Opium and Other Stories

Géza Csáth wrote these short stories as pieces of bad dreams. Some stories are pretty dark and are from the deep wells of the human psyche. Many are disturbing, and while reading those, I had a feeling I was reading fragments of someone’s dreams, as they often seem unfinished.

Géza Csáth is not a contemporary author. He lived from 1887 to 1919 and was a Hungarian writer, musician, and a music critic. But he was also a doctor, and a psychotherapist who specialized in dreams. He was a contemporary of Freud, which also affected his works. Above that, he was also an opium addict. At 31, he killed his wife and himself. Maybe now you know what to expect?

Although those were different short stories than I expected, I did enjoy reading this collection. It was an interesting read.

Goodreads

 

Details:

• author: Géza Csáth
  
• full title: Opium and Other Stories
  
• genre: short stories
  
• format/type: bookfiction
• topics: #dreams, #nighmares, #drugs
  
• publisher: Europa Editions
  
• publish date: December 13, 2022
  
• pages: 160
  

My Rating of the Book:

• content: 💙💙💙.5

About the Author: 

 

Gésa Csáth was a Hungarian psychiatrist, one of Freud’s first followers, as well as a music critic and opium addict. In 1919, at the age of 31, he killed his wife and then committed suicide, just one year after the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian empire.