Confessions of an English opium-eater and other writings
De Quincey, Thomas, 1785-18592008
Books, Manuscripts
Determined to counter the lies about opium that had been told by travellers to the Orient and the medical profession, De Quincey describes his addiction, the consciousness altering properties of the drugs, its pleasures and its pains.Confessions of an English Opium-Eater is an account of the early life and opium addiction of Thomas De Quincey, in prose which is by turns witty, conversational, and nightmarish. 'On the Knocking at the Gate in Macbeth' offers both a small masterpiece of Shakespearian interpretation and a provocative statement of De Quincey's personal aesthetic of contrast and counterpoint. Suspiria de Profundis blends autobiography and philosophical speculation into a series of dazzling prose-poems which explore the mysteries of time, memory, and suffering. 'The English Mail-Coach' develops a richly apocalyptic vision which sets nineteenth-century England's political and imperial grandeur against the suffering and loss of innocence which it entails. This selection presents De Quincey's major works in their original uncut and unrevised versions, which in some cases have not been available for many years.
Main title:
Confessions of an English opium-eater and other writings / Thomas de Quincey.
Edition:
New ed. / edited with an introduction by Grevel Lindop.
Imprint:
Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2008.
Collation:
304 p. ; 20 cm.
Series title:
Notes:
This ed. originally published: 1985.
Contents:
Confessions of an English Opium-Eater; On the Knocking at the Gate in Macbeth; Suspiria de Profundis; The English Mail-Coach
ISBN:
9780199537938 (pbk)
Dewey class:
828.809
LC class:
PR4536
Language:
English
Subject:
BRN:
2066714
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