Writers’ soul drinks

French writer Marguerite Duras was an alcoholic. He wrote while drinking a lot of wine every day. In his works, alcohol is an important medium and motif. ‘Material Life’ is his intimate and personal essay. Among the forty-eight pieces, one that touched me the most was ‘Alcohol.’ In this short piece, Duras talks about his disillusionment with alcohol. At the same time, he talks about the loneliness and creative energy that only alcohol can give.

Alcohol is an inspiration and comfort to writers. When asked about his ideal writing environment, American writer Charles Bukowski said, “10 p.m. and 2 a.m., a bottle of wine, a cigarette, and a radio playing classical music.” For him, good wine is “the blood of God, the best booster for creation.” Joanne Didion said that when she gets into a slump where she can no longer write, she mixes gin with hot water and drinks it. Drinkers more commonly put ice and carbonated water in gin and drink it as a tonic, but hot water seems to be a new recipe, so I tried it. In a cold season like this, it's a great 'nightcap,' a nighttime drink.

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago reported in a paper titled “Uncorking the muse: alcohol intoxication facilitates creative problem solving” that drunk people solved creative word problems much faster. A good drink always takes us to the unknown world. Of course, if you enjoy it too much, it will be hard to return.