When I first picked this book up, I did it because the show was so popular. Everyone kept saying how great the show was. Well, I figured if the show was that good, then the book must be better. I can't tell you about the show because I haven't watched it yet but, I can tell you that the book is a real eye opener.
When the book first starts she briefly discusses the history that led her to prison. I felt like she kind of downplayed her part in the drug and money exchange. She made herself seem a little more innocent than what I think that she probably was. Of course, she is writing the book and might have been looking for some sympathy factor with the fact that she did time for a 10 year old sentence. It kind of set the tone that she didn't belong with your typical "prison type" woman.
When she finally gets to the woman's correctional institute in Danbury, CT she finds herself surrounded with kind souls, this is where things got to be interesting for me. I didn't know what exactly to expect when I picked the book up but, I thought I would find more fighting and heinous people. I did not find that at all. She writes about the kindness that is bestowed on her since she obviously was a newbie who didn't really know what to do. I expected people to make fun of her and maybe even try to fight her; this was not the case.
Piper Kerman shows the American public the many faces of people who are in prison. While she was in a minimum security prison and therefore divided from those who might have been incarcerated for more violent crimes, she shows that each person is in there for simply making a mistake. I loved how she showed the good side of even the people that she didn't care for. How they somehow helped her when she least expected it or nicely asked her for help and admitted their ignorance of a subject. She shows how prison tears apart mothers from their children and husbands from their wives. Everyone has someone that loves them and when they are in prison they are torn apart for an extended period of time.
I loved how expressed that most of her time was made easier due to the overwhelming support of people around her and that most in the prison system do not have a support system, which is part of the reason they landed there in the first place. Her fiance was a wonderful support as well as friends who were constantly sending things. I know there are programs for sending books to prisoners and this made me want to think about signing up for that program to send some books!
One thing that I took from the book is how our prison system needs to be re-examined. We pay almost 30,000 a year for one female prisoner in the system (Source: Orange is the New Black by Piper Kerman). I think that there might be better ways to spend our tax dollars for criminals with smaller crimes. Maybe instead of a year 6 months would be enough to think about what you had done, or instead of a minimum six month sentence, 1 month would be okay. From what she described, I think one month of those living conditions would be enough for those who learned their lesson. For repeat offenders, obviously more time would need to be sought after.
The book teaches patience, kindness, friendship, and the "things can always be worse" lesson. It is a very eye opening account of the American prison system. I enjoyed it and I look forward to seeing what the show has to offer!
