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The Pain of Confinement: Prison Diaries
Astounding and justifiably famous diary of one man's incarceration at the hands of the brutal Scottish penal system.
- GenresScotlandNonfiction
304 pages, Paperback
First published May 3, 1985
About the author
Jimmy Boyle
10 books5 followersJames Boyle is a Scottish former gangster and convicted murderer who became a sculptor and novelist after his release from prison.
In 1967, Boyle was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of another gangland figure, William "Babs" Rooney. He served fourteen years before his release in 1980. Boyle has always denied killing Rooney but has acknowledged having been a violent and sometimes ruthless moneylender from the Gorbals, one of the roughest and most deprived areas of Glasgow. During his incarceration in the special unit of Barlinnie Prison, he turned to art and wrote an autobiography, A Sense of Freedom (1977), which was later turned into a film of the same name.
Boyle has published Pain of Confinement: Prison Diaries (1984), and a novel, Hero of the Underworld (1999). The latter was adapted for a French film, La Rage et le Rêve des Condamnés (The Anger and Dreams of the Condemned), and won the best documentary prize at the Fifa Montreal awards in 2002. He also wrote a novel, A Stolen Smile, which is about the theft of the Mona Lisa and how it ends up hidden on a Scottish housing scheme.
In 1967, Boyle was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of another gangland figure, William "Babs" Rooney. He served fourteen years before his release in 1980. Boyle has always denied killing Rooney but has acknowledged having been a violent and sometimes ruthless moneylender from the Gorbals, one of the roughest and most deprived areas of Glasgow. During his incarceration in the special unit of Barlinnie Prison, he turned to art and wrote an autobiography, A Sense of Freedom (1977), which was later turned into a film of the same name.
Boyle has published Pain of Confinement: Prison Diaries (1984), and a novel, Hero of the Underworld (1999). The latter was adapted for a French film, La Rage et le Rêve des Condamnés (The Anger and Dreams of the Condemned), and won the best documentary prize at the Fifa Montreal awards in 2002. He also wrote a novel, A Stolen Smile, which is about the theft of the Mona Lisa and how it ends up hidden on a Scottish housing scheme.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 13, 2018
If you are considering to read this book, I have one recommendation: please skip this book. Better to NOT read this book! But why then?
Okay, the introduction was still okay. I wasn’t aware that this book was the second book in line with another book of the author. I hadn’t read his first book, so the introduction was for me relevant since it contained some context on what happened in his first book. This part was also written in a style that a normal book would have.
After the introduction ended, sh*t hit the fan. All of a sudden the book changed to a format whereby it was a one-on-one copy of his diary writings. The text was split in parts that first gave a date of entry in his diary, followed by the writings of that day.
The diary entries consisted of a lot of complaining by the author. The author was part of some special program, that allowed the inmates to have many many liberties. This included “visiting hours” that allowed their friends and family to visit complete days, to get access to activities like sculpturing etc. All paid for by the prison. The author was even allowed to go outside the prison to attend art shows. The programme called the unit”, allowed only a few prisoners to attend and was discriminatory versus orher regular inmates that did not get these priviliges. I mean... the “unit” had a kitchen to which the inmates had access. I.e. the author, as a murderer, had access to knives in prison?!
The author seemed to have done everything to protect all his priviliges. He snitched / grassed on other inmates, wrote letters to newspapers behind the back of the prison authorities, Even putting pressure on and complaining to the minister of government were part of his doings.
I really could not find sympathy for the complaints of the auhtor. As a convicted murdered, I don’t even understand why he deserved so many priviliges in prison? It almost was as if this program was introduced to pamper just the author. I mean... why would only this prisoner be allowed to do daily sculpting whilst others dont. He even complained when the governer wanted to remove the sculptures from his cell and the prison corridors.
I decided to read it fully in the hope things would get better. But no. Constant complaining on why he thinks he deserves all the liberties that other prisoners didn’t get. It was just irritating. And all this in this diary style that was regularly difficult to read.
I gave the book two stars, but it is actually between one and two stars.
Note: I am trying to read many prison books and as such ordered his first book. This in hope it is not written in this diary style. It should discuss his story before all the pampering would begin. The part in which he would have an aggressive stance to prison authorities.
But let me be clear, THIS book is NOT worth the read.
Okay, the introduction was still okay. I wasn’t aware that this book was the second book in line with another book of the author. I hadn’t read his first book, so the introduction was for me relevant since it contained some context on what happened in his first book. This part was also written in a style that a normal book would have.
After the introduction ended, sh*t hit the fan. All of a sudden the book changed to a format whereby it was a one-on-one copy of his diary writings. The text was split in parts that first gave a date of entry in his diary, followed by the writings of that day.
The diary entries consisted of a lot of complaining by the author. The author was part of some special program, that allowed the inmates to have many many liberties. This included “visiting hours” that allowed their friends and family to visit complete days, to get access to activities like sculpturing etc. All paid for by the prison. The author was even allowed to go outside the prison to attend art shows. The programme called the unit”, allowed only a few prisoners to attend and was discriminatory versus orher regular inmates that did not get these priviliges. I mean... the “unit” had a kitchen to which the inmates had access. I.e. the author, as a murderer, had access to knives in prison?!
The author seemed to have done everything to protect all his priviliges. He snitched / grassed on other inmates, wrote letters to newspapers behind the back of the prison authorities, Even putting pressure on and complaining to the minister of government were part of his doings.
I really could not find sympathy for the complaints of the auhtor. As a convicted murdered, I don’t even understand why he deserved so many priviliges in prison? It almost was as if this program was introduced to pamper just the author. I mean... why would only this prisoner be allowed to do daily sculpting whilst others dont. He even complained when the governer wanted to remove the sculptures from his cell and the prison corridors.
I decided to read it fully in the hope things would get better. But no. Constant complaining on why he thinks he deserves all the liberties that other prisoners didn’t get. It was just irritating. And all this in this diary style that was regularly difficult to read.
I gave the book two stars, but it is actually between one and two stars.
Note: I am trying to read many prison books and as such ordered his first book. This in hope it is not written in this diary style. It should discuss his story before all the pampering would begin. The part in which he would have an aggressive stance to prison authorities.
But let me be clear, THIS book is NOT worth the read.
April 1, 2013
inspirational and aspirational. a true exemplar of desistence theory and a fellow glasweigan.
October 7, 2021
Essential teading if you're reading Boyle's Sense of Freedom.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews