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Title	:	Confessions of an English Opium Eater
Author	:	Thomas de Quincey
Book Format	:	Paperback
Book Edition	:	Special Edition
Pages	:	Pages: 352 pages
Published	:	March 27th 2003 by Penguin Classics (first published 1821)
Categories	:	Classics. Nonfiction. Biography. Autobiography. Memoir. Literature. 19th Century

Confessions of an English Opium Eater

Thomas de Quincey

Paperback | Pages: 352 pages

Rating: 3.31 | 8058 Users | 606 Reviews

Description During Books Confessions of an English Opium Eater

Confessions is a remarkable account of the pleasures and pains of worshipping at the 'Church of Opium'. Thomas De Quincey consumed daily large quantities of laudanum (at the time a legal painkiller), and this autobiography of addiction hauntingly describes his surreal visions and hallucinatory nocturnal wanderings through London, along with the nightmares, despair and paranoia to which he became prey. The result is a work in which the effects of drugs and the nature of dreams, memory and imagination are seamlessly interwoven, describing in intimate detail the mind-altering pleasures and pains unique to opium. Confessions of an English Opium-Eater forged a link between artistic self-expression and addiction, paving the way for later generations of literary addicts from Baudelaire to James Frey, and anticipating psychoanalysis with its insights into the subconscious.

This edition is based on the original serial version of 1821, and reproduces two 'sequels', 'Suspiria de Profundis' (1845) and 'The English Mail-Coach' (1849). It also includes a critical introduction discussing the romantic figure of the addict and the tradition of confessional literature, and an appendix on opium in the nineteenth century.

Thomas De Quincey (1785-1859) studied at Oxford, failing to take his degree but discovering opium. He later met Coleridge, Southey and the Wordsworths. From 1828 until his death he lived in Edinburgh and made his living from journalism.

If you enjoyed Confessions of an English Opium-Eater, you might like William S. Burroughs' Junky, available in Penguin Modern Classics.

'De Quincey was one of the first great autobiographers'
Jonathan Bate

Details Books In Favor Of Confessions of an English Opium Eater

Original Title:	Confessions of an English Opium-Eater
Edition Language:	English
Characters:	Thomas De Quincey, Ann (Confessions of anEnglish Opium-Eater)
Setting:	United Kingdom England London, England(United Kingdom)

Rating About Books Confessions of an English Opium Eater

Ratings: 3.31 From 8058 Users | 606 Reviews

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The boy speaks Greek I am not overly impressed underwhelmed may indeed be the word by this romantic tale of the orphaned but highly intelligent boy who fell on hard times.It is a typical piece of Confessional Writing though it also bares a certain lack of self-awareness paired with some megalomania.And yes, opium-eating is a nasty habit and you can invent all kind of excuses for it if you like but still it is an addiction.TdQ is often mentioned as a forefather and source of inspiration for

Sure, the lead-up to the actual confessions of taking opium and the resulting consequences was longer than the apparent subject matter of the book, but who cares? I found this to be an insightful text into the dangers of at the time a widely used drug. This also apparently paved the way for many other drug substance abuse memoirs, of which the only one I can think of that I have read were Junky by Burroughs. Confessions is written in a clear, concise manner and with the interesting subject

In my opinion this book is falsely named. It should be called "My boring life which involved eating opium but even that wasn't worth telling". There are perhaps a handful of pages devoted to opium and the rest tell of his 'great misfortunes' (not that great because he enjoyed them somewhat) and allow De Quincy to go off on the most absurd tangents such as the history of the sizes of teaspoons. His writing style is heavily academic and even a person with a generally extensive vocabulary will at

De Quinceys account on opium consumption is perhaps one of the earliest books on drugs addiction, before Charles Baudelaires Paradis artificiels. It seems that De Quincey started taking laudanum to relieve a stomach condition. The drug did not affect him negatively at first; on the contrary, it improved the acuteness of his senses and uplifted his spirits. Oh!, says he, subtle and mighty opium! that bringest an assuaging balm! And that's how he got involved in an opium-eating habit for more than

Years ago, I had started Thomas de Quincey's magnificent book, but laid it aside for some inexplicable reason. Now I see that this volume -- Confessions of an English Opium Eater -- is infinitely worth reading through to the end, and even returning to its glories at a later date. De Quincey's opium habit led to his heterodox approach to life, which alternated between manic passages of glory to massive funereal threnodies, of which the following sentence from "The English Mail Coach" is but a

AcknowledgementsChronologyIntroductionFurther ReadingA Note on the Texts--Confessions Of An English Opium-Eater--'Suspiria De Profundis'--'The English Mail-Coach'Appendix: Opium in the Nineteenth CenturyGlossaryNotes

"First published in 1821, it paved the way for later generations of literary drug users, from Baudelaire to Burroughs." Whee!While this is maybe not indispensable, it's also not more than 100 pages, so it gets five stars based on its ratio of awesomeness vs. time commitment. And it is pretty awesome. De Quincey is funny and weird and literate, and the roots of all kinds of drug stories - from those quoted above to Trainspotting and, oh, A Million Little Pieces - are clearly visible.In one of