An Evil Cradling

by Brian Keenan

Book Overview

Brian Keenan went to Beirut in 1985 for a change of scene from his native Belfast. He became headline news when he was kidnapped by fundamentalist Shi'ite militiamen and held in the suburbs of Beirut for the next four and a half years. For much of that time he was shut off from all news and contact with anyone other than his jailers and, later, his fellow hostages, amongst them John McCarthy.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 009999030X
• ISBN13: 9780099990307
• Release Date: January 1993
• Publisher: Vintage Books USA
• Length: 307 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.1" x 7.8"

Customer Reviews

Uplifting

I'd had this book on my bookshelf for many years, having bought it after seeing an excellent review. But I never seemed to get around to reading it - perhaps it would be hard going, a harrowing tale ... Finally, I picked it up. It's an amazing read - you really get to know Keenan, and his companion for much of his incarceration, John McCarthy, and what's more his captors too. (The American hostages they spend time with are less well drawn in many cases) How could we cope in this situation? Keenan tells us exactly how he and McCarthy made it through - nearly five years in his case; more than five for McCarthy. Occasionally, Keenan veers towards becoming a little too cerebral about it all, but then pulls back, leaving us which much to mull over about the strength but also sheer honesty of this man. One of those books where you finish feeling like you have really come to know someone - perhaps more than you know the people in your own life. I closed the book (a little surprised at where it ended ... I wanted more ... but that's Brian) and immediately sought up to date information about Keenan -- to discover that he only recently returned to Lebanon for the first time (see the Times Online, March 08, to complete the journey after you've read the book).

As powerful as anything I have ever read.

This is undoubtedly one of the most powerful books I have ever read. It is not a chronological or day to day catalog of how one man survived an ordeal which most of us could only imagine (being held hostage in Lebanon for five? years because some terrorists mistook him for an Englishman, when he was actually Irish), but rather a look at how his inner resources helped him survive, and helps the reader understand what a resourceful and mentally strong will it takes to do so. This is a cut above, and frankly, a book that has not been far from my thoughts since I finished it...

Shock, Empathy and a New Understanding

What words describe this book? Powerful, disturbing, haunting and yet beautiful, inspirational, darkly humorous, certainly well written. Every emotion is experienced as one is taken into the dark world and life he lived. Every emotion stays alive within you for some time after reading it. Although the book describes in detail the horrible events of his hostage ordeal, the overwhelming theme is the absolute need and tremendous importance of human relationships, interdependancy and love. Mr. Keenan shows us the depths possible in friendship and trust. If these can sustain hostages in hell, certainly they can transform any life. He has caused me to re-evaluate my own human condition. Equally important in today's post-9/11 world, anyone who is asking what is in a terrorist's mind to drive them to such evil will find answers here. He describes the beliefs, motivations and values of those terrorists who held him - not much removed from those of today. Their world is in every sense foreign to "Westerners." It is an honor to have read this book. One is left thinking "God bless Brian and God help the rest of us."

Unforgettable

In 1982 Israel invaded Lebanon and pursued the leaders of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), who were operating out of Beirut. A Multinational Force, in support of the then government, was set up in an attempt to stabilise the situation by separating the Muslim and Christian communities, however, by February 1984 the risks had become so great that the MNF was obliged to pull out of Lebanon, threatened by the prospects of civil war, and fearful of further terrorist attacks.The author of "An Evil Cradling", Brian Keenan, was taken prisoner a couple of years later, in 1986, and in this work he gives a gruelling account of his harsh and lonely imprisonment, enlightened mainly by vitally important snatches of human contact and interaction, largely with John McCarthy, a British journalist also held prisoner at the same time. Keenan left Ireland for Beirut in an attempt to flee the interminable, religious troubles of his homeland. It is true that by birth, he should have been less implicated in the religious conflicts of Lebanon, and yet ironically he came to suffer four and a half years of imprisonment, despite being an "outsider" to the difficulties in Beirut. He was an Irishman, not a Brit, an American or a Frenchman. His country had played no role in Lebanon and yet as an Irishman on the run, perhaps mistakenly taken for a Brit, he innocently fell into the very heart of the troubles. What he lived and felt is recounted here in beautifully written poetry and prose. It is a book which I know will remain engrained in my memory, and this being the case, I can only begin to imagine how much the experience will haunt him for the rest of his life.In my opinion, the most striking part of this book is the courage Keenan demonstrates in putting this experience on paper and confronting it head on.Rather than running away and hiding, he chooses to draw the most positive conclusions we could hope for with sanity and poise, conclusions which lead him to face the conflicts in Northern Ireland fearlessly. That is not to say that he escaped unscathed, far from it, but at least he tries to learn from what he suffered and attempts to share that learning with those willing to listen, and to try to understand. The intellectual and human strength demonstrated in this writing marked me forever.

I cried, I laughed, I cried some more

This is perhaps the most moving piece of literature I have ever read. In Brian's journey we are forced to take a look at our own journeys through life. I remember when he was a hostage and everyday the local newspaper in Belfast would publish how many days he had been missing. As those numbers crept upward we despaired but his sisters were ever hopeful and forced us to keep him always in our minds. His account of his captivity is so inspiring. It is wonderful to see how his sense of humor and love of the written word kept him going. More recently I have read his accounts of his visit to Chile with John McCarthy. Here is a man with a real gift for using words to describe torrents of emotion and who's use of poetry illuminates the soul. If you read only one book in your life read this one!