© Kalich, 2004
Brian Keenan was captured by mistake (as an alleged Brit) in Lebanon in the 1980s. When the kidnappers revealed his identity, it was too late, because he knew too much. He remained imprisoned for almost five years.
In his book, he focuses on the inner world of a person exposed to extreme pressure. He does not evaluate his tormentors with hatred, but with a kind of peculiar empathy, even with understanding. He evaluates the years spent in the face of everyday humiliation as a life experience that awakened in him unsuspected abilities and feelings. Physical pain seems to him to be much less significant than the suffering of the soul, which can only be fought with unwavering will and humour. Fascinating is also the story of his strong friendship with a fellow prisoner, a man with different starting points of life and with whom he would normally find it difficult to get close.
Hutchinson 1992
Translated into: Czech
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