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Book Description
The original drug memoir - a true nineteenth century account of the pleasures and pains of addiction
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
edition.
Product Description
Describing the surreal hallucinations, insomnia and nightmarish visions he experienced while consuming daily large amounts of laudanum, Thomas De Quincey's legendary account of the pleasures and pains of opium forged a link between artistic self-expression and addiction, and paved the way for later generations of literary drug-takers from Baudelaire to Burroughs.
Throughout history, some books have changed the world. They have transformed the way we see ourselves - and each other. They have inspired debate, dissent, war and revolution. They have enlightened, outraged, provoked and comforted. They have enriched lives - and destroyed them. Now Penguin brings you the works of the great thinkers, pioneers, radicals and visionaries whose ideas shook civilization and helped make us who we are.
--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
49 of 54 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Anyone looking to read a juicy, scandalous account of opium in the 19th century will be bitterly disappointed. That is not to say that De Quincey's work is not brilliant and engaging. However, his prose style can be frustrating to the reader in search of simple entertainment. It is only towards the end of the book that De Quincey begins to describe his opium visions-- the rest of the narrative is a dense, minutely detailed account of his childhood and the struggles of his adolescence. He takes the reader through various stages in his life in passages which are extremely digressive and wordy. However, If the reader is patient enough to labor through the prose, he or she will be richly rewarded by the eloquence of a brilliant mind. De Quincey's style could be compared to a musical work which moves slowly, yet progresses to a crescendo all the more grand for its deliberation. His stock of knowledge is immense, and he writes with authority on virtually every subject from the poetry of Wordsworth to the etymology of his own name. He seems to delight in the process of memory and its property of magnifying incidents of the past to mythical proportions and setting patterns for the future. He takes a psychoanalytic view of his life years before Freud. To him, opium seems a prism through which to examine the themes of his past, and his narrative is largely a psychological self-scrutiny. In his early life, De Quincey runs away from school, tramps around in Wales, sets off for London, and lives penniless and starving among prostitutes and men of dubious reputation. A highly sympathetic character, he strives to learn from all humans regardless of station. He describes his wanderings in detail, discusses the impact of opium upon his life, and concludes by describing a few of his dreams in passages which approach virtuosity in style. He reveals himself as a thoughtful nonconformist driven to share his innermost perceptions of himself and the world. Alethea Hayter's introduction details his life and works, and the carefully chosen excerpts from his letters and revised version of the Confessions round out the reader's view of De Quincey.
0 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I read the Penguin Classic. But is the book a classic? Not quite. It is dreary and drawn-out, but while De Quincey's writing is probably tough going for the modern day reader, De Quincey was truly a master of English prose. I find the prose a little difficult to digest, but Shakespeare takes a little getting used to.....so to speak.
In any event, these writings of De Quincey's (autobiographical), tell of the stimulus to his creativity opium provided for him. And as the narcotic habit develops we go through the authors fear and loathing and trembling that inevitably. At his peak usage, I have read that De Quincey was doing 80 teaspoons each day.
It must be noted tincture of opium (liquid opium) was sold over-the-counter as medicine in apothecary shops back in the day.
De Qunicey, tried to "clean himself up" died in 1860, right about the time that Baudelaire (who also died an opium addict -- in 1867) was completing his own book (it was in direct response to De Quincey's) about the dreamy debacheries of hashish and opium, entitled "Artificial Paradises".
In any event, these writings of De Quincey's (autobiographical), tell of the stimulus to his creativity opium provided for him. And as the narcotic habit develops we go through the authors fear and loathing and trembling that inevitably. At his peak usage, I have read that De Quincey was doing 80 teaspoons each day.
It must be noted tincture of opium (liquid opium) was sold over-the-counter as medicine in apothecary shops back in the day.
De Qunicey, tried to "clean himself up" died in 1860, right about the time that Baudelaire (who also died an opium addict -- in 1867) was completing his own book (it was in direct response to De Quincey's) about the dreamy debacheries of hashish and opium, entitled "Artificial Paradises".
3 of 20 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Like being trapped in a pub by the most boring person you have ever met. DQ rambles on about how awful his guardians were, how other opium eaters; conditions weren't like his (either better or worse or less deserving, but his condition was really unique), the limitations of his classical education at Manchester Grammar School, and other topics too numerous and turgid to recount. I gave this up after 80 pages - the first book I have given up without finishing for years.
Avoid this.
Avoid this.
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