Booktagger

 

Scattered: The inside story of Ice in Australia By Malcolm Knox ISBN13: 9781741753585

I think I read Scattered over two evenings as I found it so gripping, mainly due to the stories of individuals throughout. I found the account very balanced, although I am sure many differ. It started by making the drug seem to be the answer to our time-starved and tense modern lives, but soon presented other realities. The only disappointing part of the book was a few pages that contained lists of incidences. I don't even remember what they were of, something to do with ice no doubt, but they disrupted the flow of the book so I skipped them. Although I recommend this book, I did find it disturbing and it took a while after putting it down each evening before I felt like having a normal conversation.

 

Scattered: The inside story of Ice in Australia By Malcolm Knox ISBN13: 9781741753585

I found the book to be a good mix of facts regarding ice and its users. It was interspersed with the stories of ice users which while horrific were really well written without being over-run with emotion. A recommended read and it was interesting to note that most ice users were not the stereotyped images we are shown in the media.

 

Scattered: The inside story of Ice in Australia By Malcolm Knox ISBN13: 9781741753585

I found this book interesting, enlightening and a little tedious when statistics were quoted, but they are an essential part of the information departed to the reader.
It has certainly changed my view of the ice user. I always imagined an ice addict to be poorly dressed with bad hygiene, the typical image of a junkie. To discover that this drug is used regularly by all classes and the effect it has on society is quite a revelation.
I recommend this book to everyone. It has helped me understand why people are too scared to help others when openly attacked in the street, the increasingly dangerous challenges that our police and medical staff endure each day, and most importantly, even if my children grow up to be lawyers and accountants, they have just as much chance at falling into a dangerous and addictive party habit as a homeless teenager constantly exposed to drugs.