The Secret Life of Books Series 2
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- Episode
- Confessions of an English Opium Eater
- Broadcast Info
- 2015 (29 mins)
- Description
- Poet and writer John Cooper Clarke explores the story behind Thomas de Quincey’s notorious nineteenth century book Confessions of an English Opium Eater.
One of the first portrayals of recreational drug taking, Confessions is also considered the first autobiographical account of drug addiction. It influenced not just generations of narcoticized writers but even medical opinion on the effects of opium for decades after its publication.
John navigates the thin line between fact and fiction that de Quincey walked while writing this memoir, and discovers the true story of this dark romantic classic.
In de Quincey’s age, opium - in the form of laudanum - was as ubiquitous as ale or spirits. John recounts how de Quincey was the first writer to openly celebrate its effects, not purely in medicinal terms but as an aide to enjoying music and books.
This is a book about addiction but it is also about the power of memories. The story takes John to the dark streets of Soho, where the young de Quincey had one of his most formative experiences, forging a friendship with a young prostitute called Ann who would haunt his dreams in years to come.
John then travels to the Lake District to discover the close and unlikely links between de Quincey’s Confessions and William Wordsworth’s great poem The Prelude. He finds out about the relationship between de Quincey and his heroes Wordsworth and Samuel Coleridge.
John examines the manuscript of Confessions which holds numerous clues as to the situation in which it was written - including coffee stains once mistaken for opium marks.
Opium would never relinquish its hold on de Quincey - and John also recounts his own battles with the drug. He ends his journey in Edinburgh, where de Quincey spent the final decades of his life, still extolling both the pains and pleasures caused by his beloved "Just, subtle and mighty opium". - Genre
- Arts; Literature; Writing; History
How to cite this record
The Open University, "The Secret Life of Books Series 2". https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ou/search/index.php/prog/219314 (Accessed 20 Nov 2025)