Books About Prisons That You Should Read
Prison theme for a book is not such a regular theme as it should be. In my opinion, prisons are places where many different cultures and people collide. This combination makes books about prisons also perhaps the hardest books to write, because you need to write about many different topics, as there is no prison where everything is the same every day.
Throughout the years, I have read a plethora of books that take place in prisons all around the world. However, there are three books that are, in my opinion, the best books of the genre. Today, I’m going to discuss those three books, and I strongly recommend reading each one of them if you have the time.
The Gulag Archipelago
Though not technically a book about an actual prison, this masterpiece by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn talks about the forced labor camp system in the Soviet Union seen from the eyes of the author himself, as he was once a prisoner too, as well as from other eyewitnesses who spent time there. This book gives you the first-hand insight into the cruelty of the Soviet forced labor camps, where the criminals and political prisoners were kept.
The Green Mile
Although many people have only watched the movie, I strongly recommend reading the book too. This Stephen King’s masterpiece is a must read for anyone who’s into horror and thriller genre, as well as for anyone who just wants to read an amazing story by one of the greatest authors of our time.
Set in 1932, this book shows us the experience of a death row supervisor Paul Edgecombe, who encounters a strange convict, John Coffey. The book shows us the bond created between Edgecombe and Coffey during the time they spent prior to the Coffey’s execution. The end made us cry for a death row convict, I believe no book has done that before. A brilliant story indeed.
The Damned Yard
This is not just perhaps the greatest prison book ever, but also one of my favourite books of all time. This book is written by a Nobel Prize winner Ivo Andrić, an author of many great books including The Bridge on Drina, for whom he actually won his Nobel Prize in 1961.
The book tells a story of a young wealthy man named Ćamil, who was falsely accused of trying to overthrow the Turkish Sultan of that time. The story is narrated by Peter, a Serbian priest who was also a prisoner by a misunderstanding. The prison goes by the name of The Damned Yard, a nickname that perfectly describes the atmosphere in it. Stories of many men combine into a masterpiece that will make you read it in one breath, and then crave for more when this brilliant story comes to an end.
There are many other great books about prisons out there such as Inside Looking Out by Stan Fletcher . In this article, I tried to be as descriptive as I could without spoiling the books for you, and I tried to give you the reason why these three books are a must-read for anyone who loves a good prison story.
Thank you for reading!