The Big Smoke: The Chinese Art and Craft of Opium. Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Anyone interested in the culture and pharmacology of opium will want to read this book. Just be sure not to take it as 100% gospel. The author is something of an 'opium proselytiser', who touts all the good in opium while neglecting all that's bad.
Opium is a naturally occuring substance that is neither good nor evil, of course, rather it's the ways in which we use it that predicts the outcome.
Lee downplays O's addictive side, and makes it sound like kicking an O jones is just a matter of taking a few Chinese herbs. Not so.
The way the author conceives of the 'best' way to prepare and take opium (eg, smoking it is good for you, eating it is bad for you - again not the case, in fact the opposite may be true) likewise seems a bit biased. On the other hand his cautions regarding 'dross' are well founded.
If you believe this book, opium will retard aging, make you look healthier, etc. I've known a few O addicts over the years, some with light habits, some with heavier habits, and none of them could say O improved their health or their looks. Used in moderation, I have no doubt that it's no worse than alcohol, but similarly to alcohol it does have a desiccating effect on the body. There are several other drawbacks to its use that Lee never discusses.
Still there is much of interest in this slim book for the reader interested in the poppy, just keep a healthy scepticism when reading it.

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