I've done two stints in rehab and this is pretty spot on. One difference between heroin and alcohol (among other things) is that while withdrawal will make you wish you were dead there's no real danger. If you try to stop drinking after a weeklong binge your heart will explode without medical help.
I was intrigued by the premise of this article, but unfortunately, I do not think the narrative had much direction (I will not comment on the multiple spelling/grammatical errors beyond this parenthetical). I do not find the narrator sympathetic. As a result, it's difficult for me to care much about his experience in cheap rehab other than just to learn more about what really cut-rate rehab is like, and after about a page or two of the shittiness laid out in prose that, while readable, isn't much more than that, I keep finding my eyes glazing over. I want to read this article, find it interesting, find it elucidating. Unfortunately, I don't. I think part of the problem is that while the narrator is certainly great at recounting events, people, etc, there's absolutely no insight or reflection on his issues, why he landed in this rehab, or even less-personal-but-still-requiring-some-kind-of-consideration-and-thought topics such as how rehabs like this could be improved, why rehabs like this are the way they are, why the author found himself wanting the elements of his other hospital stays when deprived of them (other than because those routines were at least familiar and reassuring; did they add value or was he just moorless and therefore grasping at anything? - OR is the narrator just not a person whose standards are going to be satisfied no matter what rehab he's in, and frankly, why should your personal standards for comfort and care be met in such a facility? I'm not saying rehab should be hell, but mostly it is, and I think it's both kind of silly to expect it to be any better and also kind of silly to expect it to be a comforting experience on a lot of levels; sobriety is not comfortable for addicts), whether private healthcare is really better than a publicized system (which seems to be the ultimate crux of this?), anything. I'm looking for any sort of insightful analysis or consideration of this experience. Instead this article is just "Wham, bam, I'm going to throw specific, extraordinary short not-even-stories (descriptions, maybe) at you until they overwhelm you and that is supposed to just make you get it. That is the point of this article." To me, the narrator seems mostly hugely apathetic, concluding with a big side of no-suggestions-to-offer. I wish there was more for me to sink my teeth into here.
|To me, the narrator seems mostly hugely apathetic What do you expect from an alcoholic with major depression? Solutions to the problem of mental health care from a patient. I guess. A lot of your problems with it seem to be based on what you wanted to read instead of what you read.
I would say that yes, a lot of my problems with the article are based on what I want to read instead of what I read. I do not think that is a wrong way to form opinions on a given thing. If I want toast and get grapefruit, I am going to have a problem. The grapefruit is not what I want. I may still eat it but maybe not all and it won't be the same or probably as enjoyable. It is not wrong to want certain qualities from the content you read (or anything). I found what I read to be lacking. It did not sufficiently interest me and I did not think it did much effectively except string together short character descriptions laced with a dismal, but ultimately not that interesting plot line. As for the narrator, sure, he is an alcoholic with major depression. However he is also a writer of some sort, and from a writer I expect an engaging story. It is hard to have an engaging story when your narrator isn't very dynamic because he refuses to address his own emotions, experiences, and psyche. To make a greater point: when I am reading a story, as all such articles are, I am interested in the story because it is extraordinary. This is the nature of telling stories. To defend the narrator by saying that he is not exceptional, or that I should not expect him to be so because of his mental health issues, is to admit a major weakness in the story. if I was interested in the stories of people who only live up to my minimal expectations based on potentially limiting life circumstances I wouldn't bother reading articles about them; I would just raise my head and look around. Sure, the writer has mental illnessess, but he's a writer. therefore, I expect him to be good at that and to me, that means his stories should be engaging. I appreciate you posting the article, but that doesn't mean I have to like it, that I'm being insulting to you or the writer by not liking it, or that I shouldn't share my thoughts on how it could be better. Hubski is about discussing. That doesn't mean always liking.
I agree. Drug and alcohol addiction is pretty boring.
"I didn't like it," is a tactful summary of your feelings. I don't need a transformative narrative or a sympathetic character and usually find those things trite I still don't understand most of your issues aside from personal taste or why you wrote so much about "I didn't like it." You remind me of the people in my art school days who always chimed in during critique because of their opinion of their own relative importance. I'm not trying to be a dick. You probably aren't a young twenty something who got a few accolades in art school and suddenly thinks they're an expert in the field.
Look. Let's go with the metaphor again. I still want toast. But what you want for breakfast, it's not toast. It doesn't have to be grapefruit, it's anything you find delicious or at least satisfying, but that I dont. Let's say you want fried chicken and waffles. Delicious choice. You'll love it. But I would neve order it. This article satisfies what you are looking for. It doesn't satisfy me. This has nothing to do with "quality of satisfaction" or "quality of content." This just has to do with what each of us wants. This article fulfilled your brunch needs/desire, but it left me wanting. That happens all the time, and not just at brunch. I think it's a valuable exercise to examine why a given - entree - may fail to satisfy me if that is the case. I cannot learn what will satisfy my desires unless I look at what does not and determine what I find lacking. For you this article left you film and content. For me it just didn't. I'd way rather explain what I want out of the article, both for myself and to the rest of hubski, than simply complain it "wasn't enough." it is of value to me, at least, if even no one else, to discuss why a piece fails me and not simply accept that I am not "full" and leave it at that. I do not think we can ever learn what does fulfill us without examining what does not. It seems you are personally offended by the flaws I find in the article. "I don't like it" says nothing. It requires no examination. Sure it's tactful but it is of no use to me, or any reader. The next immediate question would always be "why?" you are offended that I discussed not my dissatisfaction, but the causes of it. sorry. I'd rather understand my feelings, than simply throw them out as non-offensive one-liners that could never possibly create a discussion unless someone else dragged it out of me. Post an article and you invite a response. If you can't handle the fact that some people will respond negatively or ait criticism or, oh I don't know, just a simple analysis of what they found the article to lack, don't fucking post. Or you can mute me. But getting hurt that someone doesn't like the link you shared, and bothered to take the time to address why instead of simply dismiss it as shit, is pointless. This isn't an echo chamber and I am free to express what I see as flaws.
I really don't care what you think enough to reread the article or your comments and go point-by-point but some of your original comments confused the shit out of me. It's like you wanted Hollywood Oscar bait combined with a solution no one has yet come up with. I've been in these places so maybe I can fill in the blanks but you seemed to have some weird expectations and analyses.