Drug Addiction Uninspirational
July 31st 2008 21:13
Don’t get me wrong, I have all the sympathy in the world for addicts. I watched as my brother fell into that hell. And he never made it out, so I have plenty of empathy there. But if I’m going to read about someone’s struggle to freedom I’m afraid I need more than just repetitive phrases when things get really tough.
I knew early on this book was not going to keep me coming back (although I did finish it eventually) so I also started reading Magdalena Ball’s (Compulsive Reader) Sleep Before Evening. Her first novel follows the unfortunate downhill slide of 17 year young Marianne after the death of her grandfather and one of her mother’s ‘yet-again’ separations.
If you really haven’t got a handle on writing authentic dialogue, it is better to cut it back and use narration. Especially when it comes to the young! If it’s not right – it doesn’t work … big time!
So, even after these two attempts, I’ve yet to come across a story laying bare the struggles of drug addiction that beats Augusten Burroughs memoir Dry. The Running With Scissors author throws his extremely quirky sense of humour into the sorrows of wrestling the demons of drugs and alcohol, and Dry becomes a riotous affair of jubilation and despair, a literal roller coaster ride of living with a monkey on one’s back.
Which brings us to one thing that does ring true in the world of addiction survival. To climb out of the depths of despair and survive, one needs a sense of humour. And as I turn over today’s calendar, what quote do I see … ‘There is more wisdom in humour than there is humour in wisdom’ PK Shaw.
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