{"id":6139,"date":"2011-12-01T01:10:34","date_gmt":"2011-12-01T06:10:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/paganpages.org\/content\/?p=6305"},"modified":"2011-11-10T15:38:47","modified_gmt":"2011-11-10T20:38:47","slug":"book-review-the-diary-of-a-drug-fiend-by-aleister-crowley","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/2011\/12\/01\/book-review-the-diary-of-a-drug-fiend-by-aleister-crowley\/","title":{"rendered":"Book Review: The Diary of a Drug Fiend by Aleister Crowley"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Diary of a Drug Fiend<\/strong><\/p>\n

by\u00a0 Aleister Crowley\u00a0 \u00a9 2010<\/p>\n

Weiser Books\u00a0 ISBN:\u00a0 978-1-57863-494-1<\/p>\n

Paperback\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 384 pages<\/p>\n

$18.95\u00a0 (U.S.)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Crowley’s first published\u00a0 novel (1922) explores a world which is familiar to many of today’s society (albeit from a slightly different perspective) \u2013 that of an abuser of cocaine and heroin.\u00a0 Many modern users are not in a position of being able to indulge their every whim,\u00a0 nor are the drugs as readily available as they were in post- Great War Britain.\u00a0 They can, certainly, relate to the effects of the drugs \u2013 the exhilaration of the cocaine and the obsessive focus of the heroin (and no, I haven’t indulged, although I do know those who have).<\/p>\n

The book is stuffed with poetry (both Crowley’s and others).\u00a0 Regardless what you think of his reputation(s) [he was a mountaineer, a poet, a Ceremonialist and a writer, among other accomplishments], it must be admitted that he was a prolific author of diverse forms.\u00a0 Of course, he was writing in a different time and environment. So his profuse, flowery style may not be to everyone’s liking<\/p>\n

His powers of description cannot be challenged.\u00a0 You see exactly what he wants you to see.\u00a0 You get the vicarious experience as he dashes along the page.\u00a0 There is nothing lackadaisical in his approach, it is all or nothing.<\/p>\n

Perhaps the most difficult aspect of this book is that Crowley knew what he was writing about.\u00a0 So, in spite of it being a novel, it rings absolutely true on many levels and in many ways.\u00a0 The narrative is frequently disjointed and (sometimes) may appear to be nonsensical, but this accurately reflects the experience of those who use these drugs.\u00a0 There are quotations from other of his works, (unacknowledged, naturally).\u00a0 What\u00a0 might be easily dismissed from another, less talented, writer strikes the reader on a visceral level.<\/p>\n

It take a serious application of the mind to get through this book.\u00a0 The flow and style are so unfamiliar to the average reader of today’s novels that many will give up on it before long, and that is unfortunate.\u00a0 It is only in the final portion of the work that Crowley begins to lay out his message of magickal education (without harping on the fact that is is magickal).<\/p>\n

You won’t find rituals in this final section (it isn’t that kind of book) except in broad outlines, and then not as the primary focus.\u00a0 You will find some poetic praise pieces.\u00a0 But what you will find is magickal philosophy which is couched in terms any layman can understand.<\/p>\n

As is noted on the cover \u201cIt is a terrible story but it is also a story of hope and of beauty.\u201d\u00a0 I can’t argue with that, nor can I sum it up any better.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Diary of a Drug Fiend by\u00a0 Aleister Crowley\u00a0 \u00a9 2010 Weiser Books\u00a0 ISBN:\u00a0 978-1-57863-494-1 Paperback\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 384 pages $18.95\u00a0 (U.S.) Crowley’s first published\u00a0 novel (1922) explores a world which is familiar to many of today’s society (albeit from a slightly different perspective) \u2013 that of an abuser of cocaine and heroin.\u00a0 Many modern users are not in a position of being able to indulge their every whim,\u00a0 nor are the drugs as readily available as they were in post- Great War Britain.\u00a0 They can, certainly, relate to the effects of the drugs \u2013 the exhilaration of the cocaine and the obsessive focus of the heroin (and no, I haven’t indulged, although I do know those who have). The book is stuffed with poetry (both Crowley’s and others).\u00a0 Regardless what you think of his reputation(s) [he was a mountaineer, a poet, a Ceremonialist and a writer, among other accomplishments], it must be admitted that he was a prolific author of diverse forms.\u00a0 Of course, he was writing in a different time and environment. So his profuse, flowery style may not be to everyone’s liking His powers of description cannot be challenged.\u00a0 You see exactly what he wants you to see.\u00a0 You get the vicarious experience as he dashes along the page.\u00a0 There is nothing lackadaisical in his approach, it is all or nothing. Perhaps the most difficult aspect of this book is that Crowley knew what he was writing about.\u00a0 So, in spite of it being a novel, it rings absolutely true on many levels and in many ways.\u00a0 The narrative is frequently disjointed and (sometimes) may appear to be nonsensical, but this accurately reflects the experience of those who use these drugs.\u00a0 There are quotations from other of his works, (unacknowledged, naturally).\u00a0 What\u00a0 might be easily dismissed from another, less talented, writer strikes the reader on a visceral level. It take a serious application of the mind to get through this book.\u00a0 The flow and style are so unfamiliar to the average reader of today’s novels that many will give up on it before long, and that is unfortunate.\u00a0 It is only in the final portion of the work that Crowley begins to lay out his message of magickal education (without harping on the fact that is is magickal). You won’t find rituals in this final section (it isn’t that kind of book) except in broad outlines, and then not as the primary focus.\u00a0 You will find some poetic praise pieces.\u00a0 But what you will find is magickal philosophy which is couched in terms any layman can understand. As is noted on the cover \u201cIt is a terrible story but it is also a story of hope and of beauty.\u201d\u00a0 I can’t argue with that, nor can I sum it up any better.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":138,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":3,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6139","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6139","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/138"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6139"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6139\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5980,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6139\/revisions\/5980"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6139"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6139"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}