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How To Escape From Prison
TLS: 4.16.2020 by
Sophie Brown
“What’s
the best way to escape from prison?”, asks the ex-convict on the other end of
the phone. He told me via email that he’d been released four weeks before our
phone call, but I’m starting to wonder whether I might have stumbled into an
entirely different story.
“Well,
I’m not really sure to be honest with you Matt*”, I stutter down the line. “I
assume the Shawshank thing doesn’t work?”
“The
best way to escape prison is with a book, Sophie. And no, the Shawshank thing
would never work. I’m not on the run either, if that’s what you’re thinking.”
When
Matt went into prison aged twenty-one, he’d never read a book in his life. Now,
four years later, he reckons he’s finished over a thousand.
Matt’s
venture into literary escapism started, like many others, with Shantaram by
Gregory David Roberts. “My cellmate had been reading this book for about six
months. It’s a thick book you know – over 900 pages – so it takes you a while
to get through it. When he finished with it he gave it to me. I hadn’t read
anything longer than a text message in my life and had no interest in reading,
but when you’re that bored you’d be surprised the things you’ll try.”
By
the time Matt was released, he thinks that the copy of Shantaram that had made
him fall in love with reading had been read by at least eight other inmates.
The sharing of books opened up conversations and debates, it gave the inmates
in the category B jail he was serving in something other than their crimes to
discuss.
═════════►
Katy
said that books that hold pertinent messages of transformation, like Shantaram,
are particularly popular. “I met an
ex-prisoner recently who was expelled from school at thirteen and went on to
get a degree while serving a life sentence”, Katy says. “Along the way he read
biographies of people who had also served sentences – Nelson Mandela, Malcolm
X, Aung San Suu Kyi, Tupac – whose stories helped him craft a new identity and
convince him of the possibility of not only surviving but even thriving within
his environment.”
Other
books that are often read include stories of self-improvement and practical
guides on subjects like starting a business. Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert
Kiyosaki is a particularly popular choice. Katy says that the most requested
book is the dictionary. READ MORE ➤➤
Based on (7) readability formulas:
Grade Level: 8
Reading Level: fairly easy to read.
Reader's Age: 12-14 yrs. Old
(Seventh and Eighth graders)
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