human existence can be shown as a polygonal curve

The swift run of the contemporary human existence can be shown as a polygonal curve where salient points are the places of possible drastic changes. To imagine how easily can alcohol fit the modern lifestyle I recommend watching Bruce Robinson’s The Rum Diary, a film made on the basis of Hunter S. Thompson’s novel of the same name. There we can see the so-called golden age of addiction when things don’t impede one another at first sight. Working for a local newspaper, having love affairs, trying to set up a business – all this mingles with drinking scenes. Besides, all elements of the film plot seem independent or even equal. Moreover, such a plot is an “eternal now” with almost no guesses which part of life (for example, love or alcohol) is principal for the main character Paul Kemp.  Having been brought up in Eastern European culture, I can add one more line to this picture that may be invisible for Americans, for instance. This chaotic life is outwardly safe; it’s a kind of a game for adults having some financial stability preventing the breathtaking kaleidoscope of the feast of life from falling to the world of poverty and need. The way Eastern European addicts drink because of grief and poverty is another topic. It can be described by a Russian poem written in Samizdat time available for English-speaking readers as: Erofeev, Venedikt; Tjalsma, H. William (1994): Moscow to the end of the line. Evanston, Ill.: Northwestern University Press, although this story sounds better in the original language. Getting back to the Western welfare world, we point out that The Rum Diary isn’t an exception; it’s an example of similar life stories, including such famous works as The sun also rise by Ernest Hemingway and Rayuela -Hopscotch by Julio Cortázar.