Friday, May 26, 2006

Poppycock

Poppycock

Dalrymple is always challenging the orthodoxy, but does it from a position of strength - he knows about these people, he's done his time with them, so for me, his ideas have a greater resonance than those of some well-heeled politician showing how compassionate he is. I think he's spot on about the Romantics' use of opium. I always thought that the allegedly opium-influenced poetry was easily the worst. Coleridge clearly was a great poet - but Kubla Khan is just loopy, I'm afraid.

3 comments:

francessa said...

One of my Coleridge favourites for a long time was "Dejection", and I never could comprehend everybody's enthusiasm for Kubla Khan. And now you're using the word "loopy". I feel recognized finally ;-)!
But Mao as the greatest drug-addicts-therapist - isn't this a bit of a stretch?

Rob said...

I think the Mao reference was tongue in cheek - but it does suggest that coming off drugs isn't as difficult as the drugs rehabilitation industry suggest it is.

francessa said...

Quite, and one drug being replaced by the other.