As I walk my doggy for an hour and a half every day, I like to take advantage of the time listening to audio books. With respect to the narrators, I get impatient with one person doing the voices of multiple characters, so I tend to listen to nonfiction, and for the past while, have been downloading mostly memoirs. As this title also fit into my mild interest in true crime and incarceration, I thought it would be a good choice for me.
I must admit that I've never read any of Archer's fiction, but given his popularity, I assumed he'd do justice to a prison diary-- and that he does. I don't know if he assumes that the reader knows the details of his conviction, but he gives none in this book beyond protesting his innocence, excoriating the associates who "set him up" , and repeating every conversation he has or letter he receives that confirms his belief that the Judge at his trial treated him unfairly. His experience seemed to mirror that of Conrad Black, A Matter of Principle, whom I'd admire, and as I listened to his prison experiences I wondered to what degree Lord Archer, like Lord Black, was a victim of a malicious prosecution.
I had to admire Archer's adherence to a 6 hour/day writing schedule behind bars (though what else did he really have to do with his time?) and he managed to collect fascinating stories from his fellow inmates. Although put in with lifers (mostly drug dealers and murderers) for his three weeks at Belmarsh, Archer appears to have met many fine men who were willing to give him protection, extra rations (of the food his Lordship was willing to eat), and a sympathetic ear. Like Lord Black, Archer found the entire experience to be a real eye-opener about the realities of justice and incarceration and the wasted opportunities to rehabilitate and educate those who might be capable of returning to society and making meaningful contributions.
On the other hand, I became bored of Archer's biggest complaints: not being able to purchase an adequate supply of bottled Highland Springs water and only once gaining access to the prison gym for a proper workout. Also annoying: as I mentioned above, I don't like when narrators do multiple voices, and at one point in this memoir, a letter is read aloud from a Dr. Chang, Optometrist, who had a customer interested in ordering a pair of frames like those Archer wore at his sentencing. The letter is read in the most offensive "chinky flied lice" accent imaginable. Why?
Like the author, I was relieved when he was transferred to a medium security prison after three weeks, and I understand that his memoir picks up at that point in the next volume (which is not available as a download from my library). Interested to learn about the details of his charges and any aftermath, I researched Jeffrey Archer and was bemused by what I found. Perhaps he was never the innocent man he protested to be, but then again, how many in prison proclaim their guilt?
