The Pleasures and Pains of Opium

An excerpt from [b:Confessions of an English Opium Eater 87635 Confessions of an English Opium Eater Thomas de Quincey https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327963387s/87635.jpg 3369598] published as Penguin 60s Classic. Two sections in here: ‘The Pleasures of Opium', and strangely, ‘An Introduction to the Pains of Opium'.Written in the early 1800's, and with a certain pretentiousness (or so it seems to me), it runs a complicated narrative, which combined with the very small type, makes this a hard read.I confess I was taken in by the title, which sounds fantastically interesting (as does the primary source book, of which I also have an unread copy). Even in the excerpt a lot of the content was diversionary and seeming unrelated. I can only assume this is the effect of the continual consumption of opium!It is reasonable therefore to assume that the copy I have of [b:Confessions of an English Opium Eater 87635 Confessions of an English Opium Eater Thomas de Quincey https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327963387s/87635.jpg 3369598] is destined to remain on the shelf for a few years until it becomes a bit more appealing.For this excerpt, somewhere between 2 and 3 stars, but more closely associated with ‘it was ok' than with ‘I liked it', so two it is. Not terrible, not enthralling.