Marching Powder
July 31st 2006 06:40
San Pedro prison in La Paz, Bolivia, would have to go down as one of the strangest and most interesting real life places I have ever read about. There's something about true crime fiction like this that ups the ante in the intrigue-stakes - because it's real, it becomes more amazing. Never have I read a book that begs to be turned into a film as much as this one does.
Thomas McFadden is an English drug trafficker who fell foul of Bolivia's corrupt legal system and found himself thrown in gaol for some five or so years for his troubles. But he wasn't thrown into just any old goal... he found himself in San Pedro - where the inmates are required to pay for their own cells and provide their own food.
The prison itself is almost like a town. It is broken up into 8 seperate sections, each one accorded a certain amount of stars denoting it's quality (like a hotel). After paying the entrance fee, inmates must find a preferable cell which they must also buy. These cells range from the disgusting hovels one might expect to find in a third world gaol, complete with dangerous drug addicts and crack-addicted cats, to multi-story apartments with all the conveniences of a well-to-do Bolivian hotel. Each section is run by elected committees of inmates who impose curfews and regulate the buying, selling and approving of cells. There are also shops and restaurants within the prison, and many inmates have their wives and children with them. Oh, and the prison is also the source of some of the purest cocaine to come out of South America!
Our 'hero', Thomas, is a fairly placid and easy-going man and a sympathetic narrator - he doesn't excuse his mistakes or gloss over the bad things he has done, but nor is he your typical criminal. Thomas faces hardship and - at a few points - violent near-death, but his unique standing in San Pedro leads him to take up a very unusual position. He becomes a tour guide.
Somehow, word spreads of Thomas and the unusual gaol he lives him - even finding it's way into the Lonely Planet guides to Bolivia. Backpackers travel from all over the world to be given guided tours of the prison and to try it's high quality cocaine. For an extra fee, they can even stay the night and party with the inmates!
There are so many cool anecdotes and crazy characters in this book that I could write at great length about them... I won't though, you might as well just read the book itself for that. It's incredibly funny at times, but your blood will boil at the all-pervading corruption that Bolivia's entire police force and government seems to be rife with. There are also a few other shocks to be had along the way too, especially in regards to the prison's own honour code pertaining to rapists and child-molesters.
This is one of the most entertaining and moving books I've read in a while. It probably helps that it's true - than again, this is certainly one book that proves the maxim... truth is indeed stranger than fiction.
Marching Powder, by Rusty Young
Thomas McFadden is an English drug trafficker who fell foul of Bolivia's corrupt legal system and found himself thrown in gaol for some five or so years for his troubles. But he wasn't thrown into just any old goal... he found himself in San Pedro - where the inmates are required to pay for their own cells and provide their own food.
The prison itself is almost like a town. It is broken up into 8 seperate sections, each one accorded a certain amount of stars denoting it's quality (like a hotel). After paying the entrance fee, inmates must find a preferable cell which they must also buy. These cells range from the disgusting hovels one might expect to find in a third world gaol, complete with dangerous drug addicts and crack-addicted cats, to multi-story apartments with all the conveniences of a well-to-do Bolivian hotel. Each section is run by elected committees of inmates who impose curfews and regulate the buying, selling and approving of cells. There are also shops and restaurants within the prison, and many inmates have their wives and children with them. Oh, and the prison is also the source of some of the purest cocaine to come out of South America!
Our 'hero', Thomas, is a fairly placid and easy-going man and a sympathetic narrator - he doesn't excuse his mistakes or gloss over the bad things he has done, but nor is he your typical criminal. Thomas faces hardship and - at a few points - violent near-death, but his unique standing in San Pedro leads him to take up a very unusual position. He becomes a tour guide.
Somehow, word spreads of Thomas and the unusual gaol he lives him - even finding it's way into the Lonely Planet guides to Bolivia. Backpackers travel from all over the world to be given guided tours of the prison and to try it's high quality cocaine. For an extra fee, they can even stay the night and party with the inmates!
There are so many cool anecdotes and crazy characters in this book that I could write at great length about them... I won't though, you might as well just read the book itself for that. It's incredibly funny at times, but your blood will boil at the all-pervading corruption that Bolivia's entire police force and government seems to be rife with. There are also a few other shocks to be had along the way too, especially in regards to the prison's own honour code pertaining to rapists and child-molesters.
This is one of the most entertaining and moving books I've read in a while. It probably helps that it's true - than again, this is certainly one book that proves the maxim... truth is indeed stranger than fiction.
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