اول قراءاتى لجيفرى آرتشر الذى اعجبت به منذ قرأت سيرته الذاتية الموجزة التى ذكرها ف مقدمة ذلك الكتاب حيث أشار إلى إنه استوحى قصص ذلك الكتاب من فترة وجوده بالسجنلم تعجبنى كل القصص فقد تراوحت جمالها وروعتها الادبية بين ممتاز وجيد ومتوسط .. جاءت اكثر القصص جمالا " الرجل الذى سرق مكتب بريده " العنوان غريب لأول وهلة ولكن يتضح مغزاه إلا قبل نهاية القصة بقليل عندما ندرك ان مخالفة القانون احيانا تصبح الحل الوحيد للحصول ع الحق !كذلك اعجبتنى " اعجبتنى رغم صغرها ، واعجبنى كثيراً ذكاء ماريو صاحب المطعم الذى استطاع خداع مفتش الضرائب عن طريق الغسالة !واعجبتنى "لا تشرب الماء " .. كنت متوقعة نهايتها بعض الشئ .. فيجب ع المرء ان يكون حذراً عند حفر لأخيه فقد يسقط فيها معه ايضاً !وكذلك " لا يمكن ان يكون اكتوبر قد عاد بهذه السرعه " قصيرة الحجم آلمتنى كثيرا .. فهناك من يريد القيام باى عمل مخالف للقانون لمجرد الدخول ف السجن والاحتماء به خلال الشتاء !وبالرغم من ربكتها فقد اعجبتنى "الملك الاحمر " القصة التى اربكت عقلى كثيرا خلال قراءتها بسبب كثرة الاحداث بها .. والتى تتمثل ف الحكم ع شخص بالسجن من اجل ذنب لم يقترفه ف حين إنه ارتكب ذنب آخر اكبر ولم يعاقب بسببه !و"حكيم الزمان " .. قد تجد ان كل الامور ضدك ولكن يجب عليك عدم الاستعجال فقد تأخذ حقك ع حين غرة !و كذلك " عين المحب " التى ختم بها آرشر قصصهلم تعجبنى كثيرا " اتفهم مقصدى " و "الاقربون اولى بالمعروف " و مأساة يونانية "اعجبتنى كثيرا الرسومات السابقة لكل قصة والرسومات التى تخللت كل واحدة منها .. ذكرتنى برسومات وليد طاهر :))ولا اعلم حتى الآن لماذا اختار المؤلف " قط وتسعة كلاب " عنوانا لذلك الكتاب !
I was looking forward to reading short stories, because it goes at a good pace throughout and it has steady flow so that i can keep up with what's happening! because i am a bit slow. After reading this book i didn't know what to think of it. It was a very mature read, and it refers to problems that is happening in society today. Money problems. Jeffery Archer retrieved most of these stories while he was in prison. I read the stories: The Alibi (favourite), The Greek Tragedy and the man who robbed his own post office. I didn't really understand what was happening in the story 'the man who robbed his own post office'. His language use was to mature and i didn't understand what most of the words meant.This book completes the category 'three short stories from one anthology'. I found this category interesting because every anthology is different with a general theme. Jeffery Archer's theme was the stories of how his cell mates ended up in jail. He tells their stories which i found quite cool, as he is using his status to tell their side, the truth of what happened.There was no inspirational or funny quotes in these short stories i found it difficult to find one as it is just usual everyday talk. But i guess in 'The Alibi' my favourite would be "What a Muppet he was. He only had three weeks left to serve, when he- 'Pete' i tried again." I liked this quote because when Jeff was asking questions about Mick's story, he often forgot about what he was talking about and started to tell another story. Something i learnt from these short stories, is to be good with money and if you are ever desperate at one point it's alright to ask for help instead of doing something illegal. You will most likely always get caught.My favourite character in the story 'The Alibi' would have to be Mick. He gave that bit of humour to the seriousness of the book.
Aside from the fact that Jeffrey Archer is one of the many corrupt people in the world, who when imprisoned takes the liberty of shamelessly taking other prisoner’s stories, embellishes them with lots of drama and suspense, and earns some more money; this book in itself is pretty decent. What is sad though is the fact that out of 12 stories, only the 9 which were inspired by real life incidents were worth reading. “Don’t Drink the Water” and “The Alibi” were my personal favorite. The complexity of the plot, the minute details and the pacing was brilliant. It is the kind of story that leaves you with a huge smile on your smile because you feel that your time has been well spent. The other 7 stories varied from very interesting, to fairly decent to mind numbingly boring. The worst part was the 3 stories of Archer’s own creation. “In The Eye of the Beholder” especially catches your attention. I don’t usually swear much, but this is the kind of story that makes you think[image error]
—Shayantani Das
قرأت لجيفري أرتشر روايتين بالانجليزية واستمتعت استمتاع لا يوصففي البداية حسيت اني مش حاسة أسلوب الكاتب بسبب الترجمة علي الرغم من دقتها وجمالهالكن بعد كام فصل لقيت الصفحات بتقلب لوحدهاجميل أويقصص عن مجرمين اتعرف عليهم في السجن وأسباب دخولهم مش حياتهم في السجن لأن ده كتاب تانيتجمع بين الطرافة والذكاء وبعضها فيه غباءازاي المجرم بيفكر في خطة وينفذها ويصبر عليهالكن كلها طبعا انتهت بالفشل والقبض علي أصحابها علي الرغم من الذكاء والدقةأكتر قصص عجبتني كانت:لا يمكن أن يكون أكتوبر قد عاد بهذه السرعةالملك الأحمرالأقربون أولي بالمعروفعين المحب
—Ebthal
A friend gave me this book when I was helping her pack as she was getting ready to move. I had read some of Jeffrey Archer's other books, but I didn't realize that he had been in prison for two years. Prior to his incarceration, Archer had served in Britain's House of Commons and House of Lords and was an international bestselling novelist. After his release, he wrote three volumes, titled "Prison Diaries," about his experiences in prison. The nine short stories in this book are about his fellow prison inmates. For various reasons he felt they did not fit in his "Prison Diaries" books. After slogging through several books that were more than 500-pages in length, reading short stories was a refreshing change. Each story is about a different inmate and it is nice to be able to pick up a book and read a complete story in a few minutes. The stories are interesting and well written. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
—Sidna
