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Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'
Confessions of an English Opium-Eater and Other Writings by Barry Milligan, Thomas De Quincey
5 reviews
snarf137's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Quite a gorgeous and macabre glimpse into the mind of a drug addict, with astute psychological self-reflection, biblically proportioned hallucinatinos, and descriptions of 19th c. English society that would make a sociologist drool. One can't help but pity de Quincey while simultaneously be frustrated by his stubbornness. The writing, of course, was beautiful.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse and Drug use
evetoi's review against another edition
informative
reflective
slow-paced
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Drug use, and Drug abuse
Minor: Racism
merlinissweet's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Drug use, Child death, Drug abuse, and Addiction
thetarantulalounge's review against another edition
challenging
fast-paced
1.5
What do Usher and St. Augustine have in common? I enjoyed their Confessions more than Thomas De Quincey’s.
(Also, both Usher and Augustine were both great dancers in their prime.)
(Also, both Usher and Augustine were both great dancers in their prime.)
There have probably been books that were more disappointing to me that Confessions of an English Opium-Eater, but I can’t think of any right now.
Mr. De Quincey’s Confessions first made itself known to me through Nick Tosche’s The Last Opium Den. That book was less about opium and more about the search for something lost, or something a little out of reach. This book is more about stomach problems and weird dreams. I almost had to self-medicate just to get through the pomposity of Mr. De Quincey. He is so casually classist and racist.
The one thing De Quincey does have going for him is his knowledge of the classics and the humanities. His references to classic works, pieces of music, etc. were welcome as jumping off points to new interests. If you have the patience to look into other works, that may be useful.
These confessions were initially a series of periodical articles, which makes sense given the rather short length of the two main sections. My version from Project Gutenberg contains a third section, in which the author complains about how long it took the publisher to mail him proofs, and makes excuses about why part three didn’t come in on time. Yeesh.
To end on somewhat of a positive note, here are some great sentences and turns of phrase from Mr. De Quincey:
[Opium] was not for the purpose of creating pleasure, but of mitigating pain.
…the abyuss of divine enjoyment thus suddenly revealed.
It seemed hopeless that I could ever reascend.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse and Drug use
calamityin's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Medical content, Racism, Terminal illness, Xenophobia, Addiction, and Drug use
Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Confinement, Death of parent, and Suicidal thoughts
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