An Evil Cradling |
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Brian Keenan
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Pages: 307 (Paperback)
ISBN: 009999030X
Pub: Vintage
Pub date: 1993-04-15
Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 18803
Reader Reviews:
"We are all creatures in need of love" (2/2 people found this helpful)
Totally shrouded in masking tape and lifted like rolled carpets, two men are placed in a coffin-like hiding place in the well of a truck. Then, incredibly, into this tiny space climbs an armed guard who lies on top. Sweltering, suffocated by dust and diesel fumes, fighting claustrophobia, head and body banging onto metal - crushed with horror "not of human origin" - this is how Brian Keenan and his fellow hostage John McCarthy were moved between hiding places during their time as hostages in Beirut - Brian Keenan for four and a half years. One such journey lasted six hours and they were moved at least seventeen times.
Savagely beaten, living in filthy, squalid conditions, deprived at times of light or food, shackled to the wall or radiators, tortured by mosquitoes, ants and cockroaches, with no hope of release and at times not expecting to survive the next hour, each hostage had only his inner resources to save him from madness or utter despair. Sometimes incarcerated with others, notably three American hostages, Keenan and McCarthy drew strength from each other. On the surface very different, their close bond provided moments of humour as they devised means of surviving empty days and combating the fear of insanity and death.
Brian Keenan's furious response to being treated as something less than human by his Islamic Jihad captors - food flung to them, humiliated, degraded, the casual assumption that all Westerners are evil - made him rebel to the point that ultimately, he and John McCarthy earned not only the respect of their captors; but incredibly, also their affection.
In "A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush" Eric Newby writes "Perhaps one of the most disagreeable features of fanatic Islam is its ability to make people of other faiths feel impure in thought, word and deed". Primo Levi writing of his experiences of Auschwitz in "If this is a Man" struggled with similar concepts of man's inhumanity to man - though in this case Christian to Jew.
Eventually Keenan finds some point, or purpose, in the inevitable question "why me?". He recognises the need of one human for another and achieves horrific insight into the warped minds of those in whom this need is distorted.
That anyone could emerge strengthened and enlightened by such a horrific experience, is the ultimate testimony to strength of spirit and inner awareness. Keenan and McCarthy had these in abundance. This book is testimony not only of the harsh day to day reality of being held hostage; but also the spiritual journey along the way. It should be a warning to the vast majority of us who would have disintegrated into mindless emptiness within the first days, weeks or months. As Keenan states, "How little a person knows what is in himself" ... "We are all creatures in need of love"..."We all have to deal with these things on our own"..."No man is singular in the way he lives his life"... "There is always something in us that will not submit".
The Best (9/9 people found this helpful)
Having never written a review before, I am compelled to in respect of this book. I read, in order of their release, An Evil Cradling, Some Other Rainbow and Taken on Trust - all separate accounts of the Beruit hostages. But an Evil Cradling by Brian Keenan was by far the best. He writes with sensitivity and humour yet doesn't pull any punches. His instant raport and emerging relationship with fellow prisoner John McCarthy permeates the whole of the story and makes for remarkable reading. Even now, having read countless bio/autobiographies, it still remains one of my favourite reads. CHOOSE JOY!
Excellent Long Haul Flight Reading (5/5 people found this helpful)
Beautifully written, brutally honest, and excellent for taking your mind off feeling cramped on an aeroplane. It probably has greater relevance today than when it was published. A testament to survival.
What an achievement! (3/7 people found this helpful)
This is the most important book to come out of northern Europe in the past 50 years. I have read it many times, and bought numerous copies for friends, who rave about it as much as I do. It provokes a plethora of important and profound thoughts in oneself, and inspires to understanding, and ultimately, forgiveness.
Superb (11/13 people found this helpful)
The best choice I ever made at school was to read this book for a short assessed presentation on an autobiography. There it was in the autobiographies section, but very different from many of the others available in the small library.
3 years on, the power of the words are still with me, the harrowing nature of the story and approach taken by Keenan in the telling made a superb combination. A true testament to human endurance.
I agree with the reviewers that dislike the neglect of the politcal issues surrounding the story could detract from the experience for some - however, this is an account of the human condition under circumstances beyond the perception of most, not the political situation of Lebanon in the mid 80's. The location and the identity of the captors is essentially irrelavent throughout.
As such I would recommend this to anyone for the reading experience, but not to those who are looking for political analysis.
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