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Chargement... On Wine and Hashish (Hesperus Classics) (édition 2002)par Charles Baudelaire, Margaret Drabble, Andrew Brown
Information sur l'oeuvreDu vin et du haschish par Charles Baudelaire
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Aucun Actuellement, il n'y a pas de discussions au sujet de ce livre. ![]() ![]() ![]() On Wine and Hashish is a short, lyrical glimpse into two drugs but mostly explores the effects of hashish. I liked this book so much better than Thomas de Quincey's Confessions of an English Opium-eater, probably because Baudelaire does such a great job capturing the effects of the altered mind. I don't quite agree with Baudelaire's proclamations that artificially stimulating the consciousness somehow nullifies the authenticity of the user and hir activities. I also disagree with the notion that any activity that leads to idleness and hedonistic apathy is bad, although I could just be a product of the 20th/21st centuries where people generally spend every waking minute distracting ourselves from reality. But, you know, women are not good at analysis according to Baudelaire, so I could just be totally wrong. ;) ![]() There are some wonderful aphorisms in this essay: “A man who drinks only water has a secret to hide from his fellow men.” “Work makes weekdays prosperous, wine makes Sundays happy.” “Wine elevates the will, hashish annihilates it.” Finally, I note that Baudelaire refers to wine generically. Today of course, any such essay on wine would invariably contain extended discussions and descriptions of particular producers, vintages, terroir, tastings, bottles and the memorable meals that accompanied the wine. In this essay, at least, for Baudelaire (and likely for most of his countrymen in 1851) wine is a generic commodity, although one that develops man’s poetic character without (unlike its rival) robbing him of his will and sociability. ![]() Can;t say enough about the design and presentation of this book. There are a number of other titles in Hesperus's series, and this one definitely makes me want to see others. ![]() This is a odd work from Baudelaire and not at all what I was expecting. I have, of course, in younger years read Les Fleurs du Mal and enjoyed them. I also had a vague recollection of him as a translator of De Quincey's Confessions of an English Opium-Eater and an opium addict himself. I was therefore prepared for an interesting disquisition on the relative merits of the two eponymous inebriants. Not a bit of it. Of 83 pages in total a mere 14 are given over, the first 14, to the joys and bonhomie of wine. The remainder is a strange diatribe against hashish and its users. Baudelaires motivation here, if we are to believe Margaret Drabble's foreword was partly prompted by his republican sympathies and the dilettante habits and lifestyles of Parisian hashish users. It is not impossible that there is a thread of self hatred for his own opium addiction hiding behind this irrational and clouded assessment. The case in favour of wine is very much in the motherhood and apple pie mode of rural idyll ignoring or glossing over any genuine problems whereas the case against hashish is characterized by Baudelaire's recurring use of the word poison. No slouch myself with respect to the various effects of pschotropic drugs I was frankly amazed when Baudelaire writes: "Hashish is composed of a decoction of indian hemp, butter and a small quantity of opium." I have never experienced this "green jelly" which was, we are told, often taken in hot, strong, black coffee and have been unable to find anybody who has. A singular structural oddity in this text is that Baudelaire seldom if ever indulges in first person examples relying instead on anecdotal evidence even stretching far enough to create a hypothetical hashish user to subject to his prejudices. Moreover some of the deleterious effects of hashish struck me as more likely to be the result of the admixture of opium into the drug. And some even to the butter! There is a very good discussion of Hesperus Press' list and approach here - http://preferreading.blogspot.com/2010/02/hesperus-press.html - well wort a read. aucune critique | ajouter une critique
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Initially composed for newspaper publication and inspired by Thomas De Quincey's Confessions of an Opium Eater, Baudelaire's musings on wine and hashish provide acute - and fascinating - psychological insight into the mind of the addict. Aucune description trouvée dans une bibliothèque |
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