Confessions

Contemporary readers, do not be afraid of this kind of book!

After avoiding this book for weeks, I must confess to whoever is reading, that today I was able to finish Thomas De Quincey's book Confessions of an English Opium-eater. I was intrigued as to what the book would contain. I expected an old school, British version of The Hangover. Instead, I received something slightly different. The book was a hard read, but appealing. There was an essence of debauchery I so craved but not explicit; it was mostly implicit. I kept asking myself: why would I continue to read this? And just when I was about to give up something beautiful happened. Karma smacked the annoyingly stiff main character in the face, and it was beautiful. The main character was completely dynamic; his shift was as if he was turned inside out and upside down at the same time.

 In this society, heavy drug use is normally shunned, but in the case of the main character in De Quincey's book it made him more human, more pleasant and a riot to be with. By toning down his stuffiness, he became a more reliable character with an easier to follow narrative. It is as if he kind of retold his story from a different perspective.

Confessions of an English Opium-eater