Very quickly, James Frey’s Memoir “A Million Little Pieces” paints a very dark picture of a man who is heavily addicted to drugs and alcohol. The mood is very unhappy, and the author almost makes the reader feel the pains of addiction. A glimmer of hope is seen as James accepts treatment at a clinic. He is not thrilled about the idea, but he doesn’t resist.
One of the things that struck me as very symbolic is the lack of quotation marks and the heavy use of sentence fragments in the story. It can make it difficult at times to establish who is speaking and if words are being spoken or thought. I feel that this writing style is very symbolic of the chaos that ensues for the speaker as he battles his addictions. During his recovery, he is slipping in and out of consciousness which would surely make it incredibly difficult for him to determine people, places, and time.
The book seems to be very descriptive of how the speaker perceives the world during recovery. While it may not be completely accurate as to what actually happened, it is very true to what the author was feeling at the time. From what I have read so far in the book, one scene really stood out to me. When James awoke and began hallucinating from withdrawal symptoms, the writing style really mimicked the insanity that he was experiencing. Sentence fragments are used, and James speaks of hearing the walls and seeing bugs crawling over his skin. The writing is incredibly descriptive and manages to create the sense of terror that James is experiencing.
I look forward to continuing to read this book. I immediately found myself feeling sympathy for James and truly wanting him to succeed in his treatment. The book has really hooked me and the writing style is truly representative of what the author was experiencing at the time.
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