The memoir of an opium eater

Yes, the Reverend George Crabbe was an opium addict, but one that “made no song or dance over his opium” and “experienced no romantic ecstasies and suffered no romantic agonies because of it. That all came later, with the next literary generation, of Coleridge and De Quincey.”

Read Dalrymple’s weekly BMJ column here (purchase required)

One thought on “The memoir of an opium eater

  1. Peter

    “A friend of mine who lived for a time in America started every conversation at a party by saying, “Hello, I’m A . . . I hate my parents, don’t you?”

    I thought I’d seen Dalrymple’s opening line for this article before. Google indicates that he used this line initially in Spectator, 2002, except the character’s name was “John”. When it reappeared in The New Criterion in 2005 it was “Alex” and now it is “A…”.

    Hmm.

    Reply

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