A wise book
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I'll be honest: I didn't expect much from this book. I thought it would be entertaining enough; offbeat, amusing, with doses of snarky political observation. It certainly delivered on those counts, and for much of the journey I was lulled by the unpretentious clarity of Kieran's style into thinking there would, indeed, be nothing more.
But (of course) I was wrong. I Fought the Law is more than entertaining; it's also wise. It is clear-eyed in its assessment of how badly Britain's communities need fixing, and espouses an uncomfortable and far-reaching solution which is self-consciously at odds with so many of our other current cultural influences, but it is also radically hopeful about the possibility of social change. It centres personal action, individual empowerment and individual connections, at the heart of political progress. And so despite all my preconceptions, I actually found this book remarkably inspiring. I'd strongly recommend it.
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Quirky
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You should definitely read this book, it is an essential slice of the madness that is Britain today. But when I had finished it I felt a little underwhelmed, a little unsure, as if it somehow didn't fully explain something. Odd, but there you go.
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The more people that read this the better!
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Having been concerned about the erosion of civil liberties, particularly in the light of the recent 42-day detention issue, I saw this and couldn't resist: and the situation is worse than I feared!
This book is funny, but it's also scary; it shows us how we're sleepwalking in (not into, in: we're already there) a situation where anyone can be stopped and searched for no reason (the Government enacted legislation enabling the police to stop and search anyone for no reason under exceptional circumstances for a month at a time: that legislation has been renewed every month in Greater London since 2002!)
He also lists the ten most ridiculous laws, not saying that they are rdiculous per se, but that the heavy-handed and ill-thought-out laws have unintended and ridiculous consequences:
Sex Offences Act 2003... Section 9 prohibits sexual contact with a child (obviously not ridiculous) 'but when applied with Section 13... it actually makes it a criminal offence for two teenagers to snog'. This was bad enough, but when I mentioned it in passing to a solicitor friend, she said that she had personally dealt with people actually prosecuted for, basically, a teenage snog in the park.
It's a real eye-opener. Anyone who has given any thought at all to the disregarding of 800 years of legal rights as enshrined in the Magna Carta will read this and realise that it's much worse than they thought.
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Fantastic look at the erosion of civil liberties
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An excellent read, made me laugh, angry and cry with despair at some of the laws we've now got.
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Not just a funny story
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When I read "From cake-eating protests to roof-clambering OAPs..." I thought this book was a just collection of humourous stories about eccentric Brits but I was wrong - don't dismiss it as a book of funny tales. Yes, there's lots of humour - I've laughed out loud several times already (and I'm only half-way through it) - but it's so much more. Finally, someone dares to use that rarely-heard word: commonsense!
Dan Kieren looks at real problems and talks to the people who are trying to do something about them. Not the politicians, the professionals or anyone in power, but the people who are standing up for what they believe in - despite having no real voice and despite being at odds with a government whose current thinking labels them as crackpots and troublemakers.
If you're despairing at the current state of the UK, if you have even an inkling of a doubt that the government has its citizens' best interests at heart or if you've ever wondered at the sheer crassness of the legal system, then read this book.
It's refreshingly truthful, funny, warm and full of commonsense.
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