Book 18 - The Damage Done: Twelve Years of Hell in a Bangkok Prison

Well, book 18 done, and I have got three to four books that I have read and that I have not done the blog for yet. I am actually nearly half way there.

This book really is quite a moving read. What is quite strange to me is that I never ever really cursed or attacked Warren Fellows (the author and the subject of the book) in my mind or from a moral perspective. See, the book is about his journey through the Thailand prison system after being caught with drugs the same country.

Yes, he was a drug trafficker. Yes, many people would have suffered due to the drugs that he sold. Yes, maybe I should be more morally judgemental on Warren and, like many of the other (somewhat pathetic) critical assessments of his book, attack him and vilify him for selling drugs.

I have questioned myself over this very sensitive issue, and wonder if I am not normal, or I am too understanding, or if I maybe am too soft, to be able to look past the fact that he was a drug dealer and did time for his crime. Strangely enough, and on further reflection, I am quite comfortable with the fact that I just enjoyed the book, at most times I felt sorry for his suffering, and thought that maybe he paid for his crime, well and truly (and maybe many times over).

Then, I wonder if it is because I have never been touched by drugs. I have no-one in my family that is addicted to drugs, and it has never been a part of my life. I have never been around it, I always said no to the idiots that took drugs, and my life has been one of predominantly clean living. I wonder if the people that write the sort of blogs, as shown below, about this book, are from drug affected families, or the like, or are reformed addicts themselves, and are venting their own anger at a book and at a system that they are a part of. Look, I don't know that to be the case, but have a read of just this one, below, from http://www.reviewcentre.com/reviews33486.html:

I have been to Thailand 10 times in 12 years and have only ever found the Thai people friendly and kind. Why? Because I have never done anything illegal. I have just read the book THE DAMAGE DONE 12 YEARS IN A BANGKOK JAIL by Warren Fellows and why yes the conditions in Thailand jails in 1978 were horrific and disturbing I still find it difficult to feel that this man deserves the praise he is given by many. People have seemed to have over looked that he was guilty and knew the consequences of ...

Or, is it jealousy ... is it that Warren has got a story to tell, and that he is able to share his story candidly, get some exposure for it, and this makes people a little envious. Who knows, and really, who cares. Enough about Warren Fellows, and onto the book review.

In many ways, and on many levels, you would not be a very compassionate human being if you did not at some point feel some sympathy for the position Warren Fellows found himself in. He experienced the worst of life, what he saw in some of those prisons can only be described as grotesque, gruesome and even sick. He saw death, he saw suffering, he saw insanity, and he was brutality. Actually, in jail, he became a drug addict himself, obviously something that I wouldn't condone, but in the circumstances could understand. Thailand prisons appear to be horrible places.

Look, if you get a chance, have a read of the book, it is quite a good read, I enjoyed it, and I enjoyed reading about how the human spirit can overcome even the most trying circumstances. There was a point in the book where Warren asks God "when will you stop this, how much more do you want me to see" (or something similar).  The old proverb, we are never sent more than we can handle, comes to mind, so I can only presume that Warren Fellows is viewed by our creator as someone with broad shoulders. It was not actually Warren's story that you will be touched mostly by, as you read the book, it is the story of his close friend, who Warren implicated in this whole affair and who's shoulders weren't broad enough to carry the load ...

In summary, the book is about a 4.25 out of 5, very good, without being great.

Let me say that I would never condone anything illegal, I would never take or sell drugs, and I really do deplore people that do. I have kids that I hope will stay away from that scene. Warren Fellows paid for his crimes. I hope he lives a long and happy life after what he has had to endure.