[enquirewithin]

Unlike most people, you have actually read this book! I agree that de Quincey's prose style makes him hard to read. Last time I tried, I gave up during a rambling introduction which I recall was basically about how he handled his opium addition better that Coleridge handled his, which , at the time, seemed like typical junkie complaining about other junkies. His character came across as one I had little admiration for, so I gave up on the book!

Huxley would never have become addicted to opiates (the 'downward transcendence' he despised ). Coleridge was lucky to have been inspired to creativity by opium-- he was dreaming. Opiates rarely do inspire creativity (Bill Burroughs is a another rare case.)