A review by cailinrua
Borstal Boy, by Brendan Behan, Benedict Kiely

3.0

i really don’t know how to feel about this book. surprisingly i found the first part where he spends his time in walton prison much more interesting than the actual part about him in borstal, i don’t know why. a bit disappointed after having seen the film and also after having read confessions of an irish rebel, which i enjoyed much more than this book. i guess the whole cult around it made me get my expectations up by a lot but it left me kind of hanging. not as funny as i thought it would be (even though some parts made me laugh really hard) and i was often annoyed by brendan and his unfunny lies (the one with the part worn screw) and his whole centrist attitude lmao but all in all it was an interesting and fairly entertaining read. probably bc behan himself was just a really interesting character and i am kind of fascinated by him.