A Bit Of A Stretch
9.0
Rate It
Book
Where can a tin of tuna buy you clean clothes? Where is it easier to get 'spice' than paracetamol?...
Non Fiction Wandsworth Prison Prison Reform UK Prisons
ClareR (5721 KP) rated A Bit Of A Stretch in Books
Feb 21, 2020
Chris Atkins was sent to prison for 5 years after being involved in a dodgy tax scheme that was used to finance his films. Wandsworth was to be his home for a large part of his sentence, and this is where the book is set. Chris wrote a diary whilst he was there, and he certainly had enough to write about: drug dealers, self-harmer’s, prison officers, of the helpful, clueless and vindictive varieties, and senior officials trying to instigate some sort of reform (which ends badly, if I’m honest).
It’s a funny, and at times frustrating read. It illustrates everything that’s wrong with our prison system, which seems to be stuck in the Victorian era. We need to decide what we want our prison system to do: to simply incarcerate, or to rehabilitate. The number of people who reoffend is phenomenal - isn’t this a total waste of money? Is this really a reflection of time well served?
Anyway, I suggest everyone reads this and makes up their own minds.
Many thanks to The Pigeonhole for serialising this book, and to the author, Chris Atkins, for reading along.
Full Pardon
Book
When Billy McFetridge was discharged from the British Army, the Ulster Defence Association knew they...
AJaneClark (3975 KP) rated A Bit Of A Stretch in Books
Feb 20, 2021
This book is an eye-opener, highlighting the failures in prison reforms, the amount of drugs in the prisons, as well as other internal goings on. Atkins writes with emotion and humour, you feel his despair at the separation from his child, and the frustration of life behind bars. You will also find yourself laughing out loud.
If you like biographical tell alls, you will enjoy this one.
JT (287 KP) rated Starred Up (2014) in Movies
Mar 16, 2020
It’s a major part of their relationship as Nev’s parental tactics involve the cruel to be kind method. It’s the only way that Eric is going to survive and the only way he will walk out in one piece. Eric finds some solace in Oliver (Rupert Friend) whose anger management sessions are a place to unleash a tirade of resentment. It places him within a group where any other individual might find themselves out of their depth – Eric takes it full on.
The film is written by Jonathan Asser, a former prison psychotherapist who worked in HMP Wandsworth. So he more than anyone can inject the film with a massive sense of realism. The prison violence can be hard to watch but you don’t find yourself turning away from the screen.
It’s not shrouded in Hollywood gloss and is shot with graphic precision. Mendelsohn’s performance is excellent playing the psycho and his delivery is spot on. Friend is also a joy to watch and a real talent. The Homeland star-making imprints into the acting elite.
However, this is very much O’Connell’s film and it’s not hard to see why he is fast becoming a standout actor. Grabbing this role in a vice-like grip he battles with his personality, the adoration from his father and a corrupt system who want him eradicated. It doesn’t paint the prison system in a particularly good light but then prison isn’t supposed to be a holiday camp.
Banged Up: Doing Time in Britain's Toughest Jails
5.0
Rate It
Book
The wartime double agent with a transmitter in his cell to contact suffragettes; the doctor hanged...
Hitler's Spy
Book
Originally published as Double Agent Snow, Hitler's Spyis the paperback edition, which tells of how...