticism of Swift and Beckett. By turns heartbreaking, hilarious, and downright scandalous, Behan's vigniettes never fail to give what Joyce's Dubliners only suggested: the warm-blooded humanity of Ireland, including its heartbreak and petty follies.

Average customer rating:

Brendan Behan Is A Very Funny Man.
Brendan Behan Is A Very Funny Man.
Brendan Behan's best writing

Hold Your Hour and Have Another
Brendan Behan
Manufacturer: Hutchinson
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Customer Reviews:

Brendan Behan Is A Very Funny Man........2003-01-17

HOLD YOUR HOUR AND HAVE ANOTHER is actually a collection of short articles written by Behan for THE IRISH PRESS. Many describe incidents from his own life. Some take place in pubs. My favorite is entitled "The Hot Malt Man and the Bores."

Behan is a very funny man amd the illustrations by Beatrice Behan add even more humor to this rather short but thoroughly enjoyable book.

Brendan Behan Is A Very Funny Man........2003-01-17

Behan is a very funny man amd the illustrations by Beatrice Behan add even more humor to this rather short but thoroughly enjoyable book.

Brendan Behan's best writing.......1998-01-15

a compilation of his early writing for the Irish Press .. mainly short stories - hilariously funny. May, at times, require an understanding of Dublin argot.

Average customer rating:

Very good book
Damn Good Book

Confessions of an Irish Rebel
Brendan Behan
Manufacturer: Hutchinson & Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: B00005VOGC

Customer Reviews:

Very good book.......2005-09-10

I bought the book in 1993. Tried to get it again via Amazon, but cannot (since only used books available, and I am in Indonesia).

I like the book very much. The jokes were very fresh.

Imam Soeseno
Bogor, Indonesia

Damn Good Book.......2005-04-07

I've read reviews that say 'Borstal Boy' is a better book- but this is a hysterical, random set of stories about Behan's years before he became a literary entity, but after he left prison. There's some great stuff about Camus, the two were friends in Paris. Highly recomended, especially if you liked his other stuff- this is a bit more acidic than 'Borstal Boy', but much funnier and a hell of a lot more acidic. He was a good man, the Irish equal of Dylan Thomas.

Average customer rating:

Confessions of an Irish Rebel
Brendan Behan
Manufacturer: ARROW (RAND)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Irish | Ethnic & National | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

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