"Smack", Melvin Burgess

What was unique about the setting of the book and how did it enhance or take from the story?

I really enjoyed the setting of my story that I have read; it enhance my reading by far and was what really drew me into the book in the first place. I feel that the setting in the mid-1980's was perfect for the book and gave a factual element to the story because during that time period, use of heroin by teenagers was very popular even more so with runaways, like the main characters of the book. The eighties was a time of breaking free from your parents restriction and on to having fun.... which their(wild teens of the 80's) definition for fun was drugs, drinking and parties. The author used this facts of the eighties and really appealed that to the character's lifestyles. With this certain setting I was able to understand how easy it was for teenagers to get drugs and ways of getting the money to buy the drugs back then. Now a days if a police officer sees teenagers around the streets during school hours, they would pick them up, no questions asked. If the setting would have been in present time it wouldn't have been believable and ruined the story.

The story took place in Bristol and the author explains the place in such vivid detail that it feels that I have been there before after Reading the book. Burgess (author) tells the surroundings of the city and shops in such a way that I could picture myself walking in the streets with the characters. Burgess explains the things thing that are happening in the
story also in great detail so that the reader can go along with the story without getting
mixed up. For example, I never heard of the term squatting before and after reading the paragraph I knew that the term meant an a abandon building was going to be a home for the homeless. The details of the setting of the abandon buildings , enhanced my understanding of what the characters had to live in on a daily bases and made me more interested. Without the unique setting of the story,I feel the impact and powerful theme the author was trying to display would not have what it turned out to be.