I have taken up the art of reading books again. Well, when I say reading books, I mean downloading books onto my kindle and ingesting them that way. Before I got my hands on a kindle I thought there was no way I would be the ponce who went around with one. But the books are cheaper. You can carry as many as you want. You can buy them whenever you want. I really think they are an awesome creation. If you haven’t got one yet and are thinking about it, I suggest you do. If you don’t like it you can give it to your mother for Christmas. She will love it. If you also click on the image below to buy, I get a slice of the price from Amazon
I made it my business to download a book called “Dead Drunk” by an Irish author called Paul Garrigan. I found out about the book online where I spend a lot of time researching how to be sober and amazing at the same time. I was really curious to know Paul’s story. Having spent many years as a slave to the power of the porter, I have found that a great way to enhance your sobriety is to hear other people’s story of triumph.
I found “Dead Drunk” to be a very easy read – and I mean this in the best possible sense. It is written in the first person and Garrigan has a sweet eye for detail. His use of language is direct and descriptive which propels you into the torrent of his story. He recounts his childhood and shows where his relationship with alcohol grew in his teens as his parent’s marriage fell apart. He recounts his travels and adventures around the globe, falling in love, falling apart, moving from country to country chasing the impossible drunken dream. Throughout the novel he displays an acute understanding of his own foibles and shortcomings.
He talks about his battles with drink in open, honest terms. He hides behind no fence of fancy language. He talks about his relationship with the AA and how it failed to provide him with the answers for his problems. He charts his story from Oxford to Arabia, from Dublin to the cold streets of London where he ends up begging on the streets. He eventually manages to get to Thailand where he continues on his path of self destruction until he finally ends up in the hands of the Monks of Thamkrabok where his final dramatic attempt at salvation takes place.
Reading “Dead Drunk” is a great read for anyone who enjoys a story of triumph in the face of self inflicted adversity. Garrigans frank assessments offer great insight for those who have ever had to battle with drink or drugs. What I loved the most about it is that he never preaches about “how to change your life”, he just tells his story. There are some great lessons to be learnt. Personally I loved the following innocuous few lines which really helped me recently overcome the thoughts of going back on the jar.
“I had never met anyone who had returned to drinking after being sober and claimed they were glad they did it. They might have been full of justifications as to why they drank again, and have a list of people or situations which drove them to it, but at the end of the day these stories were always full of regret”
A thoroughly enjoyable read.