The Pleasures and Pains of Opium (Classic, 60s)

Thomas De Quincey began taking opium in 1804. For him the key to Paradise, as he experienced visions of the utmost beauty an exquisite heightening of the senses and intellect. Nine years later addiction loomed, causing intense depression, lethargy and terrifying nightmares. Yet when Confessions of an English Opium Eater, from which this extract is taken, first appeared in 1821, many were tempted into experimenting with opium, so vivid and fascinating were De Quincey's descriptions of his dreams.