Junk by Melvin Burgess

Title: Junk

Author: Melvin Burgess

Publisher: Penguin

Originally published in 1996

Pages: 278

Genres: YA fiction

Format: paperback

Junk = Heroin = Bliss = Despair = A love affair you’ll never forget

Tar loves Gemma, but Gemma doesn’t want to be tied down - not to anyone or anything. Gemma wants to fly. But no one can fly for ever. One day, somehow, finally, you have to come down. 

This is a very challenging book. Not because of the language, the language is very accessible. Not because of the storyline, the story is quite simple. It’s challenging because of the content. When I was a teenager I used to read a lot of books halfway through before abandoning them, and in this case that’s a very bad idea. The first half of this book gives the reader a romanticised view of addiction, the rock-and-roll lifestyle and idealised notions of living a life without restraint, answerable to no one. The second half displays, slowly, insidiously, and with a creeping sensation of eventual disintegration, the effects of addiction.

Books are amazing, and one of the things that makes them amazing is their ability to allow the reader to experience the experiences of others without actually going down that road for themselves. This is a book aimed at teenagers, and I ardently believe that all teenagers should read it, but I also believe that all parents should read it beforehand so that they are somewhat aware of the life lessons being taught.

The narrative format is first person and the chapters jump between characters. This gives a wide reaching view of the situation and, explores the ‘unreliable narrator’ convention excellently. In one character’s narrative they will swear blind to the reader that they would never use needles, in the next character’s narrative they describe watching the former inject themselves. This method is subtle, allowing the reader to come to steady realisations that the characters themselves are finding hard to face.

Everyone should read this book. If nothing else it introduces themes that most people try to avoid, it forces the reader to face an uncomfortable reality, that kids do make these decisions, they do get into these situations, and the more we talk about it the better our society will be.