Book Review: "The Trip to Echo Spring" by Olivia Laing

I was reading this a few weeks ago and honestly, it is still making its impression on me. A book about the pros and cons (but mainly the cons) of drinking is, as you may or may not know, probably not the best book for me to be reading. Especially if there are advantages in there - I will use them as a weapon. With people like Hemingway and Fitzgerald covered, this book has a brilliant case for geniuses who destroyed themselves with alcohol probably not being the best literary role models.

“A Trip to Echo Spring” is a book by a brilliant writer named Olivia Laing who has written other great books too. Her book “The Lonely City” helped me a lot on my M.A some years back and not only that - it was a great read. Her novels are marketed as these criticisms, thoughts, ideas and musings that leave the reader’s mind turning and turning long after the book itself has been read.

This book was published in 2013 and has been read widely with mixed reviews since. I read about the book before reading it and it amazed me when I did get around to reading it that there were people who did not think too much of the text at all. Yes, the subject is touchy, sensitive and often some people (including myself) can feel like they are not the best people to be reading this book. However, I have to say that you need to give it a shot. There are 6 writers covered and the writing is often satirical, critical, sardonic and more often that not, showing that touch of empathy that makes it read so well.

One thing I loved about this book is though it shows you the dangers and horrors of alcoholism, it treads the line between sounding different throughout and having an underpinning theme: the bottle cost them everything. Ernest Hemingway eventually shot himself, F. Scott died of a heart attack at 44 because of his rampant alcoholism and obviously, it spans through the ages and through this book eventually ending up at Olivia Laing’s own family - as she explains - and even at my own. I feel like if more people understood the horrors associated with these six people and their rampant drinking, the book would have done better. Especially the chapter on Tennessee Williams.

I personally want more people to read this book because it is important to understand that though these people were geniuses of their craft, it did not go unpunished not only for them but for the people around them. A fine example of this is Hemingway’s wives - as everyone knows, were horribly unhappy and each one of them got up and left one by one. Tennessee Williams is another example, but you will have to read the book to find out why.

One thing that I really enjoyed about this book is that it doesn’t seek to glamorise drinking or belittle the drinkers. Instead, it seeks to help the reader understand that these people wrote, they were really good at it and they ruined it. It is a matter of fact. The chapter on Tennessee Williams starts with a writing competition he wins, but ends horribly. Each chapter is written and descends to show the link between writing and drinking in the same way we are to be shown the link between rock music and psychedelic drugs. It crushes the writer beneath its fists until eventually, it is simply too late to do anything about it. Whatever was once there is long gone and, after a short while, the writer themselves fades into the darkness and dies some time later.

Laing’s books are always a joy to read and this was no exception. A brilliantly written piece of criticism blended with autobiography and travel writing - it showcases all of her best talents and more. I adored reading “The Lonely City” and I adored this even more. I would say that if you are a fan of writers on writers, or criticisms about the nature of writing and its setbacks (sort of like “Three Martinis in the Afternoon” and books of that kind) then I highly recommend this book. One of the best books I have read about the nature and themes of writers. I too, see myself here. I would love to be a writer - but as Scarlett Johansson said in “Vicky Christina Barcelona”: I am not gifted.