Baudelaire, Charles

Artificial Paradises: Baudelaire's Classic Work on Opium and Wine

(No reviews yet) Write a Review

ISBN 13:: 9780806514833
author:: Baudelaire, Charles
format:: Paperback
publisher:: Citadel Press
language:: English
Publication Year:: 1994
Pages:: 204
Genre:: Literary studies: general
Condition:: New
Availability:: Item usually sent within 7 working days

£13.96

Current Stock: 5

Quantity:

Description

Description

Charles Baudelaire's "Artificial Paradises" is a deeply personal and introspective work, written in response to Thomas De Quincey's Confessions of an Opium Eater. This beautifully wrought portrait of the effects of wine, opium, and hashish on the mind captures the dreamlike visions Baudelaire experienced during his narcotic trances. In this book, Baudelaire explores the hallucinations and delusions that accompanied his use of these substances, creating a vivid picture of the gorgeous yet false worlds of ecstasy that he encountered. He contrasts the effects of hashish and opium with those of wine, concluding that "wine exalts the will, hashish destroys it" and renders idlers of all who use it. A new translation of this controversial book provides fascinating reading, offering a unique insight into the mind of a great writer and shedding light on the complexities of addiction and the human experience.

View AllClose