I’ve been a bit lax on my book reviews of late – theres a little bit of a backlog, which I’ll try to clear over the next few days.
Junk is a book I bought some time ago on the strength of its cover – pure white, showing the works of an addict. Theres something that fascinates me about drugs, I’m not a user of anything more serious than caffeine, nor do I ever intend to be, but the way they work, the things they do, the way they make you *think* is something that I think helps me understand myself that little bit more.
The book tracks the descent from smalltown family life of a young couple, him running away from his abusive father, her following him, through a squat network onward into the grip of the drug culture.
One of the interesting things about it is that each chapter is written by a different character – somehow this is far stronger in this book than of many which take a similar approach, though I’m not sure why. Perhaps its the way the transitions between chapters aren’t immediate, time passes as you’re moving from one to the next. Whatever the reason, I thought it nicely done.
The other thing, which I’d never really thought about before but perhaps should have already noticed, is snobbery within the underclass – there is a disrespect for junkies even within the squatters.
Overall a good quick read – its aimed at the teen market, and probably has more for those, like myself, still naive about drug culture.