Have you ever seen the first several scenes of Trainspotting? There's a lot of drugs, discussion of the side effects of taking those drugs, and not much else. I was bored by it.
I was worried that this book was going to wind up like that. The first half of the book is about Nic's relapse after several attempts over the years to get sober. We watch him spiral down, down, down, and make so many mistakes he's made before.
Luckily, part two is about his recovery. I liked that part way more. Something about a drug addict talking about doing drugs is just... I don't have the right adjective. It's something of a mix between uninteresting, uncomfortable, and something I can't relate to very well, with a lot of that feeling you get when someone is bragging about something you don't admire (like, if you know nothing about motorcycles and this guys is talking about his awesome bike for like twenty minutes and all you can do is nod and go "yeah... sweet, I guess").
There aren't a lot of surprises in this book, but there don't really need to be. Sometimes you'll want to yell at Nic for being an idiot, sometimes you want to give him a hug and tell him he can do it, and sometimes you just don't understand him. It's not a new story, but I like Sheff's personal details.
I enjoyed the book, but it's not one I could read over and over.
I had the opposite reaction that Alex did. I liked the beginning because it was freakin' SCARY. I mean, I've read a lot of drug addict memoirs but this one... I don't know. There was something about it that was just so personal; so incredibly frightening. Nic kept shooting drugs over and over and the amount times he black out...
He also returned to drugs so easily. You just felt so sorry for him. You knew, deep down, he wanted things to get better but just couldn't seem to hold it together.
His recovery... ehhh, he got really preachy. I mean... REALLY preachy in some points. Which makes me not want to read it. But I liked that it ended hopeful. And I like that we got to see something that wasn't the twelve step program. That doesn't work for everyone (it certainly didn't work for Nic), so I like that he's kind of showing that there are alternatives. That failing with the 12 steps doesn't mean you're a failure.
However, I do agree with Alex that, while a good book... not one I would probably ever pick up again.
My Bottom Line 3 out of 5
I had the opposite reaction that Alex did. I liked the beginning because it was freakin' SCARY. I mean, I've read a lot of drug addict memoirs but this one... I don't know. There was something about it that was just so personal; so incredibly frightening. Nic kept shooting drugs over and over and the amount times he black out...
He also returned to drugs so easily. You just felt so sorry for him. You knew, deep down, he wanted things to get better but just couldn't seem to hold it together.
His recovery... ehhh, he got really preachy. I mean... REALLY preachy in some points. Which makes me not want to read it. But I liked that it ended hopeful. And I like that we got to see something that wasn't the twelve step program. That doesn't work for everyone (it certainly didn't work for Nic), so I like that he's kind of showing that there are alternatives. That failing with the 12 steps doesn't mean you're a failure.
However, I do agree with Alex that, while a good book... not one I would probably ever pick up again.
My Bottom Line 3 out of 5
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