Rating: Summary: A Rollercoaster Review: I was reading other reveiws of this book and found it somewhat misleading how other people who reveiwed this book were complaining about "no character depth" and "Poorly written". Did these people evn read the book. If you want nicely written and flawless writting I'm sure you could find a host of books out there. If you want a story told from the heart about a person called Warren Fellows who lived in horendous conditions and saw atrosities that no person should see let alone experience.Everyone is responsible for there own destiny. Warren Fellows took a risk and paid for it. A heroin user choses to have there first hit. Warren Fellows was no more a criminal than a person who sells illegally copied games. Many people would disagree with this but Ibeleive it. It is up to the individual to live there own life, to take risks where they see fit, they do not think how there actions will hurt someone down the track, even if they did they would realize that if they didn't do this then somebody else would, causing the same outcome. The only difference would be that they would have much less money. Anyway I found it to be a very good book, infact It was the first book I have read in nearly a year. And for lack of a better phrase "I couldn't put it down". Very Insightful
Rating: Summary: 4000 DAYS GAVE ME SLEEPLESS NIGHTS Review: I have never been in prison. I have never been to Thialand or Bangkok. When I picked up this book, I didn't take a break for the first 50 of its 206 pages. Warren Fellows warns his readers that his story is a recounting of the most terrifying experiences of his life: 11 years in a torturous, inhumane hell. He exposed me to the underbelly of a gruesome correctional system with ancient methods of punishment dating centuries ago. His frankness and endurace make this a riveting story of survival that took place within the last 20 years. How can a man's life be worth so little to so many? What enables him to survive beatings and starvation? The vivid imagery of this engrossing book will stay with me for a long time - though I read it in two sittings.
Rating: Summary: you will be unable to put this book down Review: In fact, I (like many of the other reviewers listed here) plowed through this book in about a weekend. It was stark, haunting, sad, and powerful. Although what you read is shocking, the author hasn't seemed to dramatize his story. Rather, his experience is told frankly and without embellishment, but with no attempt to sanatize or obscure the truth. He does a great job of explaining the physical and mental trials he endured and makes little excuse for what he did that landed him there.
Rating: Summary: Only book worth reading... Review: The last review of this book I read I found to be from a mislead reader. The most important background one has to have for this tragic story, is that no one would ever choose to smuggle heroin if they had known the consequences involved when trafficing drugs into S.E.Asia. I have lived in Bangkok myself and know very well that nearly 100% of the foreign inmates had no idea of the grave consequences involved and although this book is written from Fellows continuous apologetic view it is important to bear in mind how much more of a tragedy this man has undergone. NOONE DESERVES TO SPEND A NIGHT IN A JAIL OF SUCH STANDARDS, WHETHER IT BE HITLER OR MOTHER TERESA. The conditions described in this book are so horrific that there is no way that you couldnt finish this book in more than a week. I promise you this is the best account of a person who was treated with no rights whatsoever, and should be placed right next to PRIMO LEVI's account of Auschwitz "IF THIS IS A MAN"
Rating: Summary: Thai Hell Review: I found Warren Fellows description of his ordeal as harrowing yet highly compulsive,in fact I read the book from cover to cover in one session. His descriptions at the beginning of his incarceration are a severe reminder to anyone in the trafficing world that if you deal in drugs in Thailand you really are taking your life in your hands. Having recently returned from Thailand,I was amazed by its beauty but reminded of what squalid conditions lie behind the beauty of this country. An excellent read but not for anyone who is squeamish. Fellows was undoubtedly guilty of his crime yet I got the impression that he really was the pawn and suffered very heavily for it. A great read!
Rating: Summary: Still serving a life sentence Review: This is a very revealing biography of unspeakable human abuse delivered to the prisoners from Thailand's prisons. It is barely tolerable to turn the pages and comprehend that such treatment was provided by other human beings. His words fall on us, reading in the safety of our worlds, out of touch of such unbelieveable nightmares. There is no way we can really understand what Warren went through. I feel it was a huge sacrifice to relive these events so his experience could be told and in the wake of such terror, it deserves recognition and continued efforts to pressure Thailand authorities to alter these practices. One can argue that he took the risks and his luck ran out. After the fact, this is pointless to me, as his punsihment so outweighed the crime. It deserves contemplation as to how other nations press these third world countries to inflict such illogical sentencing, but the politics are dense and convuluted. It is obvious after reading this book that Warren Fellows served a life sentence after all.
Rating: Summary: bunch of lies Review: I was there!I got life sentence for just about the same crime and spend six years in Big Tiger {Bang Kwang Prison}from 1990 till 1996 meeting many guys who remembered Mr.Fellows.I am not a perfect guy but I like the truth and reading His book,titled in Australia"Damage Done",I was shaking with outrage.Not because of twisting the truth but lack of loyalty towards foreign prisoners remaining there.Enter the false report about lack of drinking water made by Mexican to some Human Rights organization and consequences of this act:refusal of pardon-three of them are still there-thirteen years after founding guilty of commiting a crime which is only a fraction of what I and MR.Fellows did.If I was to rebut all the claims made by Mr.Fellows in His book,I would have to write a book myself and what a inspiration is His "Damage Done".Damage done indeed! English is my second language and I would need professional help to write my story.One day maybe I do so.
Rating: Summary: Excellent Review: I found this to be an excellent reading, having been in Thailand for a couple of years, and visiting prisoners now and then in Bang Kwan Prison, I can relate to Fellows' story. It's a shame that the Thai prison system is not being hammered by international organisations, because what happens there is Auschwitz revisited. My compliments to Fellows, who wrote a terrific account.
Rating: Summary: ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS YOU COULD READ Review: A great read for anyone. A story of friendship, sadness, will and HELL. You will read this book in a day.
Rating: Summary: Tale of inhumanity, brutallity, and misery, he chose Review: This book can be read in one day. One thing I liked about it, is that he isn't a professional writer. Yet, he conveyed his thoughts and experiences well. He didn't make excuses for his actions or the consequences. He played the game and got caught. Credit to Fellows for sharing parts of his personal and family life with us as well as his life inside Maha Chai and Bang Kwang Prison. He was before being caught a shrewd drug courier, getting out of some very close calls with airport security and immigration, by impromptu ideas and actions. He kept his cool, was very creative, and he had guts. These were risks with such high consequences that very few would even think about taking them. The physical and mental torture, and the humiliation he experienced and witnessed was beyond human. They are provided in detail. After his release from Bang Kwang and return home to Australia he described the difficulty of adjusting life on the outside, and the tole it would eventually take on his friend he served time with.
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