An Evil Cradling

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The author was very clear that the writing of this book was a cathartic exercise; I sincerely hope that it served that purpose. The 103 third parties who use cookies on this service do so for their purposes of displaying and measuring personalized ads, generating audience insights, and developing and improving products. After all, he had come from Ireland, at a time where there was significant unrest and political violence.

Keenan provides his own processed self-examination and reflection, keeping blunt details wrapped in an "extreme care and sensitivy," which ultimately keeps everything described at a remove. When I first started reading I was partially anticipating a harrowing tale of survival but this was not the case; instead this book details a tale of endurance overcoming mind-numbing monotony and tedium.He simply tells what happened so he can lay it to rest behind him, and from what I can tell, he's gone on to do exactly that. Unlike some of his more cautious colleagues he didn’t live on the university campus but in a villa nearby.

This is not just a book about being captive: this is a psychological study into understanding your captors.I must confess that I strongly believe that this experience of Keenan’s, when for five years he only had the words and the images that his mind could create, completely shaped his writing. Brian's account of his incarceration at the hands of extremist groups in Beirut during the 1980s is a harrowing read in its "matter of factness " - his observations and inner thoughts give the reader an insight into how desperate it must feel to have no control over any part of your existence and for for how long the situation would last. I don’t think the book or their relationship could wear that - but without it, there’s something missing. With ruthless honesty and poetic insight, Keenan evokes the psychic claustrophobia of the hostage, and the uncommon gift of a deeper appreciation of love.

It is a completely unflinching account of the brutality and suffering he endured; of the madness he slipped in and out of; of the desperation and the uncertainty and the fear.Brian was kidnapped and incarcerated in Beirut and over more than 4 years moved to various hiding places. Afterwards he accepted a teaching position at the American University of Beirut, where he worked for about four months. I was very interested in the details given, both the practical reality of his days and his methods of survival and why it was effective.

There he was handed over by the Syrian Foreign Ministry to the care of Irish Ambassador, Declan Connolly. This book is a testament to humanity, though not the idealised view of humanity in which we "ride above adversity because in the end the human spirit wins out. The start of the book gives a brief background to his life, and then a quick outline of his first few months in Lebanon.

Sebastian Faulks in the Independent on Sunday said "The scope and grandeur of his reflections is supported by the concrete detail of his narrative. Pride is all very well and good if you're trying to stop yourself from being completely dehumanised and broken down by extremists holding you hostage, but I think it should be combined with picking one's battles.